Under ideal circumstances, each and every bow shot on a deer will result in a quick in-and-out wound through the lung and/or heart region. Unfortunately, simple anatomy does not allow for precision each and every time.
Thankfully, technology has caught up with anatomy, to a large extent, when it comes to our desired end result: massive wound channels and short blood trails. One of the more interesting phenomenon that I’ve discovered over these past several years is what I call “the boomerang effect” that SEVR broadheads produce on certain types of shots.
I’ve shot 41 whitetails, six hogs and eight turkeys with SEVR broadheads since the heads were introduced in 2018. Knock on wood, I have yet to lose an animal that I’ve shot with one of these broadheads. That’s mostly because I insist on almost foolproof shot angles and close distances. But, that being said, my arrows don’t always go exactly where I want them (user error). On a few instances, my arrows have impacted thick bone — mainly leg, scapula and sometimes ribs (on bigger deer). In these cases, I’ve witnessed some pretty wicked results.
The SEVR heads feature a “pivot” mode that allows the blades to slide to one side upon impact of a hard object. That design’s purpose is to allow for greater penetration in an animal. It works very well for me, as I only shoot 54 pounds of draw weight on my Mathews V3, and I’ve accomplished pass-throughs on nearly every animal I’ve shot.
On some of the kills, however, I’ve noticed what I call a “boomerang effect.” What happens is the broadhead pivots and — if the deer is angling or the arrow hits a bone just right — the broadhead takes a wild angle. This has resulted in one case this year where the point of impact was perfect (behind the leg in the pocket), pivoted off the shoulder socket and redirected the arrow backward through the opposite lungs and ribs. On another shot (through a TenPoint Havoc RS440), the bolt pivoted upward and sliced the spine in half. In both cases, the deer never made it out of the food plots I was hunting.
This isn’t to say new equipment is foolproof. However, after shooting nearly every type of broadhead imaginable since I started bowhunting more than 40 years ago, I will say that the pivot feature on SEVR broadheads is the best design I’ve used. Traditional expandables from the 1990s were more like parachutes than killing machines. If you hit a deer in the wrong place with one of those, the head stopped abruptly, ending the cutting action and, oftentimes, leading me to a frustrating and deer-less blood trail.
One last tip: If you are shooting low draw weights, I highly recommend using the 1.5-inch versions. The 1.7s and 2.0s offer outstanding penetration as well (not to mention cutting diameter), especially when you 100% insist on slam-dunk shot angles and close (under 30 yards) shots.
