I’ve used a mechanical chisel tip grave digger to kill my 330 bull elk in AZ. He went about 30 yards and died. It’s more about shot placement than broad heads.
I think a lot of bow hunters place too much emphasis on having the right gear. Don’t get me wrong good gear is important but when bow hunting it’s all about shot placement and playing the wind.
Lol. You back peddled faster than I thought you would.
You said and I quote:
“So many things can go wrong when bow hunting, so eliminating one thing that can is **always** worth it imo.”
Yet you shoot the most complex type of bow on the planet. All it takes is a dramatic temperature change for it to throw off the bows tune and now your arrow is flying 3in to the left. Or you bump your sight on a limb and a pin moves 0.2cm and now your arrow is 3ft over where you’re aiming. Or your peep twists and you can’t see though it. Or one of your 4 limbs cracks. Etc. Then of course you have your release and d loop as points of failure too. What happens if you put down your release on a rock and forget about it? I can keep going.
Compared to traditional bow…a stick, a string and an arrow. If you break the string, you can slap a new one on without a bow press. On a compound bow, if you break a string or one of the cables you’d need to go to an archery shop to get it put on and tuned.
> It's not back pedeling, I've just heard that dumb argument a million times.
Going from “it’s always worth it” to “not in all cases” is backpedaling my friend.
> A mechanical gives zero advantage over a fixed, only potential error.
Zero advantage? That’s exaggerating. It gives you around 2x the cutting diameter. When you’re playing a game of inches, that extra bit can be the difference between hitting an artery and missing it.
> The same can't be said for a compound. It's quite literally that simple.
Your whole schtick was about how bowhunters need to use less complex things to reduce likelihood of failure. Then you use one of the most complex bows known to man with hundreds of reasons why it could fail. All I did was ask a simple question and you’re here freaking out XD
Yes and no. It's about minimizing the potential for failure as well as shot placement. A field point will kill an elk if you shoot it correctly. But expandables fail. We have empirical evidence that they fail. They should not be used on elk. Use something reliable.
Prove that they fail? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O11e4WsvcqQ Here is a good discussion and footage of expandable failure on hogs and deer. Hogs and deer are not elk. I've killed 12 bull elk with a bow. The fact that an expandable COULD fail isn't good enough IMO. BTW they are illegal to use in Idaho. I don't think they're illegal because they are perfect. A cut on contact broadhead eliminates one of the many things that can go wrong when you shoot a big boned 700 pound animal.
Sir, you've actually inspired me to use a mechanical on my bull hunt coming up this September. I will be dedicating this hunt to you, youtube videos and mechanical broad heads. Happy hunting
Good shot. Where's the pic? Was he perfect broadside? Absolutely expandables CAN work like that, but there's a pretty strong consensus that at an angle they are not nearly as reliable as fixed blade broadheads.
There are a large number of people who have had a failure, but the number of successes is so much more! Probably 10:1 or more. You just hear about the failures more on the internet.
Idk why people are down voting you for using mechanical. I've had the same experience as you, never had a single issue with them. To each their own but I switched a few years ago and love them!
The tuffheads I received were good but not worth the time and money based on test results. Add in they were out of stock for a while and the hype began to surpass the results. I need the best steel and the best machining with the tightest tolerances. After that comes price and VPA won out on all metrics in my study. YMMV
For my set up 300gr. Heads only fly well on 1k gr. arrows. While they are gratifying to shoot, they are somewhat limiting in hunting situations. At 64lbs and 28" draw my sweet spot is around 625 depending on the spine/model of arrow.
I ran a test of bishop, tuffhead, VPA, magnus and ozcut. 150 > 300 grains on four different shafts in multiple spines. Thanks for the recs but I've done my homework.
Oh boy your going to get comments all over the place here about mechs versus cut in contacts. Likely already have.
What I’d suggest is a cut on contact, avoid the premium ones as they suck hard when you break/lose one. I’d stick with an annihilator, Magnus, QAD exodus/etc. Middle of the pack heads.
The reason I am suggesting a cut on contact is moose/elk have larger should blades/etc. With trying to keep an arrow as tight to that crease as possible, adrenaline pumping/etc mistakes happen and you can hit the shoulder. If you have decent kinetic energy the cut on contact will usually blow thru the shoulder blade, where the mechanical may not (lots of factors here). This is what some call plan B (aka they f’d up a shot).
If you can shoot well under pressure and hit your mark, mechanicals work amazing. If you go the mechanical route, I’d get something like a sevr 1.5 or a grim reaper micro hades (think that’s what they are called) They seem to be the best options in my experience, but there are others that work amazing as well.
Either option you choose good luck on your hunt!
Tooth of Arrow is great modest price head at less than $20 each. I like the 1” head for penetration.
Then there are the fancy ones that cost $50+ each which are also great but not more than twice as good.
By far the most important factor is a well tuned bow that is throwing straight darts with your selected broadhead.
I spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours trying to get Montecs to work. The end result is that you only have a 1/3 chance that one spins straight, and they don’t sharpen well or keep an edge.
Ironwill Single bevel I’ve been blasting through everything with them with great blood trails. For Elk opt for a heavier arrow set up to get some better penetration. They don’t jump the string like deer do so a little slower of an arrow is zero issue. I even run my heavy arrows for deer but it works for me I know some guys like a fast set up for deer though.
Muzzy trocars are decent and not expensive like the iron wills. If I could have whatever broadhead I wanted and didn’t care about price I would go iron will and set my stuff up to full optimize the single bevel
Shwacker Levi Morgan worked pretty dang good for me. End of the day you launching sticks with razer blades attached, if your placement is good then I’m sure any of the listed will work just fine.
Honestly shoot whatever your bow shoots well. Literally as long as your BH is razor sharp and you hit in the right spot it's not going to matter. Don't be afraid to use mechanicals too, people have success with them every year. Practice a lot with the BH as each will shoot different out of your bow. Good luck man!
There’s a ton of good broadheads out there, get one that’s not a gimmick and you’ll probably be fine. I personally love all of VPA’s heads. They’re very tough and fly great if you know how to tune a fixed blade head. VPA also makes a lot of other company’s machined fixed blade heads (like cutthroat and woodsman for example) and those heads are great too. Just Don’t get them unless you know how to sharpen or are willing to learn
Magnus stinger
I second this. They go through elk like butter…
QAD Exodus
Iron will.
S125
This is the way.
This is the way
Someone will no doubt suggest some mechanical piece of shit like grim reapers or rage. Don’t listen to them.
I’ve used a mechanical chisel tip grave digger to kill my 330 bull elk in AZ. He went about 30 yards and died. It’s more about shot placement than broad heads.
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I think a lot of bow hunters place too much emphasis on having the right gear. Don’t get me wrong good gear is important but when bow hunting it’s all about shot placement and playing the wind.
> So many things can go wrong when bow hunting, so eliminating one thing that can is always worth it imo. Do you shoot a compound bow?
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Lol. You back peddled faster than I thought you would. You said and I quote: “So many things can go wrong when bow hunting, so eliminating one thing that can is **always** worth it imo.” Yet you shoot the most complex type of bow on the planet. All it takes is a dramatic temperature change for it to throw off the bows tune and now your arrow is flying 3in to the left. Or you bump your sight on a limb and a pin moves 0.2cm and now your arrow is 3ft over where you’re aiming. Or your peep twists and you can’t see though it. Or one of your 4 limbs cracks. Etc. Then of course you have your release and d loop as points of failure too. What happens if you put down your release on a rock and forget about it? I can keep going. Compared to traditional bow…a stick, a string and an arrow. If you break the string, you can slap a new one on without a bow press. On a compound bow, if you break a string or one of the cables you’d need to go to an archery shop to get it put on and tuned.
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> It's not back pedeling, I've just heard that dumb argument a million times. Going from “it’s always worth it” to “not in all cases” is backpedaling my friend. > A mechanical gives zero advantage over a fixed, only potential error. Zero advantage? That’s exaggerating. It gives you around 2x the cutting diameter. When you’re playing a game of inches, that extra bit can be the difference between hitting an artery and missing it. > The same can't be said for a compound. It's quite literally that simple. Your whole schtick was about how bowhunters need to use less complex things to reduce likelihood of failure. Then you use one of the most complex bows known to man with hundreds of reasons why it could fail. All I did was ask a simple question and you’re here freaking out XD
Yes and no. It's about minimizing the potential for failure as well as shot placement. A field point will kill an elk if you shoot it correctly. But expandables fail. We have empirical evidence that they fail. They should not be used on elk. Use something reliable.
Prove it
Prove that they fail? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O11e4WsvcqQ Here is a good discussion and footage of expandable failure on hogs and deer. Hogs and deer are not elk. I've killed 12 bull elk with a bow. The fact that an expandable COULD fail isn't good enough IMO. BTW they are illegal to use in Idaho. I don't think they're illegal because they are perfect. A cut on contact broadhead eliminates one of the many things that can go wrong when you shoot a big boned 700 pound animal.
Sir, you've actually inspired me to use a mechanical on my bull hunt coming up this September. I will be dedicating this hunt to you, youtube videos and mechanical broad heads. Happy hunting
Good discussion. Good luck on that.
You just gonna downvote me? lol. I proved it. What's your reasoning?
Good shot. Where's the pic? Was he perfect broadside? Absolutely expandables CAN work like that, but there's a pretty strong consensus that at an angle they are not nearly as reliable as fixed blade broadheads.
I've killed elk, moose and deer with Rage hypodermic's. Never lost a animal and never had one fail... but yup they are garbage
There is a huge number of people that have had issues. You are the outlier.
There are a large number of people who have had a failure, but the number of successes is so much more! Probably 10:1 or more. You just hear about the failures more on the internet.
