Mechanical Broadhead fail

[Jimbo]

Yesterday afternoon I hit a mature 8 pointer. It was a 10 yard shot from my treestand. Hit him dead center lungs, on his right side. My arrow only appeared to go in part way. He ran off and I gave him 90 minutes. I was hoping my arrow had gone all the way through, hit the opposite shoulder, and came back out.

I picked up the blood and found my arrow about 75 yards from my stand. The G5 T3 broadhead failed to open. From blood on the arrow it looks like it penetrated 8 to 10 inches. This should result in one punctured lung for sure, right?

Because of the high entry hole and no exit hole, there was very little blood. I tracked him for another 75 yards or so and lost blood and daylight.

I suspect he traveled downhill into a creek bottom. Heading out this morning to search.

What are your thoughts? I know bucks can live a long time with one lung. I assume the buck will die, and is probably already dead.
Have you ever had a mechanical broadhead not deploy?

Thanks,

Jimbo

[Woods Walker]

Mechanical heads, ALL mechanical heads, have a 100% more chance of failure than a fixed blade head by the very fact that a fixed blade head has ZERO operational sequences tha it must perform before it's functional. If it's sharp, properly attached to the arrow and placed where it needs to be placed then it WILL function.

A mechanical head cannot guarantee that.

And yes, I have known others that have had this experience. It's not too often and hardly common, but it's not unknown by a long shot. This is why I will not use them. Bowhunting is filled with enough variables as it is without adding yet another scenario for equipment failure.

If I were to shoot a deer with a mechanical head, my first thought would always be, "Did it open right?", before I even consider where it hit, and how the deer reacted. I will not do that.

I put enough time, money and effort into bowhunting as it is to risk an equiment failure at what is THE most important piece of our bowhunting gear.

The deer may die based on what you said. But a mechanical head that doesn't open is basically a field point and killing a deer with a field point is a tall order for sure.

Good luck with your search and please let us know how it goes. If you do find him I'd like to know about the actual damage to the vitals that the unopened head did.

[USN_Sam1385]

Good luck buddy.

You might be able to find the deer. But he might be in the next county. Start your search and make small circles. Also, get a good tracking dog if possible.

Next:

Buy some fixed blade heads. I switched to Muzzy MX3 Fixed Blades. Only $15 for 3 of them and I drove the same one through two deer already. It is none the worse for wear.

I don't trust mechanical heads.

[Woods Walker]

I fully understand the need and desire for some to use mechanical heads because that may be the only way they can get decent arrow flight from a super fast, "touchy" bow. Obviously the arrow has to accurately get to the target first before any kind of head can do it's job.

But I am amazed that anyone would use a mechanical head by choice if they can get just as good arrow flight from a fixed blade. I know they can make a good killing shot...I've seen some of the holes they leave...but even if the failure rate is VERY low, just the potential to have it happen is a deal breaker for me. Yes, it may be only 5 for every 100 deer hit, but if YOU happen to be one of the 5 then it may as well be 100 out of 100.

I've always used fixed blades. When I try a new one I shoot it all summer into dirt banks and such and if there are going to be any "mechanical" flaws like blades coming loose or breaking from very little shooting then I will not use them. I call that my "boot camp". If I put the fixed blade heads into the vitals of a deer they die, every time.

Other than arrow flight, what other possible reason would there be for anyone to gamble on the chance that the head will not perform as designed when a shot presents itself?

[Homunculi]

well i tried fixed blade ones did not work out to well for me .. the fixed blades ended up planing and being off target ..

when i looked in to mechanicals swhacker was the one i picked ... rage has the o-rings that rot and fail .. i think the G5's are spring loaded ...

the swhacker uses a small heat shrink band that holds the blades closed till impact .. very simple design flight like a field point ...

the only one that failed me was on my buck last year ... killed him but one of the flight blades broke off ... replace ment blade packs are available cheap and come with a allen wrench to replace the blades

me and my friends are very happy with them ... check them out .. i have 3 doe in the frezer so far this season

[JPH]

I fully understand the need and desire for some to use mechanical heads because that may be the only way they can get decent arrow flight from a super fast, "touchy" bow. Obviously the arrow has to accurately get to the target first before any kind of head can do it's job.

I've always used fixed blades....

Other than arrow flight, what other possible reason would there be for anyone to gamble on the chance that the head will not perform as designed when a shot presents itself?

We've had this conversation before but its always a fun one. I won't speak for anyone else but WW's reasoning is exactly why I went to a mechanical. Fixed blades planed too much. Mechanicals flew like darts!

