20 to 80 yard shot mechanical broadhead tips???

B

billygoat

New member
I have been an avid bowhunter since i was 12 years old, I shot many local 3d shoots in high school. I have always used fixed blade broadheads, even at long range due to a california law which is no longer in place. Now u can use expandables and the legal cutting diamiter is measured in open position and not in flight. So I have never used them before on game. I am shooting a martin saber at 55 pounds at 28 draw with 360 grain arrows( shaft, fletch, head, etc..) at 250 fps through my chrono. I have seven pins i use from 20-80 yards. My mechanicals fly great, I get 4-6 inch groups at 80 yards on pie plate sized targets consistantly. I have shot and quickly killed many deer and bear at the 40-80 yards range where most hunters would consider long range, but with fixed blade. Will my NAP 100 gr. expandables get enough penetration at my desired ranges. I shot one through a sheet of ply wood 5/8" thick at 80 yards on accident when a stupid mosquito was buzzin in my ear and i pulled my shot and shot 5 feet over my target lol, the arrow burried up to the shaft but im still a lil skeptical. any one have long range experiance with mechanicals. Hitting the vitals is not an issue, its the penetration im worried aboute. Im wondering if i should limit to 60 yards.
 
Shot thru a charging buff at 120 yds
seriously though keep your shots within the limitations of your accuracy
I would rather have a pass thru than just a pin cushin shot stalk in and leave the long range stuff for the rifle
 
I can shoot 6" groups at 90 yards, but ONLY for 3D. I have made 50 yards my absolute farthest distance to shoot an animal. Too many variables in hunting situations to shoot that far... clothing, tree limbs, angles, botched shots, temp. and the list could probably go on and on. That's my 2 cents.

There was a PSE show on The Outdoor Channel and some guy shot a moose at 82 yards! I was so upset I almost called them and complained. Now every non-experienced bowhunter from Maine to California thinks that they can easily harvest an animal at that distance. Just wrong to me.

Joel
 
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your setup now(a 360 grain arrow at 250 fps) only creates 49.95 ft/lbs of kinetic energy

according to Easton you should have at least 50 ft/lbs of energy to use a mechanical broadhead effectivly on deer sized game. but if you want to shoot fixed blade they only reccomend 24-41 fp/e.

at 30 yards you probably lose too much energy for an expandable let alone 80. Also what if you hit the shoulder, you would get no penetration. a six inch group has a lot of leeway.

can you raise the draw weight at all?
Maybe try 125 grain heads.

if you shot a 125 grain head at 365 fps you would get 60 ft/lbs of energy.thats quite a bit more.

last year i hit a deer in the shoulder at 18 yards (421gr. arrows out of a 65lb. bow) and got maybe 6 inches of penetration. i wasnt aiming for the shoulder and at the target i can make 3 arrows touch at 20 yards, but thats what a deer will do to you.

what about rage broadheads. they claim no loss of energy and are supposed to fly like a field point.


i would give your setup a thumbs down
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
just my 2 cents /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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Hitting the vitals is not an issue, its the penetration im worried aboute. Im wondering if i should limit to 60 yards.



Whaaaatt??? 80 yards?? What is the flight time on that shot? Can you use a sundial to time it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gifHow in the HE** are you accounting for the slighest fart in the wind when that arrow (whose velocity and ability to cut the wind is decaying rapidly)passes 50 yards?

Are you deer tied up or immobilized? What do you consider vitals??? Anything brown???

I don't care if you've won national titles killing paper and foam, sounds to me like you have too much confidence in your set up. 80 yards sounds like BS or stupidity. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I hope it is BS.

My apologies if you take this as a personal attack, to me this kind of behavior is an attack on the sport WE all love.

