Is it necessary to go heavy?

amar911 · November 24, 2012, 12:59:00 AM

Randy,

Those Hellfires are great broadheads. I have killed several deer with them, and they perform as well as just about any other broadhead for that purpose. And they are less expensive than most. I have said on many occasions that the Hellfires are a "best buy" in a quality, screw-in broadhead. Steelforce makes excellent broadheads. I also have some of the Steelforce Premium single bevel heads, and they are very well made too. The Phat Head Africans are also good broadheads and just about indestructible with the .08" thick blade and steel ferrule.

Based on all the shooting of Asiatic Buffalo that Andy Ivy has done, the 3-blade VPAs penetrate extremely well. I'm not sure what 3-blade Ed Ashby was shooting, but I bet they weren't the VPAs if the 4-blade heads penetrated better in Ed's tests (unless he was using the 4-blade heads where the bleeder blades are tiny little things).

Again, any of the broadheads discussed are more than enough for deer with your bow and arrow combination. You're good to go for elk too, and most other medium-sized game animals.

Allan

30coupe · November 24, 2012, 06:55:00 AM

All this concern for KE doesn't mean a thing if your arrow is not flying perfectly straight. Shoot the one that is tuned to your bow. Penetration drops quickly if the arrow isn't flying well, even on deer. A well tuned arrow puts all that KE on the point of the broadhead. Choose the one that flies best and go hunting.

Jim Wright · November 24, 2012, 09:04:00 AM

As for deer "jumping the string", 200 feet per second is 138 miles per hour, the speed of sound is 755 miles per hour. Your set-up is heavy enough, tune it for perfect flight and QUIET. Heavier arows often help here and I have found after much tinkering that I.M.O. heavier arrows generally provide an all-around better shooting bow.

RedStag5728 · November 24, 2012, 10:15:00 AM

Thanks for all the input, I guess going from a wheelie where I get passthroughs to a slightly slower longbow put the scare in me on penetration.

I started hunting with it yesterday evening with no luck, I'm going to try again this evening with the hellfires. Yeah with either the 150 or 200g the arrows fly good. I am hitting the vital area of my target almost every shot (sometimes I hit the shoulder).

Those Hellfires look deadly and because I got them to shave I am eager to see what they do! Thanks guys for reassuring me that I shouldn't sweat KE. I am relatively new to Trad archery and hearing that everyone is shooting heavy arrows made me wonder if by going kind of medium-light (~9 gpp), I was making a mistake.

Mad Dog · November 24, 2012, 11:49:00 AM

Randy, I shot my first trad deer this year, a small 6 pointer with a CTA red stag 52# @ 28". I draw around 27". The arrow is a beman ics hunter 30" long with a Steelforce 4 blade factory sharpened Hellfire broadhead. Total arrow weight 430 grns. I made a bad shot on it walking away. Arrow hit in front of hips and penetrated to the fletching into the chest cavity slicing a lung and messing up opposite front shoulder area. I know I got lucky, but it was still impressive the damage done.

LCH · November 24, 2012, 06:04:00 PM

I killed several deer in the 180lb range with 51# and 475 grain arrows. It should work.LCH

RedStag5728 · November 25, 2012, 07:53:00 AM

Congrats on your first kill Mad Dog! I had an opportunity last night but the buck was 30 yards away (10 yards out of my comfort zone). Just enough for a teaser

The wind was blowing 15mph and he was on edge because of all the noise from the wind and he just loped off.

Thanks LCH,

I was just making sure i didn't go too light lol

November 25, 2012, 12:00:00 PM

If I were you I would make one crazy weight forward extra heavy not cut to length super arrow, test it, just to see how you like it in your bow and what you can get out of it, and then go shoot something with those 460 grain arrows you already have. There is a time and a place for everything, but for whitetails don't fret about it, when you have enough power and a good flying sharp arrow, it is time to go have fun.

Razorbak · November 25, 2012, 12:08:00 PM

personally I would go with a 500 spine cut to 28"bop and shoot between 200 to 250 head as your bow would perform better as the 400 spine is to stiff for your bow as your bow is about 53 to 54# at your draw...you would get close to 500 grains with this arrow combo depending on brand of carbon as there are some 500 spines that weigh 9 to 10 gpi