Looking for your broadhead opinions

[HuskerInIowa]

Debating making a change in broadheads for the upcoming season but I’m not sure if I’m contemplating it just to be doing something or if it’s a good idea/step up. Currently shooting the Muzzy 3 blade with the trocar tip. 3 shots on deer last year with 3 pass throughs and none went more than 50-75 yards so part of my hesitation is why change what is working but I’m sure there are good reasons.
I’ve been debating going to a single bevel (Iron Will was my initial thought but I’ve seen some posts about them being one of the more difficult ones to sharpen, not stuck on that brand) as well as looking at QAD exodus after seeing several positive posts about them.
Draw weight 65 pounds, 30” draw, with a 460 grain arrow, 100 grain broadhead is what I’m using right now. Also thought about going 125 for the broadhead weight if I switched and more knowledgeable people than I said it was necessary or a good idea. Just looking for some more experienced opinions outside of do whatever ranch fairy says.

 

[Kuk09]

I shot the same Muzzy 3 blades for years- never an issue when I shot a deer: consistent pass through and quick kills... but they were pretty much a 1 shot only broadhead. I'd replace rhe blades, but I seemed to damage the tip or bend the ferrule more frequently, so I was having to buy full replacements.

I swapped to QAD Exodus, and loved the way they shot. I never got an animal with one, but they flew and grouped well. Mid-season, I swapped again to the Magnus Black Hornets, and have been shooting those for the last few years. No real reason for the swap other than I got a good deal on them. They've held up well, and I've been able to sharpen them back up, so I've been able to save some cash as well.

I've looked at Iron Wills and others, but the price point backs me off a bit since I've been able to keep shooting the same hornets. I'd still like to try them, but it'll be one of the later upgraded. For reference sake, our specs are very similar, though I'm a touch heavier on the arrow weight.

 

[John 35]

I used the 125 grain exodus heads last year and they’re my new favorite head. If you want to know all about them watch the lusk archery adventure videos about them on YouTube. I use the full blade version because they are easier for me to sharpen.

 

[HuumanCreed]

I jumped on a good deal for some Iron Will and they are great. Fly straight and I got my first archery deer with them. But they take a lot of maintenance due to the higher quality steel. You have to keep them oil and I'm still unable to sharpen them back to the level that I got them from the seller. I forgot to dry and oil them up after getting caught in the rain and the main blade were rusted by the next weekend. The Magnus Stinger that was in the same quiver as a backup is still in perfect condition to this day.

I'm also interested in going single bevel but see a lot of information about their blood trails being poor.

 

[woodsdog2]

In 2018 I shot a buck at 8 yards from the base of my tree and although he only went approximately 40 yards, arrow penetration was dismal at best. Since going to mechanicals in the early 2000’s I never again had a pass through shot. When I firs started bowhunting in the 1980’s I used aluminum shafts and three blade replacement broadheads and never had a problem with passthroughs. I didn’t know about the Ashby studies in 2019, I just decided to change back and even repurpose some old aluminum xx75 2213’s I had on hand. I screwed Muzzy three blades back in and shot a spiker the next year and a doe I believe. Then I caught wind of the Ashby stuff and RF. In 2020 or thereabouts @Redbeard and a few other fellows started a broadhead test pack which I tried and added to myself eventually switching to three blade 150gr. VPA’s, nock indexing and tuning and shooting a 532gr. arrow that season with success and now I’m at 476gr. TAW. I have a relatively short DL so I’m trying to now find the happy medium of heavier arrow with an EFOC of 21% but also a less arching trajectory. I now try to shoot the fastest bows I can find with my moderate to heavy TAW arrows tipped with beefy coc broadheads up front and I’m pleased so far with the results in game, the greater overall efficiency of your system, and a much quieter bow that will last much longer because it isn’t approaching a fry fire situation.

 

[Will Harris]

i use 3 blade VPAs for compound in 150gr and 200gr single bevel cutthroats from RMS for recurve/longbow. i like >500gr arrows so i have a 100gr GT brass insert. lotta meat on the ground w these.