KH
I think I saw that PSE show with the 82 yard shot.....OUTDOOR CHANNEL>>>Please don't air that garbage again, the anti's don't need your help too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
LOL, thats ok every person has they're own oppinion. My first live animal test this morning , yahhhhh!!! I just murdered a poor helpless coyote. I called him in and ranged him at 62 yards as he actually just sat there and staired at me lol. He was facing straight twards me and I put my 60 yard pin at the base of his neck and my arrow smashed straight through his chest and the fletching stuck in his hip with the arrow hanging out his [beeep] hole lol. But my point is at 62 yards my setup burried through a 30 pound yote and straight through his pelvis bone too, Looks like i hit my "any thing brown spot" and I guess my 49 ft pounds of energy which is supposed to just bounce off what it hits like a bb gun did the job. LOL A pelvis bone of a coyote is still a lot harder and thicker than a deer shoulder blade so that throws some of u guys book and magazine reading knowledge right out the window. Just defending myself. lol. But yes a lot of bow hunters out west shoot out to at least 60 yards all day long, thats a fact. The average deer is taken at30-60 yards with archery in northern california. Its not very hard to hit a 4-6 inch circle that far, and even at 80 yards, It required more consintration and lots of developed muscle memory to hold steady at that range, and The flight time of the arrow at 80 yards is almost a complete second. And theres not much wind this time of the year. And Ive heard all the ohw during hunting situations, and the clothing u wear and all that garbage. The truth is I practice wearing just what im gana wear when I hunt, and I shoot with my broadheads. 500 yards sounds far too for a iron sight rifle right!!!! I was in the military and we shot all day long and hit 500 Meter targets center mass or a 15 inch circle all day long, even with wind. Military snipers must qualifi out to 2,500 meters, yes aboute 1.5 miles and hit center mass, 15" every time. and its not that hard. I went to barret basic and advanced long range school in 2006 while I was a infantry soldier in the army. I learned how to hit moving human sized targets at 2,000 meters away with my m95 barret .50 bmg rifle. Not knowing how to do all these things might seem like impossible, or enethical to a lot of people but people including my self do it every day. For instance If i want to shoot a coyote with my .243 at 600 yards, I know at 600 yards my 80 sierras will drop 65 inches exactly. thats 6.83 minutes of angle at that range. I dial in 54 clicks up on my leupold mark 4 scope and my point of aim is dead on, the wind I adjust for accordingly, flight time will be about 2/3 of a second at that range. but I can hit a coyote in the face at 600 yards, because I was trained how. Most civilians would look at that situation and would not know what to do, exept maybe lob a round aiming a man height over the top and hoping to get lucky, well Even with archery I dont hope to get lucky. I hit what I aim at.
 
He was facing straight twards me and I put my 60 yard pin at the base of his neck and my arrow smashed straight through his chest and the fletching stuck in his hip with the arrow hanging out his [beeep] hole.


So if you shot this coyote in the chest how was your fletching sticking out his hip and hanging out his [beeep]?

LOL A pelvis bone of a coyote is still a lot harder and thicker than a deer shoulder blade so that throws some of u guys book and magazine reading knowledge right out the window.


Ahhh no it's not... A coyotes pelvis can be broken if stomped on wih your foot. The are voids in a pelvis that a shoulder does not have. Therefore anybody that knows anatomy and has real world experience knows there is no comparision to those two parts. Especially on a deer that is 5 times the size. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I am calling BULLISH on you. I think what you do is ethically wrong. Everyone has a diffrent effective range. I keep my shots less then 40 yards at deer. 30 is better. I have seen people effectivily shoot targets at 60 or 70. But they choose not too on an animal. You owe it to the animal you shoot. It's "moonshooters" like you that give our sport a bad name. No diffrent then a "skybuster" duck hunter. Just my opinion.
 
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LOL, its real simple you didnt read it carfully i guess, the arrow went through his chest took out every thing and the shaft was hanging out and the only part of my arrow still in him was half the fletching, it was holding on basically by the nock, now u get the picture. and yes a pelvis bone of a coyote is harder than a blacktail shoulder.

You can poke a hole through a blacktail shoulder with a pocket knife. So stuff it lol.
 
LOL, why thank you. You know its one thing to give your oppinion but no need to be flat out disrespectful to another member just because u dont agree. I respect what u think and thats fine but U should learn some manners.

Ive been gone for 5 years and I just got out of active duty military and I spent over 2 years in iraq on 2 seperate deployments and I got tired of wondering if I was gana live through another vehicle check point duty. Now I just want to hunt so the least you can do is try to give other members some respect when You give your oppinion, after all some of us like my self sacraficed a lot of time sweat and freedom so you have the right to come on this forum and bad mouth people so dont forget that.
 
LOL, just for the record since you cant understand heres a picture of arrow hangin out the beep hole just holdin on by the fletching/


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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif. Some peoples kids! I know some top notch tournament 3D shooters that cant hold those kind of groups at 80 yards on foam none the less at a living animal that can and will move. You asked the question and you got the answer. Your set up is shooting a rainbow arrow with very little kinetic energy. With a razor sharp cut on contact broadhead, your maximum effective (and responsible) range would be about 30 yards tops. The fact that you think otherwise shows either inexperience or pure and utter BS on your part. Oh, and by the way. The only way you got that kind of penetration on a Coyote at 62 yards with the set up you described is if he was made of butter. We appreciate your service to this country but you would be better served to stick with that Ma Duece at a moving target at 2000 meters than to shoot a deer at 80 yards with any archery setup.
 