Now by your own admission WW, you've never hunted with a mechanical. You cannot really fairly assess them. I've hunted with both, so I'd say my assessment is more accurate.

So here is the kicker. If you handed me a fixed blade head that flew like the mechanical I use, I would NOT use it! I have seen that head open ghastly wounds that I never saw with a fixed blade. I have also seen that mechanical quickly kill deer after I messed up and put a poor shot on them. Blood trails are bigger and my recovery rate is higher. It is a superior design.

Now I will specify that I have only hunted with a 2 blade, slip-cam mechanical. I will not vouch for or criticize any other design because the only thing I know about them is second hand.

[Woods Walker]

When I put my arrow where it needs to go then I have never had any trouble finding a blood trail and the deer at the end of it...ever.

And J'per...be VERY careful about making any statements about how a mechanical head...or any other gadget for that matter...can overcome or compensate for a marginal or poor hit. Now OBVIOUSLY I'm not talking about you here, but we both know that there are many less than ethical or inexperienced hunters who will start taking shots that they shouldn't have taken in the first place because, "That "throw and ax through them like Chuck Adams says" head will cover my less than accurate shooting and shot placement skills".

ANY well made broadhead will kill any deader than dead if the archer does his job and places the shot. There's no substitute for that. If a mechanical makes you more accurate then that's what you should use. But that's the ONLY reason.

[kellory]

I fully understand the need and desire for some to use mechanical heads because that may be the only way they can get decent arrow flight from a super fast, "touchy" bow. Obviously the arrow has to accurately get to the target first before any kind of head can do it's job.

I've always used fixed blades....

Other than arrow flight, what other possible reason would there be for anyone to gamble on the chance that the head will not perform as designed when a shot presents itself?

We've had this conversation before but its always a fun one. I won't speak for anyone else but WW's reasoning is exactly why I went to a mechanical. Fixed blades planed too much. Mechanicals flew like darts!

Now by your own admission WW, you've never hunted with a mechanical. You cannot really fairly assess them. I've hunted with both, so I'd say my assessment is more accurate.

So here is the kicker. If you handed me a fixed blade head that flew like the mechanical I use, I would NOT use it! I have seen that head open ghastly wounds that I never saw with a fixed blade. I have also seen that mechanical quickly kill deer after I messed up and put a poor shot on them. Blood trails are bigger and my recovery rate is higher. It is a superior design.

Now I will specify that I have only hunted with a 2 blade, slip-cam mechanical. I will not vouch for or criticize any other design because the only thing I know about them is second hand.

I would agree with this as well. but I use a three bladed silver strike instead. I went to mechanicals for the exact reason given. Planing. Mechs do not plane, in my experience.

[JPH]

When I put my arrow where it needs to go then I have never had any trouble finding a blood trail and the deer at the end of it...ever.

And J'per...be VERY careful about making any statements about how a mechanical head...or any other gadget for that matter...can overcome or compensate for a marginal or poor hit. Now OBVIOUSLY I'm not talking about you here, but we both know that there are many less than ethical or inexperienced hunters who will start taking shots that they shouldn't have taken in the first place because, "That "throw and ax through them like Chuck Adams says" head will cover my less than accurate shooting and shot placement skills".

ANY well made broadhead will kill any deader than dead if the archer does his job and places the shot. There's no substitute for that. If a mechanical makes you more accurate then that's what you should use. But that's the ONLY reason.

Come on man, you know me better than that! At least I hope you do.

I have never advocated anything but the most conservative and ethical shot selection. I have never, ever used the mechanical broadhead as a crutch. What I am saying is that as a realist, and an experienced bow hunter, even the most conservative and ethical shots are subject to human error. When the arrow does not hit as we want it to (and this is more likely to happen with a fixed blade by the way) my 2-blade slip-cam will more often than not create a wound that will result in a good blood trail and a quick recovery.

When I first started hunting deer in Missouri with a 30.06 I had no idea what cartridges to buy. The guy at the gun shop told me 125gr would be plenty. As it turns out, as long as I made perfect shot placement, he was right. But as time has gone on, I have begun to use a 180gr round that offers a greater margin of error and I recover a higher percentage of the deer I shoot. Now most rifle hunters will agree that the guy who suggested 125gr bullets for Midwest whitetails was wrong and that I was a fool to believe him but we live and learn. Nobody would suggest that my move to a bigger, more devastating round that offers some margin for misplaced shots is an unethical endorsement of reckless or inhumane behavior. It is just common sense. So why is that different with my choice of broadhead?

[Oakarver]

Being a traditional bowhunter..I'll stay out of this conversation