 

[cville_bowhunter]

Debating making a change in broadheads for the upcoming season but I’m not sure if I’m contemplating it just to be doing something or if it’s a good idea/step up. Currently shooting the Muzzy 3 blade with the trocar tip. 3 shots on deer last year with 3 pass throughs and none went more than 50-75 yards so part of my hesitation is why change what is working but I’m sure there are good reasons.
I’ve been debating going to a single bevel (Iron Will was my initial thought but I’ve seen some posts about them being one of the more difficult ones to sharpen, not stuck on that brand) as well as looking at QAD exodus after seeing several positive posts about them.
Draw weight 65 pounds, 30” draw, with a 460 grain arrow, 100 grain broadhead is what I’m using right now. Also thought about going 125 for the broadhead weight if I switched and more knowledgeable people than I said it was necessary or a good idea. Just looking for some more experienced opinions outside of do whatever ranch fairy says.

I am shooting the grizzly stik samurai 125s, and I'm happy with those. I think the biggest thing is finding a broadhead that you can sharpen easily. Anything with a blade profile similar to that of the samurai would work great. Lots of great options

 

[Weldabeast]

I've used them for couple seasons and 2 guys I know used them last year and nothing but good things to say with cutthroat. 1 guys shooting sub 500gr total arrow with 125gr head on 340 spine arrows and killed 2 last season, the other guy shooting low to mid 500 total arrow, 150gr head (I think ?) in 300 spine arrows and he killed a deer and a hog, and I've killed half a dozen with 200gr on 300spine arrows with real good results.....my buddies are more reasonable total arrow weights with better than average forward of center % and I went off the deep end extreme foc. The blood trails are good if u hit em in the right spot and can be sparse if u hit em in the wrong spot.....with that said between the 3 of us....when we hit them in the vitals none of the critters have gone more than 40yds...all the hits have been pass thru minus 1 but it was a full length butt to snoot and the arrow was recovered laying on the ground 15yds from impact so I guess technically it did pass thru but the critter did carry it off a little ways.......unfortunately they have recently raised their prices but I still think it is the most reasonable priced, solid, single piece broadhead available.

We just using the standard steel versions and so far all the 1s that gone thru a critter have all been resharpened and still in use

Edit:
This slice 5-6 inches long.....I shooting a compound with a draw weight around 50ish

 

[GeoFish]

If your current broadhead is working I would stay with it.
I am not a 2 blade broadhead fan. I have been shooting the same 3 blade broadhead for over 25 years. Easy to sharpen and it works on deer.

 

[bigmike23]

I cant justify going expensive with BHs. I spent over 500$ on Bishop heads last year. Which I really regret, because they haven't held up, and I can't stand shooting something that expensive that I know im going to eventually lose.
I love shooting game and not giving 1 iota where my arrow is. Arrows and their BHs are disposable. Just like bullets are out of my rifle. I recently started a thread about easiest to sharpen single bevels, but almost all decent single bevels are expensive.
I hate when these companies say, "just buy once cry once and you can pass them on to your kids one day".
Pure bs. Youll never have them long enough to pass down.

 

[careyhamil]

If it works why change it. Been at this bow hunting thing for about 23 years now and my observation of the most successful bow hunters I know, they rarely change their equipment. I’ll give you three things to consider:

A) why change if your getting the desired results?
B) QAD exodus are incredibly tough replaceable blade broadheads that fly extremely well. I’ve attached a photo of a fallow I shot at 37 yards, quartering to. Complete pass through out the front of the opposite side rear leg, deer was down within 10 yards.
C) like most products in bow hunting, iron will is seriously over promised and over priced. You could buy multiple packs of muzzys or QADs, or buy packs of multiple different heads and still not spend what you have in a pack of iron wills.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[woodsdog2]

The 150gr. three blade VPA’s can easily be resharpened on a flat file and then stropped to a keen shiny edge. I have 12 of them and have never weighed any with > .5 grains in weight variance. In fact most weighted within .2 grains. They do come in a little heavy so 154graims or thereabouts probably to account for sharpening over time.

