# Broadhead testing?



## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

Anyone know of a place that lets people shoot different brands of broadheads? There are so many varying opinions and facts I would like to shoot a few before deciding on the "right" one for me


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## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

deadicated1 said:


> Anyone know of a place that lets people shoot different brands of broadheads? There are so many varying opinions and facts I would like to shoot a few before deciding on the "right" one for me


If you supply the broadheads and the target, you are welcome to shoot in my barn. You can shoot up to 45 yards without the effects of wind. It's lit as well so time of day is not a factor. I will supply one of the broadheads for you to compare.


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

yeah you're just gonna have to sink a couple hundred dollars into broadheads to do that kind of testing...sounds fun though!


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## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

That's what I was afraid of... 
Elk22, I may take you up on that offer!


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

for fixed blades I would recommend slick tricks, nap thunderhead razors, and vpa terminators. For mechanicals I would try nap killzones, nap spitfires, and Elk22 will offer you up some epeks to try as well. There are a lot of other good companies and products out there...those are just some that I've seen good results with.


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## PolarXJ (Apr 8, 2011)

Check this site out http://www.broadheadhunter.blogspot.com/ this college student already tested a bunch.


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## brucifr (Sep 18, 2012)

Check this out http://www.alaskabowhunting.com/Dr.-Ed-Ashby-W26.aspx

Save yourself some time and money.

"Dr. Ed Ashby has invested 27 years in the study of arrow performance and broadhead lethality. His testing is the closest thing to the scientific method as is possible under the testing conditions. Never before has anyone tested arrow and broadheads on actual game animals on such a scale. The test results have been carefully compiled and are now available to the public free of charge. Bowhunters everywhere owe Dr. Ashby a debt of gratitude as he his data reveals which broadheads and arrows perform the best on game animals. The results show that whether you shoot a traditional bow like a recurve or a longbow, or if you're shooting a compound, the arrows and broadheads that performed well in the testing, will perform for you".


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

The biggest factor IMO is penetration. I am going to shoot the broadhead/arrow combo that I can put just to the side of an elk's spine (from an elevated position) and get a full pass thru. As a start...if I were you I would use a 125gr head or heavier brass inserts. An FOC increase will help with the penetration as well as with tuning issues (in most cases).
The Ashby studies also concur that penetration is the factor that decides, more often than not, whether or not you recover an animal.


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## telston78 (Dec 5, 2009)

We shot about a dozen different types this past year at Bad Lands in SLC. Had a few cow hip and rib bones in 5 gallon buckets filled with gelatin. To my surprise wac em two blade won hands down. I went with ram cats this year and ended up with a pass through on my elk and good blood too. I will be buying some two blades to use this year along with the cats. Hope to do it again so give the shop a call, if anything go up and shoot some of the 3d targets he has.


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

telston78 said:


> We shot about a dozen different types this past year at Bad Lands in SLC. Had a few cow hip and rib bones in 5 gallon buckets filled with gelatin. To my surprise wac em two blade won hands down. I went with ram cats this year and ended up with a pass through on my elk and good blood too. I will be buying some two blades to use this year along with the cats. Hope to do it again so give the shop a call, if anything go up and shoot some of the 3d targets he has.


yeah I left *ramcats* off my list, but I have heard good things about them as well...


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## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

Thanks for the tips! I have done a little research, but really only shot one lower end fixed blade so far. Does anyone have any experience with swhackers? I have seen a lot of cool videos, but just wondered what you all think about em...


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## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

I offer to sell one broadhead as a "demo" so you can try them out instead of buying a 3-pack... you can buy three different heads for the price of a package of one style... so you can try several without having a bunch of duds or bouncers...


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

I don't have any negative or positive things to say about Swhackers except the name kind of bothers me. Like people say it "shwackers" but it's not spelled that way. Which kind of makes me question the people behind the broadhead. Is it really smart to try and sell something that is hard to spell or pronounce phonetically correct??? People like simple and I think Swhacker missed the mark in that department. At least Ramcat's logo looks kind of funny...really...a cat with ram horns...that's on the same plane as a bear cavalry. It's hard not to buy a pack of ramcats just for that reason...whereas Swhacker I'm thinking who are these morons who couldn't decide how to spell the name of their product before it went to the print shop


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## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

I thought the same thing, but I heard a guy on you tube say S.W.Hacker like it was the guys name... Who knows. It is fun to say though. The heads did real well in all the tests they did.


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## idiot with a bow (Sep 10, 2007)

Maybe we should round up a bunch of archers with a bunch of different broad heads, pick a day to meet at Scott's barn and have a forum broadhead test day. I've got at least 3 different heads to bring.


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## elkfromabove (Apr 20, 2008)

The October issue of Petersons Bowhunting has a broadhead test (Part I, Fixed blade) that includes Ramcats, Thunderheads, Montecs and Muzzy MX-3's among others. Drag/flight, sharpness, accuracy (vs fieldpoint), penetration (soft tissue), hard impact (bone), durability (hard fieldstone), weight consistency are among the tests.
None of them were tops (or bottoms) in all catagories and there were a lot of tradeoffs, so I guess it's just a matter of what animals you're hunting, how you hunt, what you expect from a broadhead, how close you get, what bow you're using, etc. In other words, you'll just have to try them all! And that's just Part I, Fixed blade!


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

brucifr said:


> Check this out http://www.alaskabowhunting.com/Dr.-Ed-Ashby-W26.aspx
> 
> Save yourself some time and money.
> 
> "Dr. Ed Ashby has invested 27 years in the study of arrow performance and broadhead lethality. His testing is the closest thing to the scientific method as is possible under the testing conditions. Never before has anyone tested arrow and broadheads on actual game animals on such a scale. The test results have been carefully compiled and are now available to the public free of charge. Bowhunters everywhere owe Dr. Ashby a debt of gratitude as he his data reveals which broadheads and arrows perform the best on game animals. The results show that whether you shoot a traditional bow like a recurve or a longbow, or if you're shooting a compound, the arrows and broadheads that performed well in the testing, will perform for you".


Ya thats all good but tards want to shoot 150 yards and all ashby's broad heads wont group as good past 40 yards. They also pull their bow out the weekend before the hunt and dont want to take the time to properly set it up.


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## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

Ill have to check out petersons. Thanks elk. But I guess it's true, ill have to just see what works best for me. I like fixed blades, and I'm a newbie to archery. I only feel confident shooting out to 50 yards with my bow, so I guess I dont necessarily need the distance gained by mechanicals...
I still think it would be fun to get a bunch of us together to shoot sometime...


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## brucifr (Sep 18, 2012)

swbuckmaster said:


> brucifr said:
> 
> 
> > Check this out http://www.alaskabowhunting.com/Dr.-Ed-Ashby-W26.aspx
> ...


I've always wanted to know if that's true with the single bevel heads. I never shoot past 20 yards so I wouldn't know but for me my arrow flight improved over a field tip with the Grizzly heads. Anyone know if it's the same with a compound bow? Always wondered...I looked at some footage of a guy killing a Cape Buffalo with one of those Nanook single bevel heads, http://www.alaskabowhunting.com/Nanook- ... 48C71.aspx and was impressed. All that info is from people trying to sell you the heads though. And with the power of today's compounds it seems like overkill for most game in Utah...perhaps even elk.


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