Just wondering what y'all's preferred broadhead is. First year bow hunting so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Magnus stinger

Fixed or mechanical?

Mechanical - Rage seem to be one of the better options and I've had good luck with them. The old G5 T3s were my favorite, less the spider clips, because they flew true as hell. I've killed an aoudad or two with the new G5 2 blade mechanical (forgot the name) and have no complaints.

Fixed - G5 Montecs are flying really good out of my bow right now. Haven't had to make any major tweaks out to 72.5 yards so far shooting them vs practice tips.

I prefer mechanical broad heads btw, I just have to shoot a fixed for elk. The way their shooting though has me thinking I'll probably just stay with them.

You're going to get a wide array of answers.

For mechanicals check out SEVR also.

Fixed: Montecs are good as well as slick trick magnums. Iron will if you wanna spend the cash.

Practice and tune (which lead to **** placement) are going to make more difference than what you ultimately end up choosing IMO

What is your setup? (Bow, draw length, draw wt)

You need speed and energy to open a mechanical. Short draw length and/or low poundage, I'd stay away from mechanicals.

If you do shoot mechanicals I agree with the above about rage… I k ow a TON of folks who shoot those.

Im small and weak and shoot QAD Exodus. Not as big of a cutting diameter as a mechanical, but less wasted energy and much better penetration. I've never lost an animal and have 8 kills with them in the last 2 yrs

When I was shooting rage mechanicals my pass they'd would be maybe 10 yds behind the animal. With the exodus they're in the brush, some to the point I never find them.

Fwiw I'm 27", 60#

Good luck

I got a Mathew's phase 4 33 set at 60lbs. Not 100% sure what the draw length is on it.

I plan on bumping it up to 65 or 70 lbs though cause 60 seems a lil too easy.

I switched from mechanicals when I went from a 28" VXR to a 33" V3X after I lost a deer due to poor penetration. You lose fps vs a shorter bow set up identically.

Here's an example of what I was talking about re: penetration, at least in my case.

This is a rage… small deer, 22 yds.


Here is the exodus out of a slower bow, 10+ yds further, 70+ pound heavier animal. Arrow hits a rock and goes over the brushline

I use vintage Fred Bear Razorheads.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/204440350531?hash=item2f99982f43:g:IBAAAOSwdM5k6ToS

I like slick trick viper tricks

What are you hunting?

I have been using cutthroats for a couple years, but I am focused on elk. I have had decent performance with slick tricks in the past.

Switched from rage to fixed. Couple issues on lack of penetration. Love the entry-exit with Rage and have shot a lot with them - but couple of bad experiences.

I prefer a fixed blade on a heavy arrow.

That way I still blow through both shoulders if needed. A mechanical if you square an animal in the shoulder often times results in poor penetration....and sometimes a long tracking job leading no where but heart break.

I'd consider:
QAD Exodus
Ramcat
Slick trick

Good luck!

Use whatever broadhead you like as long as it is nightmare scary sharp....

Everyone will have their own opinion based on their own experiences. Based on my experience of using multiple broad heads, both fixed and mechanical, I have settle on 125 Gr Ramcats for the last 7 years. Shot placement is obviously key, but in those 7 years, I have killed around 15 deer and never not had a pass through and never had a deer go more than 100 yds or so.

I tinker with new heads every year it seems like. Currently shooting slik trik viper triks for my upcoming elk hunt (best flying fixed head for my personal setup). For whitetail I mainly shoot mechanicals and have good success with grim reaper whitetail specials and Rage Trypan. Confidence is key in broadheads.

been shooting these for several years now and dont have any complaints.

https://buyflyingarrow.com/broadheads/coring-broadheads/toxic-broadheads/

Rage Hypodermic

My advice is to start with some standard width fixed blade and tune it until you can achieve great arrow flight and shoot consistent groups. Magnus, QAD, Iron Will, etc, they are all good depending on budget. I wouldn't start with a huge wide cutting fixed blade broadhead. Your margin for accuracy error is lower in terms of tuning and forgiveness on the wides.

Also you mentioned bumping up the draw weight. Make sure that you retune your setup after doing that.

I'm testing some Iron Will single bevels with helical arrows. Pretty sweet (and pricy). If I shoot consistent groups with them then they'll be in my quiver.

Genuine question - wondering why you would go back to mechanical for whitetail? Sounds like you are confident in your fixed blade elk setup, so I imagine you feel extremely confident using it for whitetail given smaller/thinner bones in general. Why take the risk of a mechanical failure?

I've seen people post different heads for elk vs whitetail and never understood why that if it works for an elk you wouldn't use it in the deer woods as well. (assuming one has a well-tuned bow that shoots both accurately). Do you prefer mechanical in general and only use fixed only because of a state regulation?

Elk and whitetail are two totally different animals, body structure wise.

Main reason for mechanical on whitetail is I like big holes and blood. Im also more confident of a mechanical going through a 175 pound Whitetail thin bones and shoulder than the huge bones and shoulder of an elk. A 2" mechanical cut also leaves more room for error. Bowhunting can be a game of inches.

Main reason for slik trik fixed on elk is I'm more confident of it going through any thick bones and better penetration if I have my dream frontal bugling shot and hit shoulder.
I'm not opposed to using a fixed head on a whitetail at all, I've killed a lot of deer with them and still may use the slik trik on deer this season.

Most broadhead failure is operator failure. Shoot what you have most confidence in.