Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Sant-Ravenhill on March 10, 2022, 04:17:01 PM
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I see broadheads selling for $40 a piece. So a dozen broadhead arrows are $480 just for the broadheads. Then add $200 bucks for 12 carbon hunting arrows and your pushing $700 for a dozen hunting arrows.
Of course I know you can buy cheaper broadheads and arrow shafts, but half that is still around $350. The prices seem to be crazy as I was looking for arrows and broadheads today. No real rant just a little shock since it's been awhile since I've purchased both.
But I shouldn't be surprised with the price of housing, gas and increasing inflation on all goods.
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Brett,
You're going to get a wide range of replies to this thread. High quality broadheads can be easily found for less than $40 a head, even single bevels. I shoot Grizzly 200 grain, single bevels, and they are about $12 each. Ace Standard double bevels are a great broadhead and run about $6 each. I build my own arrows using premium grade douglas fir shafts, and I have about $130 per dozen in them (Note, I have $550 - $700 invested in a fletching jig, feather burner, dipping tubes, paints, and cresting machine). This includes spending double on wild turkey feather fletching, vs. the standard feathers. I have also seen good carbons for much less than $200 per dozen. I figure I have about $200 into each dozen hunting arrows. Barring you don't lose them, good broadheads will be on more than one hunting arrow during their life span.
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About 5 years ago I went to carbons. I’ve been shooting Sharks since 98 and Journeyman’s 88 to 98 so still have some of those. Sharks are running $43 for 3. The carbons after I cap, fletch, nock with heads cost me about $20 each. I think. Maybe a little more.
The performance has been amazing. I don’t lose arrows and they don’t break! I’ve only had 2 shafts get damaged enough to discard. I’ve only blown out a couple of broadheads.
I still have 10 out of the original 12 AXIS I bought five years ago.
Last five years I got 40 deer with these arrows
So for me I’m saving money.
When I ran wood and aluminum they were ok but most shafts most days was a one deer or hog or bear arrow. Broken twisted or bent was common.
Cost me plenty and we might have been shooting slightly more game then (2007-2017)
I was so happy I bought supplies and built another 18 last year.
For me it is a bargain. <><
<———————<<<<<
Good Hunting
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No different to good knives. Broadheads are just little knows when we think about it.
I have some cheap Dexter Russell carbon steel knives that are nice and thin and I can get them razor sharp. I've butchered and field dressed literally hundreds of animals with them and as long as I touch the edge up on a small steel when I'm doing my work, the edge lasts fine.
I also have some very expensive knives made from high-end steel like s35vn. I enjoy them just as much, but for different reasons. The edge lasts a lot longer and it doesn't rust like my carbon steel does. They're also much stronger so I can pry with them a little bit and not worry about them breaking or bending.
The point of my ramblings is that cheaper broadheads have a place, just like expensive broadheads. I paid about $120AUD for six broadheads recently and I nearly gave myself a heart attack when I did so! All the broadheads I've used previously were only about $50AUD, which is a very good deal. Having said all that, the more expensive broadheads are definitely stronger and come with bleeders which should give me an advantage in the coming fallow deer rut. if I were to go on a big "once in a lifetime hunt" I'd happily spend big money on broadheads and arrows as I'd hate for them to be the weakest part of the equation. BUT, I would have a hard time sending $50 arrows are basic game around my home here, for fear of losing or breaking an arrow.
Hunt with what you are comfortable with and spend what you are comfortable with.
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I try to trade for heavy heads that people are no longer shooting.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
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Larry Dean-"10 year old underwear"-I love it!!!!
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Thanks much for the pertinent information and your experiences and taking the time to share it. Don't need to pull the trigger today but will buy in the next week. Thanks again!
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I bought most of the broadheads I use years ago, mostly Zwickeys and some STOS, and more recently Woodsman's and a few Snuffers. I don't have a lot of them, but I consider them pretty much a lifetime supply. Pretty tough to wear out a broadhead shooting at game, and I almost always find/retrieve the broadhead after I've killed game with it. Yes prices have gone up, unrealistically so in a lot of cases. But heads like Zwickeys, Grizzlies and Ace are still reasonably priced and as good as anything on the market.
No doubt carbon is more expensive than wood, but good wood shafts have also increased in price substantially. The silver lining is that carbon shafts are just about as indestructible as broadheads. A dozen shafts will last a long time (unless one is prone to losing them), which still makes them a relatively good buy when based on a cost per shot basis.