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Let's leave the name calling for somewhere else, please.

Billy- a simple digital picture of the kill would be much easier to understand than the one above. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There is no question that at 80 yards (and probably much less) and animal will be able to react to the sound and/or movement of the bow/arrow.

I'm sure you will be able to hit many of them. I'm also sure that you will wound some because of their movement from the time the arrow is shot and it reaches the animal.

If you feel it is an ethical shot, then that is your decision. I wouldn't, but there are a lot of things I wouldn't do that people do all the time.
 
I think everybody is miss understanding a lil. Just cuz i said 20-80 yards doesnt mean im going hunting and not shooting at anything unless its 80 yards away. I shoot at that range as a insurance policy. Most my shots are usually 20-60 yards. with 40 yards being a typical out here where im at. I would much rather shoot something or try and get closer than shoot at 80 yards. and after some more testing with this set-up with plywood and phone books ive determined that im saying screw it and Im going back to fixed blades cuz you cant go wrong with a nap thunderhead.

I used them for 12 years, I just wanted to know if any one had any experiance with mechs at various ranges and every one turned it into a debate calling me unethical and all any one ever saw was 80 yards. LOL Like I said 20-60 yards is the range ive actually killed most my archery bucks. any who I wish people would read and understand the question and not just say "ohw 80 yards, and unethical, and all that other stuff." Ive never lost a deer with archery equipment yet so I must be doing something right. I have however lost one with a rifle of all things. and im not afraid to admit it, but I was 14 and buck fever had the best of me insted of proper target aquiring with a .44 mag pistol, lol. I almost wanted to stop hunting but I drove on and learned from my mistake not to shoot at a deer at 150 yards on the run with a hand gun.
 
Sorry but I meant that with all due respect. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Listen... you do what you want but I shoot a 70 pound Bowtech throwing a 525 grain arrow at just short of 300 fps. I stuck a small buck low in the shoulder last year at 35 yards with a Muzzy and lost him. Why? because that arrow didn't penetrate more then about an inch. Bowhunting is FULL of variables. There are too many when shoot long range like that. Especially with an expandable.

Your not shooting a super fast setup there. I have had deer jump the string at 15 yards. If they jump the string at 60-80 they will be out of the country before your arrow gets there.(which may be the best thing)
 
billygoat: I appreciate your military service, thank you.

I shoot mechanicals on deer. Would not use them on larger animals. I use 100 gr a little faster and heavier than you. I have had complete pass throughs so far. If I were buying new heads I think I would try the Rage. I have had my Jackhammers cut a rib on both sides and stick 8" in hard clay at 35 yards.

Everyone's distance limit is personal, some can and some can't and because they can't, don't believe others can. I just finished an article in Bowhunting mag. about long range shooting. The author practices at 100 yards so he can hunt to 60+. This is because he hunts in open grassland and can't get closer.

There is one thing to keep in mind; that is that after you release on a perfectly placed shot an animal can move enough before the arrow gets there to ruin your day. It gets worse in a hurry as the distance gets longer.
 
I wouldn't recommend the Rage heads. I tried them last year. I had two open in flight the other the O ring broke brand new out of the package. I am now shooting Grim Reapers they have their quarks also but are no rubber band. They fly as true as a field point.
 
I just have to chime in on this one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

between the age of 10 to 18 I shot Olympic style archery, and we shot out to 90 meters,(you do the math) thats a long way out there, I know how high I had to hold my sight to make that shot and how far right or left for windage to hit the gold every time, which I did. I was ranked 15th in the nation at one time. with that said,

I would never take a shot at an animal over 40 yards and I am what most would call a professional, to many variable to take that kind of shot, like wind for one,

you said you shot a yote that was sitting in front of your in the chest and it came out the rear?? how?? if you hit it in the chest it would have came out the back unless you was stand above the yote shooting down at it, then your arrow would have stuck in the ground, so I agree with everyone else and call BS.
 
Thanks for your input on the Rage heads GDB.
I have went from Thunderheads to Wasp Jackhammer SST's and have never had any problems with either.
What kind of penetration are you getting with the Grim Reapers on your larger deer?
 
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