Which broadhead should I choose?
By Allan Gunter (Team Harvester Outdoors)
This is another one of those age old debates that gets bantered around bow shops around the world pretty much daily.
Almost without fail, someone will say “broadhead x is the best broadhead I’ve ever used and I’ll never use anything else” and the next person to come in the store will say, that same broadhead cost them the buck of a lifetime.
So what is the best broadhead?
That is probably a question without a definitive correct answer, but let’s at least try to narrow it down a little bit.
Some things we can say for sure:
- Anything that causes friction, or uses energy to open, will be less effective for penetration.
- Bigger surface area will be harder (not impossible) to get to fly true
- Any of these draw backs to certain broadheads will be mitigated by a) a well placed shot, b) more efficient ie. Harder hitting) bow and arrow combinations
Some things that are subjective:
- Most penetration tests you see will be subjective, but there are some good ones out there.
- Personal in field results (I’ll get into this later)
So let’s get into some of the different types of heads and their pros and cons.
Fixed blade broadheads ( any number of blades)
- The more blades you have, the more damage you will do going through the animal. The more damage done, the quicker they will bleed out.
- More blades however create more friction, which as I stated above, will hinder penetration.
Mechanical (flip over opening style)
- Excellent for accuracy. This style is more aerodynamically similar to your field point, so it’s the easiest to get to fly as such.
- This type of head can give you options for cut diameter. Because the fly closed, you can get a wider cut diameter without sacrificing arrow flight quality.
- Due to the way the blades open, they use a fair amount of energy to open up, causing them to penetrate less than some other styles.
- Moving parts. In theory this means things could go wrong.
Mechanical (slide back opening style)
- Excellent for accuracy. This style is more aerodynamically similar to your field point, so it’s the easiest to get to fly as such.
- This type of head can give you options for cut diameter. Because the fly closed, you can get a wider cut diameter without sacrificing arrow flight quality.
- This style of opening blade uses a little less energy than the flip over style of opening, so if everything else is equal, they will penetrate better than the flip over style.
- They still use energy to open though
- Moving parts. In theory this means things can go wrong.
Cut on contact vs chisel point
- Chisel point gives you an advantage if you hit a hard bone.
- Chisel point uses slightly more energy to punch through the hide
- Cut on contact (means sharp blade right to the tip) gives you an advantage for penetration when hitting small bones, and flesh
Smaller vs larger cutting diameter
- Larger diameter causes more damage but also has more friction
- Smaller diameter causes less damage, but has less friction so if everything else is equal, will penetrate better.
Blade sharpness
- Obviously, the sharper the blade the easier it will cut.
- There is no disadvantage to sharper blades
Intangibles
This is where personal, in the field results come in.
Many times people will say, I shot a buck with broadhead x and i made a perfect shot but never found the deer.
Chances are, if you make a perfect shot, you would find the deer if you shot it with a field point. (I may be exaggerating, but you see where I’m going with that)
People also say that they didn’t penetrate as much as they should have. But why?
What caused the lack of penetration? Was it a heavy cross wind? Is your arrow flight less than perfect? Did you hit a bone? There are many things that can effect penetration that have little to do with your broadhead. Also how much penetration do you need? If you have enough to punch through the far side of the animal, how much more would you like?
So how do you choose the best broadhead? That depends on your set up and your desired result.
If I am choosing a broadhead for myself, I don’t mind shooting a mechanical head because I’m shooting a fairly fast bow, with enough energy that penetration is not a huge concern. (And I mostly hunt whitetails)
If I am choosing a broadhead for my wife, who pulls 40 pounds and has a shorter draw length (therefore less penetrating power) I look for a cut on contact, small diameter 2 or 3 blade head.
The bigger the target animal (elk, moose, etc) the more emphasis you should put on optimizing penetration.
On smaller animals (deer, antelope, etc) if you have excess energy, you can get away with a broadhead that’s going to cause more damage.
So the best thing you can do is determine what your needs are, and choose a broadhead that fits those needs.
Increase your odds of having success by choosing the appropriate broadhead for YOUR situation, not your uncle, or your hunting buddy, not mine.