As others have already demonstrated, you can spend a lot for arrow components, or you can put together very functional arrows for reasonable cost. (Sky) high prices don't automatically mean a quantum leap in quality, if any increase at all. The choice is yours. Good luck.
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I'm not buying German Kinetics or Grizzlystiks either.
Plenty of affordable heads in the $5 to $10 each range. As far as arrow shafts plenty at or under $100 a dozen. Black Eagle Vintage shafts from 3Rivers are a darn good buy for the quality.
I bust and lose at least a dozen arrows a year on pigs. Sometimes two dozen. Most of the time I'm pretty happy if I get the head back. An unbroken shaft is a bonus.
There is a cost to everything. I really like to shoot decent equipment but keep it as moderate in expense as I reasonably can.
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Broadhead prices have got ridiculous. I shoot only wood so I got about 5$ in each fletched arrow noway I’m paying 40$ for a broadhead not even 10$. I got a good deal on grizzly broadheads on the big auction site about 2$ each for the lot. So I’m good on broadheads for along time. I bought a bunch of Hunters heads for 3$ each a while back also.
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I like footed tapered arrows that have found their way to my quiver. Most of my arrows end up of the ground 10-20 yards past the critter, just clean 'em up, sharpen the head and rock on. Also, swapping and trading for good used heads has been a viable option for me. I have VPA, Snuffer, Woodsmen, Centaur, Zwickey, ACE, et al... Some of the lighter heads will be traded for heaver ones.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
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I would hope the days of taking 12 broadhead tipped arrows to the woods, emptying your quiver by 8 and going back to the car to reload are long gone.
6 quality but affordable broadheads 30.00 and I get several seasons.
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I probably already have more broadheads than I'll ever need and I just bought another 6 Zwickey which aren't all that expensive.
I don't go through that many arrows and the one's I have weren't all that expensive...gamegetters and Beeman ICS bow hunters.
The arrows and heads I can afford. It's the hunts that are expensive.
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I know it's not for everybody, but I'm shooting tapered wood arrows and ace standard broadheads. Current prices for both are: $38/dozen on the broadheads; $48/dozen on the shafts. Neither of those prices include shipping. I could go even cheaper and get the un-tapered shafts if I felt the need. At those prices, it comes out to $7.16 per arrow and they get the job done just fine. I might go through a 1/2 dozen shafts per year. I can live with spending $24 per year on my arrows.
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Sharp, durable, and tuneable is all I care about. Some are worth more than others.
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Fortunately, I have shot wood for most of my time in archery. Plus, I have preferred the older traditional heads such as Razor Heads, Magnus, and Zwickey. A couple of years ago, I acquired a lifetime supply of Razor Heads, so maybe I can avoid some of these unreasonably high costs of arrows. There is no way I can justify the high cost of the newer products, which, in my opinion, are not worth the cost. But, to each his own.
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Trade for 'em, or get Blessed by friends who don't need them anymore.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
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Most of the traditional heads last a hunting lifetime.
Unless they bury under the leaves and you can't find them. Last fall I found one lost like that from 2020.
Someone else found it and leaned it up against a log. Feathers were faded to almost white but very little rust on the head. I hunted with it this past season. Unsuccessfully. ..
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I’ve got more broadheads than I will ever use up. Zwickey, Magnus mostly with a few Abowyer, Tree Sharks, Cutthroats, Ribtec thrown in. I’ve got 40 or more dozen cedar shafts. I bought my fletching jigs, feather burner, woodchuck taper tool, creating machine, etc years ago when they were substantially cheaper. I’m set. No way I’d pay that kind of money for the new Bear broadheads. I never used any of the originals. Always thought there was a better alternative.
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I wish it was just broadheads that have gotten expensive but it seems EVERYTHING is expensive these days. :banghead:
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Post covid everything has doubled or tripled.
Unfortunatley its the days we're in.
Zwickys are still affordable.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eESHbd-z-nA
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Thank you again to all that have posted. It is much appreciated!
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I would hope the days of taking 12 broadhead tipped arrows to the woods, emptying your quiver by 8 and going back to the car to reload are long gone.
6 quality but affordable broadheads 30.00 and I get several seasons.
Wow, you must have been one piss poor shot. And yeah, heads last a long time if you never kill anything.
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I've been shooting Zwickey 4 blades since the 80s pretty exclusively. What's the problem?
I even have some of the old 80s blues. Most don't have a clue what I'm talking about.
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I would hope the days of taking 12 broadhead tipped arrows to the woods, emptying your quiver by 8 and going back to the car to reload are long gone.
6 quality but affordable broadheads 30.00 and I get several seasons.
