RAGE

ORIGINAL: thedrake

ORIGINAL: SilverKype

The arrow simply didn't go thru.  There's nothing more to it.  No leg bones, no excuses.  A 40 pound bow puts a sharp fixed blade thru deer.  Watch the video chicken said he's concerned about.  The first shot by a Drury is a good shot yet he got 6-8 inch peneration.  The arrows even fall out of some of the animals when they take off.  Yes, the blood trails are good and that is at the the expense of peneration as seen.  They go back and watch their videos and let their deer go overnight sometimes on a perfectly placed shot.   And early season they are probably wasting deer meat to make a tv show of antler porn and broadhead promotion.   Yeah, that bothers me.  Some states & providences have deemed expandables illegal, others where only the rage 3 is, others where the cutting diameter can't be greater than 2 inches.  There's a reason for that, and it's not from my opinion.

I'm not encouraging you or anyone to stop using what works for you.  I don't expect to change your mind.  I provided an example geared towards the question.  But it certainly is interesting that it's the expandable guys always defending their broadheads yet every 2-3 years, they are trying something new.

The question ultimately is .. what advantage does expandables offer and what are the disadvantages of fixed blades.   In one sentence, the answer is that fixed blades distort the issues of an untuned bow and expandables cover those issues up, at the expense of performance.  It's a short-cut.  I take short-cuts too.. release, letoff, trail cams, etc..  but not at the expense a quick kill.  I hope they continue to work perfectly for everyone, but history says otherwise.

I'm one of those "expandable guys" who change their broadheads every 2-3 years. The reason is no more than I like to try new gear. It's just the same as when I buy new fly rods every so often, it has nothing to do with the older rods not working well, it's just a matter of trying something new for the heck of it. Assuming people switch to different mechanicals because the old ones didn't work is a poor assumption.

I've lost count of how many deer I've killed with mechanical heads. I've only ever had one shot that didnt pass through the deer. It was a quartering away shot, that hit the far shoulder. The broadhead was poking out the far side, but the entire shaft didn't pass through. That was the only time it's ever happened. I did in fact, have the same experience years ago with a fixed blade.

As far as the rage heads go, I haven't tried them. I get good pass throughs and quick kills with a 1.5" cutting diameter mechanical. I don't see a need to go bigger.

About shortcutting... My bow shoots bullet holes through paper. Correct me if I am wrong, but I would consider a paper tuned bow, to be tuned. I screwed a friends steelforce broadhead into one of my arrows the other day just to see how it shot from my bow. The impact over and over at 20 yards was in the same spot about 3" off my point of aim. If I choose to shoot them this coming season, I would have to sight my bow in to shoot just those heads. That means when I screw field points on to shoot 3D after sighting in for broadheads, I'd have to adjust my sights back to where they were. I'd rather not do that. With all the mechanicals I've shot, no adjustments are needed. I don't have to resight my bow every time I want to switch back and forth from broadheads to field points. I don't believe this is unreasonable. It's not a case where my arrows are fish tailing like crazy, and the only way I could get a broadhead to shoot straight is to use a mechanical.

I'd go on, but it's getting late, and the trout will be rising early. Time for bed.

ORIGINAL: fishin coyote

Well then let's ask this ?

Why do we have to have pass throughs on every shot, and if not why is it considered bad?

I shoot fixed blades and have since 1978 when I started. I may switch to mech. this season just to try them out but I'm old school

The only time a pass through is needed in my opinion is when you have high hits from steep angles that tree stand hunters seem to get because they think they need to climb to the heavens to kill a deer.
On any low hit (angle or from the ground)it is not going to make a difference. In fact if they run off with a SHARP head in them its going to do more damage as it bounces around in the boiler room.
Mike