 

[krub6b]

Debating making a change in broadheads for the upcoming season but I’m not sure if I’m contemplating it just to be doing something or if it’s a good idea/step up. Currently shooting the Muzzy 3 blade with the trocar tip. 3 shots on deer last year with 3 pass throughs and none went more than 50-75 yards so part of my hesitation is why change what is working but I’m sure there are good reasons.
I’ve been debating going to a single bevel (Iron Will was my initial thought but I’ve seen some posts about them being one of the more difficult ones to sharpen, not stuck on that brand) as well as looking at QAD exodus after seeing several positive posts about them.
Draw weight 65 pounds, 30” draw, with a 460 grain arrow, 100 grain broadhead is what I’m using right now. Also thought about going 125 for the broadhead weight if I switched and more knowledgeable people than I said it was necessary or a good idea. Just looking for some more experienced opinions outside of do whatever ranch fairy says.

Couple of follow up questions:
Have you been sharpening your muzzy's? If so what jig are you using? Do you have a pack of 125 grain field points to make sure that flies well? I would start with nailing down what weight you want to shoot before getting too set on any particular head. I expect 125 grains to fly well and give you positive results but, YMMV. That said Cutthroat and Magnus heads both fly good and take a very nice edge, and I would consider both to be an upgrade based on my positive experience with muzzy heads in the past.

 

[Plebe]

I bought the Alaska Bowhunting Supply Field Point Test Pack when it was introduced many years ago and I swore I'd make the change to a heavier COC rig when I ran through my arrows and mechanical broadheads (mostly Rage).

Along the way, I picked up German Kinetics, Alien Archery V2 single bevel, and Vector MD3 COC broadheads.

Yet, when the time came to make the switch, I ended up shooting Sevr 1.5 mechanicals anyway.

I just haven't had problems getting pass throughs with mechanical broadheads and I've had enough success to not know which side has the greener grass.

I don't know what is best or if there is a best.

I'll probably go to COC when I run through my arrows and these SEVRs, lol.

Good luck in your pursuit.

 

[kbetts]

The hardest thing in archery is leaving it alone unless it's broke.

 

[Will Harris]

i use 3 blade VPAs for compound in 150gr and 200gr single bevel cutthroats from RMS for recurve/longbow. i like >500gr arrows so i have a 100gr GT brass insert. lotta meat on the ground w these.

another note: i shoot a 47# compound and 35# recurve for hunting decent body sized Indiana whitetails. even w the 35# recurve and 2.5yo bucks, i'm getting at least 2 holes w the cut throats. usually a very good blood trail.

the low poundage forces me to COC and a little heavier arrow IMO.

 

[HuskerInIowa]

Couple of follow up questions:
Have you been sharpening your muzzy's? If so what jig are you using? Do you have a pack of 125 grain field points to make sure that flies well? I would start with nailing down what weight you want to shoot before getting too set on any particular head. I expect 125 grains to fly well and give you positive results but, YMMV. That said Cutthroat and Magnus heads both fly good and take a very nice edge, and I would consider both to be an upgrade based on my positive experience with muzzy heads in the past.

I’ve got the Work Sharp system that I use for knives but no, I haven’t sharpened a Muzzy for the simple reason that I had enough that I didn’t reuse any last season; through a deer, replaced with a new one. When I was looking them over is when I really started to debate sharpening or replacing or going in a new direction. Going to 125 didn’t seem to have much impact in my setup when I tested it with field points, still flew well and I didn’t notice a big drop out to 30 anyway.

 

[HuskerInIowa]

The hardest thing in archery is leaving it alone unless it's broke.

Man that’s probably some of the truest words ever spoken right there. I’ve enjoyed getting into this pursuit so much I find it hard not to tinker and try new things just because I want to see if something could be better. That being said I won’t take anything into the field unless I know it’s darn near perfect in my setup, I owe that to the deer.

 

[WISCO]

Muzzy's are great broadheads. I used them from about ten years, everyone carries them, they are relatively cheap.

Now days I am using Flying Arrow Archery, the Kratos and the Toxic. Both are worth taking a look at. I believe they have 35% off right now.

 

[avgjoe]

I switched from mechanicals to QAD Exodus when my kids started bow hunting so we would all be shooting the same head. It’s been 9-10 years and I’m still shooting the same heads I bought back then. If the blades are messed up after a shot, I use them for practice heads. If not, I touch ‘em up with the Rada knife sharpener and put them back in the quiver. They fly great and kill deer. Seen my kids make some questionable hits, but 9 times out of 10 we recover them. I think about trying something new every year, but can’t think of a reason to fix what ain’t broke…