Hello all, Opening weekend here in Michigan went about as poorly as possible. I shoot a the new Mathews z7 and on opening night I shot an 8 pointer with a 100 grain two blade rage. Made a perfect shot at 38 yards but the blade failed to expand OR penetrate, the following night I shot a 7 pointer at 22 yards only this time the expandable blades simply blew off somehow. Once again no penetration or cutting and no deer. Both shots were perfectly executed and rages simply let me down. Needless to say I'm switching to fixed blade broadheads. I pull 65 pounds and am shooting the smaller diameter 400 grain bone collector beman arrows. What broadheads and grain would you recommend. I am thinking muzzy 4 blades, g5 montecs, or slick trick magnums. What suggestions do you guys have? I need to figure something out and quick --> picture of the 2nd broadhead
Great first post. Yeah its usually the broadheads fault. How many times did you shoot the broadheads while practicing? If the blades on the head didn't open, that arrow should have blown through the deer, on a "perfect" shot. So you are saying the blades were still locked into the o-ring when you found the arrow?
They had attempted to expand on the first shot and the arrow stuck in about 3/4 of the length of the broadhead. On the second shot I found the arrow in front of where I hit the deer with the blades completely missing. I have luminocks and was able to track both my shots and they were also in very good lighting so I maintain that they were "perfect" shots. So let's keep the condescension to a minimum hoss
So the arrow, shot out of your 65 pound bow, hit the deer perfectly and only penetrated 3/4 of an inch? Do I have that right? You sure you didn't shoot one of those concrete deer statues? This could also explain why the blades came off the second head, too. There was a thread on here recently about drinking while hunting.
Yeah I saw that one I think it was right after the one about being an ignorant prick and posting in the forum
And thats the thanks I get for trying to help. Kids these days...they show no respect. Go back to AT.
It's like a prison yard, had to come out and try to knock out the the biggest guy and prove yourself..or something like that. Anyway Im confident in both shots but maybe hitting the shoulder could explain the first one. The second shot is the one that makes absolutely no sense to me. It was dead broadside I don't get it
This was an interesting way to start my morning forum reading off. The point Vito is trying to make is that if all the details you gave about your shots are true, the Rage is still sharp enough to penetrate through any deer, unless it's Megatron transformed. The blades on expandable BH's are meant to deploy to create a greater cutting diameter. Even the KE with that poundage and arrow weight would have driven a field point further than 3/4 of an inch. It's just that the details don't make sense. If you are unhappy with the rages, try something else. You have a right to make other choices. With all that being said, any of the BH's mentioned above should do the trick. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The ONLY way that arrow doesnt penetrate more than the length of the broadhead is a direct hit into heavy leg or shoulder bone. If the hit is "perfect", even a dull fieldtip will penetrate much further than that. I do hate Rages, but there is much more to this story.
Things happen fast and the shot doesn't always play out how we think we saw it. Both shots had bizarre results, and if your tantrum is done, lets try to figure out what happen. First shot...3/4" of penetration. Is that how much blood was on the head? Just 3/4" of the way up? Did the arrow stay in the deer at all, or just hit the deer and fall down? Second shot...was there any penetration? And you found the arrow right where the deer was standing, correct? Did you shoot the broadheads at a target? If so, how did they fly/penetrate?
That is a thick skinned deer herd you got running around there. In all honesty, certain aspects of your story don't make much sense. If the broadhead was that horrible on the first shot, why in the hell would take another shot the very next day with the same broadhead????????
Just being honest. Something doesn't sound right. If you hit the deer out of that type of set up that arrow was going more than 3/4" in. Really no way around it unless you hit a very hard bone. Not even sure hitting the shoulder blade right on would cause that little of penetration. I'm assuming you didn't recover either deer so I going to say that your "perfect" shot probably weren't quite as perfect as you thought they were. Not trying to be a prick. Things happen and details get foggy in the moment. As far as blades coming off it sound like they weren't put together properly or there was a QM issue. I don't like Rage broadheads and never have but I have seen them work on a ton of occasions and I don't think I have ever seen a failure like you are describing. Did you change the blades yourself or did you just use them straight out of the package, were the o-rings on correctly, where they the correct o-rings? If you maintain everything was a "perfect" as you said you should probably be calling Rage because no one here can help you. Pretty much all the broad heads on the market will do the job if you put where it is supposed to be. A lot of people on here use the ones you listed I'm sure any of them would be a good choice.
First shot the arrow stuck in the deer and remained so for about 20 yards. Blood only up about 3/4 length of the broad head. There was a drip-drop blood trail for about 250 yards which eventually disappeared. The second shot there was blood and hair just on the broad head with no blood trail at all. The pin, and 2 expandable blades were completely gone. All broadheads I shot once at a target to ensure they blades deployed regularly and they did. Every time I nock and arrow in I inspect the broadhead to make sure blades at locked in and O-ring is intact, etc.. Last season I shot a doe at 12 yards broadside and had the broadhead actually break at the point were it tapers in for the O-ring. I dismissed that as a fluke but after these instances I'm completely bewildered which is why I took to the internet for information.
On the first one I was sure I made a good shot but when I didn't get the deer I figured I must've been mistaken and hit the shoulder. But the following night's events made me reevaluate and think that it was more mechanical error than my own.
i shoot T3's and never had a problem with them deploying. i also shoot a Z7 set @ 65. has to be a problem with the broadhead if that is the case. if you are having issues with expandibles then maybe you should switch to fixed heads. i also use the 100gr G5 strikers and from shooting them and the T3's there is absolutely no difference between them or field points for me.
Maybe the blades snapped off when your arrow past under your deer and hit the ground.... Just sayin I had a rage not expand one time and the arrow went fletching deep... I had to track it 125 yards but it still did the trick and put meat in the freezer.... And my bow is pulling at 62
To me, this sounds like a leg hit. If you hit a leg, below the body of the deer, you will get the penetration and blood trail you described. Anywhere else on the deer and I highly doubt you will get a blood trail for 250 yards with 3/4" of penetration. You probably could have quit after 1 strike, but at least you're stopping at 3. I am still baffled as to why you got no penetration. Even if you hit bone, you will get more than what you describe. The "knuckle" is about the only place I could think of you hit, outside of the leg. And even then, out of a 65 lb bow, the arrow shouldn't be laying right where you hit the deer. What color was the hair? Rage heads are obviously not working for you, so you should definitely switch. My concern is that the broadhead isn't he biggest issue here. Simply switching heads might not give you the results you are looking for if we don't identify the real issue. Have you had any success killing deer with another broadhead?
Any reason for preference of the strikers vs. the montecs? Im looking for trajectory as close to field points as possible
All broadheads will fly true with your field points, if the bow is tuned properly. You added a UM avatar, so I really want to help you.