Wow, you must have been one piss poor shot. And yeah, heads last a long time if you never kill anything.
My thoughts exactly. I have never nor do I know anyone that I ever hunted with were that pics poor of a shot or hunter. Not sure who you are directing these comments to but they must be to yourself.
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Cyclic where did you hunt to get 12 shot opertuniies before 8 am?
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Here's a picture of a box of the old blue Zwickey's in case there were people who were indeed clueless.
I've never shot a Zwickey, Bears served the purpose in those days for me. One year I killed deer with 3 different fixed blade broad heads. Keep em sharp, miss the shoulder bones, and lung/heart = dead.
This is the first year in 20+ that I've paid for arrows or broad heads. I've bought two different types of fixed blades recently that I plan to use this year.
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In the final analysis, it comes down to personal economics. If a hunter likes and can afford these new, expensive broadheads, he should shoot them. Many of us can't afford these heads, but fortunately, we have less expensive heads that are just as effective. Maybe it's just me, but I seem to detect a hint of disdain toward those who purchase these broadheads. While I don't care to use Chinese goods, it is almost impossible to completely avoid them, but we really don't have a right to condemn those that do. Perhaps we should simply shoot what we like and let others do the same. By the way, Terry, I also remember the blue Zwickeys. Are we getting old, or what?
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Yeah Sam I guess we are. Entered high school fall of 79 at 14 years old. Once I got my driver's license I was a bowhunting fool. Never got the chance to shoot 12 times before 8 am though. If so, my dad would have bought a couple of coffin coolers for sure, he was that kind of guy.
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To me availability is a worse issue than price. So many are "out of stock, not taking back orders".
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You can buy blem shafts ....... put a Zwick Delta on the end, some nice feathers ....... good to go. It doesn't have to cost a ton. Prices have shot up, as with everything else. Not saying you don't get what you pay for, sometimes you do......but a good flying arrow for hunting doesn't have to hurt your wallet. Look for deals and buy some here and there, ESPECIALLY when you don't really need it ...... that's when you'll see the best deals :biglaugh:
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Yeah I have a package of the blue Zwickeys also. Have a package or 2 of the green ones also plus and bunch of loose ones. I’ve got more than I will ever use.
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The cost of some are absolutely obscene, but that don't mean I have to buy them. Shoot what ya can afford to lose and be happy.
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Just because there are a few broadheads out there selling for $100+ a three pack does not mean there are no lesser priced broadheads that will do a good job. How many shots do you take in a season? 2? 3? It seems to me the cost per shot is minuscule compared to your total expenditure to hunt each year. How much you paying this season for gasoline to drive to your hunt location?
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I also have a few of the blue Kwickey heads. Shoot Snuffer 160's, predominately. But do shoot ACE, Magnus, and STOS. Have a pile of Woodsmen, Grizzly Instinct and VPA waiting their turn. Just stumbled onto a bunch of Centaur Battle Axe heads, so I'm set for the foreseeable future. Also have about ten dozen wood shafts bidding their time waiting for stain and fletching. All I need is the time to hunt!!!
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
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Actually no JohnV, some of us will shoot 20, 30, 50 shots at animals every year.
We can't assume others have the same circumstances or needs as we do.
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I laugh not out of jealousy but why? Been using Black diamonds since the 60's. We sold a ton of those and Bear heads out of the archery shop. Doesn't take much to sharpen them up and if you need more they are relatively cheap in comparison.
If a guy took the time he/she could hit the woods with $10.00 invested in their equipment and kill a deer just as dead as the guy with a thousand dollars worth of equipment. By that I mean I took time to learn how to make a self bow, wood shafts, grind my turkey feathers and flint knap my stone hunting heads. What made it up to $10.00 was the cost for the string material.
Just the other day a guy in a sport shop showed me a $170.00 drop away rest. Now that is a head scratcher.
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Bill Dunn who used to own Zipper bought them out to make the Grizzly Instinct. He got the tooling he wanted I think. I bought a bunch off of him. I don't know how to get in touch with him now though.
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25 plus years ago I used to go in with a guy or two and we'd buy bodkin rejects by the 1000 from Whiffen (I think) for .25 cents each. One of the guys I did this with always complained that they were too high because he had paid .10 cents a piece before I started doing it. I never could tell why many of them were rejects. We bought a few thousands and the price went up again so we quit doing it. Man I wish I would have bought way more now. I am probably down to about 100 left.