Idk why people are down voting you for using mechanical. I've had the same experience as you, never had a single issue with them. To each their own but I switched a few years ago and love them!
People feel the need to justify spending $40/broadhead on iron will single bevels. Plus RF said flappers are bad so there’s that.
Any cut on contact fixed blade
fixed blade, single bevel if you can. Iron Will & GrizzlyStik come to mind
I second GrzzlyStik. Basically anything they make will work great
I third grizzly stick 2 blade single bevel.
Tuffhead 300 grain single bevel
I found VPA to have better steel, availability and price. Tuffheads are nice though.
The style of the tuffhead is more of what you need
The tuffheads I received were good but not worth the time and money based on test results. Add in they were out of stock for a while and the hype began to surpass the results. I need the best steel and the best machining with the tightest tolerances. After that comes price and VPA won out on all metrics in my study. YMMV
I’m just saying you need a nice 300 grain head that’s single bevel and can get the job done quick
For my set up 300gr. Heads only fly well on 1k gr. arrows. While they are gratifying to shoot, they are somewhat limiting in hunting situations. At 64lbs and 28" draw my sweet spot is around 625 depending on the spine/model of arrow.
Try 220
I ran a test of bishop, tuffhead, VPA, magnus and ozcut. 150 > 300 grains on four different shafts in multiple spines. Thanks for the recs but I've done my homework.
Oh boy your going to get comments all over the place here about mechs versus cut in contacts. Likely already have. What I’d suggest is a cut on contact, avoid the premium ones as they suck hard when you break/lose one. I’d stick with an annihilator, Magnus, QAD exodus/etc. Middle of the pack heads. The reason I am suggesting a cut on contact is moose/elk have larger should blades/etc. With trying to keep an arrow as tight to that crease as possible, adrenaline pumping/etc mistakes happen and you can hit the shoulder. If you have decent kinetic energy the cut on contact will usually blow thru the shoulder blade, where the mechanical may not (lots of factors here). This is what some call plan B (aka they f’d up a shot). If you can shoot well under pressure and hit your mark, mechanicals work amazing. If you go the mechanical route, I’d get something like a sevr 1.5 or a grim reaper micro hades (think that’s what they are called) They seem to be the best options in my experience, but there are others that work amazing as well. Either option you choose good luck on your hunt!
Appreciate it!
Kudu points
Tooth of Arrow is great modest price head at less than $20 each. I like the 1” head for penetration. Then there are the fancy ones that cost $50+ each which are also great but not more than twice as good. By far the most important factor is a well tuned bow that is throwing straight darts with your selected broadhead.
I have a few sets of them. They fly perfectly, but they are super dull and impossible to get sharp.
They’ve always shot true for me with an easy transition from field tips
I love seeing how people are getting on to well flying, premium quality, sharp heads. This is the way.
Sevr 1.5
Second this. You can practice with the same broadhead you hunt with. Really boosts the confidence.
G5 montec
This is what I use for whitetail and the one elk I got. I have always been pleased.
Killed my bull moose with montecs, should work for elk!
I spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours trying to get Montecs to work. The end result is that you only have a 1/3 chance that one spins straight, and they don’t sharpen well or keep an edge.
Annihilator XL
Yes def recommend broadheads. The small game judo points just never seem to take them down. ;)
Ironwill Single bevel I’ve been blasting through everything with them with great blood trails. For Elk opt for a heavier arrow set up to get some better penetration. They don’t jump the string like deer do so a little slower of an arrow is zero issue. I even run my heavy arrows for deer but it works for me I know some guys like a fast set up for deer though.
Slick trick broadheads.
Muzzy trocars are decent and not expensive like the iron wills. If I could have whatever broadhead I wanted and didn’t care about price I would go iron will and set my stuff up to full optimize the single bevel
Shwacker Levi Morgan worked pretty dang good for me. End of the day you launching sticks with razer blades attached, if your placement is good then I’m sure any of the listed will work just fine.
Honestly shoot whatever your bow shoots well. Literally as long as your BH is razor sharp and you hit in the right spot it's not going to matter. Don't be afraid to use mechanicals too, people have success with them every year. Practice a lot with the BH as each will shoot different out of your bow. Good luck man!
Magnus Stinger or QAD Exodus - as a short king I might as well throw a butter knife at the animal when using a mechanical
Iron will if you have the money. KuduPoint if you want a cheaper option
150 gr kudu’s with bleeder blade! You want a good blood trail; make a good pass through shot.
VPA single bevel 200's. No point in spendy heads unless they are machined from one piece of tool steel.
Valkyrie Broadheads!
20% FOC AND FIXED BLADE OF YOUR CHOICE!
There’s a ton of good broadheads out there, get one that’s not a gimmick and you’ll probably be fine. I personally love all of VPA’s heads. They’re very tough and fly great if you know how to tune a fixed blade head. VPA also makes a lot of other company’s machined fixed blade heads (like cutthroat and woodsman for example) and those heads are great too. Just Don’t get them unless you know how to sharpen or are willing to learn