Many years ago I figured things would get tight in the glue on market. Mike Sohm with Magnus was getting out of that market and had talked about it being a tough market. I got scared and bought, begged, traded or whatever for as many glue on magnus and zwickey I could get for me and my kids. I have a couple thousand easily of them and bears, ace, and ribbies. My top price was always $40 to $50 per new dozen depending on the head. I paid much less than that for many of them. I'd pay the $50 for Magnus glue on. I am REALLY glad I did that back then. An Ace head today is way more than I have ever paid but I still think it is about the best value out there compared to the others. I would never pay some of the prices I see advertised when Ace is so much cheaper and kills just as good as anything else. Plus Bob and Jan Mayo are about 2 of the best people around!
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I like reading these kind of threads. I still hunt with the old Bear Razorheads, which I try to pickup for around $3 each. If a person is not as cheap as me, they can be had for around $5. I have around 30 of those Bodkin heads that someone gave to me, and I use them on groundhogs. They kill'em just as dead.
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I shot over a blackbuck doe and skipped a $30 Grizzlystik head deep in brush never to be seen again. That and a couple of cheap heads destroyed, 3 destroyed arrows and another one needs to be refletched. It was an expensive, discouraging and exhilarating trip this week.
But in the end all those were the least expensive part of the trip. I spent that or more on fuel!
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Yeah, if ya want a reliable head, you can get one at a reasonable price or an outrageous price. Both work the same if applied the same.
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Take a week long trip to Cape York peninsula hunting pigs with $30ea BH's and report back to me.
That's one place where you can empty a quiver before midday. Not because of shooting poor but because of target rich.
The 300gr tuffhead is about the only premium BH I would buy again only because I'm setup to use it on a very specific water buffalo arrow. At the moment my quiver is a mix of grizzly, magnus 1's, Blackstump's (old aussie heads) and simmons tree sharks.
I find the latest craze of one piece machined heads to be too expensive and too limiting on available weights for the same bh design. as the weight changes the head design changes. I think trad shooter's looking for machined heads would be better served with a wider choice of glue on machined heads for greater flexibility in weight via adapters.
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A sharp broadhead that flies straight for you is a sharp broadhead that flies straight for you. The critter doesn't care much what it cost. I hunt way too much to buy the expensive ones that I am absolutely are sure ARE worth the money to folks who buy them. And if I were going on the trip-of-a-lifetime, maybe I would buy a handful. . . wait, I do that twice a year . . never mind. I will stick with Zwickeys and Wensel Woodsman and any other quality head I can get on sale. :) But I have been called thrifty.
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I shoot what I know works or what I can trade for to try out. Almost all my "expensive" broadheads just cost me postage. Do like VPA, but still don't have a ton of hunting data on them. What I do have is positive. Shoot ACE, Magnus, Zwickey - 2 and 4 blade, Woodsman, Grizzly Instinct, Snuffer and Centaur, also. They all work just fine. Even have a couple RH bevel, Tuff heads laying around I picked up as part of a trade that I have not tested. Guess I need to get cracking!!!
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
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A sharp broadhead that flies straight for you is a sharp broadhead that flies straight for you. The critter doesn't care much what it cost. I hunt way too much to buy the expensive ones that I am absolutely are sure ARE worth the money to folks who buy them. And if I were going on the trip-of-a-lifetime, maybe I would buy a handful. . . wait, I do that twice a year . . never mind. I will stick with Zwickeys and Wensel Woodsman and any other quality head I can get on sale. :) But I have been called thrifty.
Too funny Matt!!!
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I would hope the days of taking 12 broadhead tipped arrows to the woods, emptying your quiver by 8 and going back to the car to reload are long gone.
6 quality but affordable broadheads 30.00 and I get several seasons.
Wow, you must have been one piss poor shot. And yeah, heads last a long time if you never kill anything.
Well... As you can see, my buddy Charlie, didn't post a comeback.... He's too nice of a guy!! (But I will)
I have known, Charlie (CyclicRivers) for many years, and hunted with him often.
I haven't hunted with Charlie since he moved to Wisconsin several years ago. But, when we did hunt together, He shot wood arrows, with Zwickey Eskimos, and I NEVER saw him carry more than 3-4 arrows in his quiver.
Charlie can SHOOT!!!! :archer2:
He's killed his share of game, and always has venison in the freezer!
If we were at a shoot somewhere and you made a comment like that...??
I pull out a $100 bill and tell you to put your money where your mouth is....
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Hmmmm... Dam putor!!! :banghead:
Well, I screwed that up!! But I think I made my point....
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Chuck, thank you for standing up for Charlie. I don't know Charlie personally, but there really isn't any good reason for us to insult each other here. We're all brothers of the bow, in our case, the trad bow. Good natured ribbing to friends is something I enjoy as well as the next guy. I've been noticing posts lately that don't seem to come from that angle.
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I have enough arrows and broadheads to last a lifetime.
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I asked a friend who has been to Africa multiple times if he thought my inexpensive but quality heads would be adequate for the African game I was going after.
He replied Mike Yancey (my host on the trip) shot them with sharp rocks. And kills a bunch.
I'm pretty confident.
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Jerry- How do you go thru 900+ Broadheads?
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My favorite broadheads are the free ones - before he sold Grizzly broadheads, Bill Dunn would give me a handful of “seconds” everytime we hunted together, which was pretty often, until he and his bride sold everything and became Gypsies out west……🤓
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Gun, I'd lose 200 bodkins a year hunting small game. I have less than 75 left to my name at this point and started hunting small game with homemade points many years ago. Regarding the hundreds of Magnus, zwickey, ace, bear, ribbies, and stos I have - I won't even come close to using them. My kids and their kids will never have to buy glue on broadheads. I overdo everything in life.
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Same here. Lol. I over do everything hunting wise. :bigsmyl:
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I am lucky, I have a few lifetime supplies of the original Magnus head that I like fine. I also have a few dozen Zwicky's that work well. But, prices have gone up as new technology and new marketing seem to drive the bigger/better mind set. If you are concerned about the cost of your broad heads just check out Bishop broadheads. Their premier model will run you $3599.96 a dozen. Arrows are a bit more.
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If you are concerned about the cost of your broad heads just check out Bishop broadheads. Their premier model will run you $3599.96 a dozen. Arrows are a bit more.
I can't even believe people would pay that much. There's a sucker born every day they say.
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Maybe it's me...?? :dunno:
I started bowhunting in 1976 when I was 16 years old.
(Ok, I've been shooting a bow since I could walk, and raining hell on the woodchucks in my grandad's garden 5-6)
But legally deer hunting... I used a 50# Bear Alaskan, tape on Bear quiver, and cedar arrows tipped with Bear Razorheads. Fred Bear was my childhood idol.
I shot everything with a Razorhead!! Rabbits, squirrels, deer, 2 FOX!! I learned early... A "one shot" deal.
If I missed, I could probly find my arrow, touch up the Razorhead, put it back in my quiver.
More times than not, a hit, or miss, resulted in a broken arrow and or bent broadhead...
Broken, bent, destroyed arrows and broadheads, was part of the game... :archer:
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I won a pack of Ace standard broadheads many years ago at the Ky Tradfest. They have been very good and highly effective every since and still using them. Lost a few, traded for more, and still loving them. Had purchased a pack of Zwickey before that, very good also. I admit that I look and lust and maybe even drool a little looking at the new heads. Unfortunately my wallet keeps me using what has proven itself good time and time again! Well maybe that’s not too unfortunate.
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There are cheap broadheads like Allen that are junk. Then there are heads like the Magnus Stinger and the Original Muzzy's that spin well, are tough but not indestructible and then there are heads like Iron Will and Valkyrie that are worth the money for the hunt of a lifetime but IMO too expensive for the typical whitetail hunter.
I use both the Magnus and Muzzy. IMO the original Muzzy 3 and 4 blade heads at $35 a six pack is the greatest value in archery. I have killed about 150 deer with a bow and about 1/2 have been killed with the Muzzy. They are durable, fly well and perform well for me. Are they the best head made? The answer is no but they cover all the bases for my standard whitetail hunts. I don't worry if I bend a ferrule after passing through a deer or losing it because I couldn't find my arrow after a shot.
I use a standard .246 arrow because I want a standard insert and ease of adjustment with insert weights to fine tune FOC that isn't available in many smaller diameter arrows and have never felt handicapped in any way. I took up the recurve the end of November and was able to take a doe during winter bow. With all of the deer I have killed in my life this is the first I have ever shot squarely into the scapula. I was pleasantly surprised that my 43# ILF bow shooting 535 grain GT Hunters tipped by a 100 grain Muzzy 3 Blade original head, 120 grain insert and 4 fletch feathers blew through the near side shoulder blade and stopped against the far shoulder. I had a blood trail that a blind man could follow and the deer died on the run about 100 yards away. I literally couldn't ask for any better performance!
My dozen shafts were $80, Heads $35, feathers $25, inserts 17 for a total of $157 which works out to just over $12 a complete hunting arrow.
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Just traded four Tuffhead 190 grain single bevel for three Grizzly Instinct 190/200 grain heads. Just cost postage.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: