Favorite Bow Broadheads / crossbow vs compound or longbows

[skyhightree1]

Does anyone use spitfire broadheads ? I love those things they are high as crap now 35 bucks for 3. I also have stopped using my compound bow for deer and use my crossbow. I only use the compound for fish now. What kind of bows do yall use and for what?

 

[Caustic Burno]

I only use Zwickey broadhead's. This is a hard question to come to just one.
Favorite bow would be a toss up on a custom made Leach recurve or longbow.
I also have a custom Mahaska longbow I really enjoy hunting along with several Van Houten flat bow's .
http://www.leach-custombows.com/index.html
http://www.mahaskacustombows.com/

 

[skyhightree1]

Nice... I only have 2 crossbows one a barnett and the other a tenpoint that I use for deer and my bowfishing bow is a bear. I do not have a recurve bow i have a long bow but do not use it to hunt with its in my attic i think or garage.

 

[HOSS]

Does anyone use spitfire broadheads ? I love those things they are high as crap now 35 bucks for 3. I also have stopped using my compound bow for deer and use my crossbow. I only use the compound for fish now. What kind of bows do yall use and for what?

I use a Mathews Switchback compound bow. I have been bow hunting for 30 years and have owned just about every major brand out there. I shot 3-D tournaments for a few years and was sponsored by PSE and then Golden Eagle Archery so I got to shoot just about everything. These days, in my opinion, Mathews and BowTech make the best compound bows on the market.

Broad heads are a different story. I have taken near 100 whitetails, 2 mule deer, 2 bull elk,1 black bear, several wild boar, feral sheep, coyotes and varmints with a bow and arrow over those years. I have used just about every broad head by reputable manufacturers. I have used traditional styles like Zwickey, Magnus and Bear Supers. I have used Thunderheads, Satellite, Muzzys, Bow Bullets, Wasp, Montec, Spitfires, Pucketts, Razorbacks etc. In addition to blood trailing my own kills I have probably assisted on another 100 blood trails over the years. In the last 15 years 90% of the blood trails that I have been on where the animal was NOT recovered have all been shot with expandable broad heads. When they work.....they work great.....when they fail they fail miserably. I do not use them these days after having a couple of bad experiences with them. Especially in the penetration and blade deployment areas. The heads that I have found to be the toughest and most consistent have been the Muzzy heads. I shoot the MX-4's these days. I have NEVER had a Muzzy head fail.....ever. I have never even sheared a blade. They fly good and I know that when they hit the animal they will perform if I do my part. I used to love the Thunderheads. I was actually pictured in their sales brochure back in 1994 or 1995 with a big bruiser P&Y 8pt with 13" tines that I shot using their heads. They had the sharpest blades I have ever seen. Like a surgeons scalpel.............but...........I quit using them due to the blades shearing out if a shoulder was clipped. With the muzzy heads I just plow right on through bone, muscle and hide.

I know the TV hunters really push the expandable heads. Of course they are paid to do so. I won't use them again. I guess there is a reason why many outfitters ban those heads in their hunting camps. Too many lost animals. By design the heads are mechanical and anything mechanical will fail.

 

[skyhightree1]

I bought a matthews switchback then 3 days later they passed the law you could use a crossbow and sold it and go my ten point crossbow lol I have never had any problems with a spitfire yet out of the 37 deer I have taken with it I have had some I didnt recover which was my fault "bad shooting". I had a traditional broad head start whistling while i was in the tree and it was windy after that I tried spitfire and been hooked ever since. But i do agree with the mechanical aspect of failures.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I bought a compound last year just to the fact of being forced to do so for medical reason's.
I will go to my grave not liking them as I do traditional shooting. I used to teach traditional archery at the local shop.
The Leach Bow was a gift for teaching people how to shoot traditionally, I love to shoot it. I am just too scared to take it hunting as there is not another one like it in the world and who know's what it would cost to have it speciality built.
It is clear glass over Osage with carbon fiber sandwiched between the Osage. It is fast and smooth for a recurve.
I loved the 3-D tourney's as well, and we had a fantastic range and club.
The shoot's would have everykind of animal imaginable in any kind of setting you could think up.
I remember one of the toughest station's they set up at one shoot was a turkey under a deer feeder with three hog's around it and you were shooting uphill at roughly 30 yard's. You had about a three inch widow to put that arrow through to hit that bird. I have killed many a deer with a self bow made out of hickory or osage.
There is just something about doing it the way primitive man did it with two stick's and a sting that I can't resist.
The thrill and satisfaction of the hunt with primitive is beyond any other method I have used.

 

[skyhightree1]

I am sure the primitive way is fun never tried it out yet.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

I've used a Martin,Pearson,High Country and now a Mathews,I still use the Thunderheads.
I wish I could pull a recurve or one of those osage bows but it's not that comfortable with my health problems.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I've used a Martin,Pearson,High Country and now a Mathews,I still use the Thunderheads.
I wish I could pull a recurve or one of those osage bows but it's not that comfortable with my health problems.

I can see six from were I am setting hanging on the wall that will most likely never see service again.
Oldest son made off with my Martin Hatfield last year, I had forgot about that .
That will go on the list next phone conversation, as that was a gift from the Mrs. years ago.

 

[Booneville]

I shoot a Mathews Outback but I'm going to upgrade soon to the Mathews MR5. I shot the spitfires for a while and I liked them a lot but for mechanical heads I like the new Rages with the chissle tip. I don't think any other broadhead will come out that will make me switch from the Exodus heads I shoot now.

 

[Booneville]

For those of you who shoot traditional, do you make your own arrows?

 

[Caustic Burno]

For those of you who shoot traditional, do you make your own arrows?

I used to make my own bow's, arrow's and strings.
Made the bows out of hickory, Osage, ironwood, persimmon, black walnut and cedar.
I always wanted to make one out of yew and could never find a good piece.
Osage and Hickory are by far the fastest. I made a Flemish twist string out of squirrel hides and the arrows out of river cane.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

CB, or anyone on here ever used a primitive point for game?

If so, what has been your experience?

I hope to have enough time this year to put in some hours and go with my self bow set up. I really want to take one with one of the points a buddy made for me.

The blades I use are zwickey.

My modern set up is a Mathews (i don't remember the model), and a Bass pro brand something or other special. To be honest, it is quieter and I hit maybe a little better with it. I would sell one, but I like the idea of having a back up.

I didn't realize mechanical heads were so questionable. I liked them because I didn't worry about tuning them.

 

[Caustic Burno]

CB, or anyone on here ever used a primitive point for game?

If so, what has been your experience?

I hope to have enough time this year to put in some hours and go with my self bow set up. I really want to take one with one of the points a buddy made for me.

The blades I use are zwickey.

My modern set up is a Mathews (i don't remember the model), and a Bass pro brand something or other special. To be honest, it is quieter and I hit maybe a little better with it. I would sell one, but I like the idea of having a back up.

I didn't realize mechanical heads were so questionable. I liked them because I didn't worry about tuning them.

Flint broadhead's are illegal in Texas for taking deer.
I know a fellow that has taken a deer with one.
The most primitive I ever shot were trade point's.
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Hunting+T ... eitem.html

 

[HOSS]

I didn't realize mechanical heads were so questionable. I liked them because I didn't worry about tuning them.

Commercialfarmer, the difficulty to tune is why the expandable head was invented. They are easier to shoot but as with most anything there is a trade-off. That trade-off is reduced penetration and failure of the blades to deploy. You can do a google search to hear all of the horror stories. They are illegal in some states out west especially on larger game like elk. In states were they are legal many outfitters have banned them from their hunting camps because they have seen an inordinate amount of animals wounded with expandable heads. Like I said in the last 15 years 90% of the deer that I have helped blood trail that were not recovered were shot with expandable heads. I helped on 2 trails last year. One got very little penetration due to clipping the shoulder blade. It was not recovered. The other one we recovered after a 400 yard blood trail. Perfect broadside hit 4" back of the shoulder. One blade did not deploy causing the arrow to fishtail hard to the right on impact. Only 1 lung was hit but fortunately the arrow was redirected into the diaphragm which is the only reason why we were able to recover it.

When they work they perform very well and make devastating holes. When they fail they really fail. That is why I take extra time and care in tuning my bow. Bows these days are faster than ever which makes tuning even more difficult. I shoot fixed blade brad heads and that guarantees that I will never have a head fail due to the blades not deploying. When tuned properly they fly just as straight and I can never blame a lost deer on the broad head :cowboy:

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Knowing this, I'll have to break the paper back out. I don't want it fail on any, but it would be my luck that it would fail on a really nice one.

I had an old PSE that I spent hours and hours on and just couldn't get tuned right, so when I heard about the mechanical I was pretty excited. With my newer bows, I think they are set up closer to perfect anyway.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Flint broadhead's are illegal in Texas for taking deer.
I know a fellow that has taken a deer with one.
The most primitive I ever shot were trade point's.
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Hunting+T ... eitem.html

I will look again, but I'm almost 99% sure it is legal here. I believe we just have size requirements. I've just always thought it would be cool to take one with a self bow and a hand made point. It seems to me that a good obsidian point is about as sharp as anything else. I imagine the corrugation will do a lot of damage as it passes through. But was curious of others experience.

 

[HOSS]

Knowing this, I'll have to break the paper back out. I don't want it fail on any, but it would be my luck that it would fail on a really nice one.

I had an old PSE that I spent hours and hours on and just couldn't get tuned right, so when I heard about the mechanical I was pretty excited. With my newer bows, I think they are set up closer to perfect anyway.

PSE seemed to have allot of cam / wheel timing issues. The older PSE bows could be a real pain to tune. When I was sponsored by PSE they sent me the state of the art 2050Z and I liked to never got it tuned.......extremely finicky. Now the Mach 6 was a dream to shoot. I won a bunch of tournaments with the Mach 6. Around that time Matthews came out with the single cam design...........they have been smoking the competition ever since. The single cam is so much more forgiving and cam timing became a thing of the past.

 

[Booneville]

Hoss, have you checked out the rage broadheads? They just came out with one that has a chizzle tip called the sergical or something like that. My best friend who hunts with me every year uses them and has for the last 3 years and we've never lost a deer. The blades even without deployment are 1-1/4" cut thought.

The QAD Heads I shoot aren't anything special but they do the trick and last season I shot a beautiful 9 pt. and I hit him in the shoulder and we recovered him. It was not my best moment and I will admit i almost cried when the arrow struck him because I knew we would be tracking him for ever if we even found him.

Also, I don't know about anyone else but I'm switching several things on my next bow. I want simple even though I'm going to be shooting the Duel cam Monster MR5. I'm going to a whisker buiscut, fixed broad heads and a regular sight (no single pin or floating pin).

 

[Commercialfarmer]

PSE seemed to have allot of cam / wheel timing issues. The older PSE bows could be a real pain to tune. When I was sponsored by PSE they sent me the state of the art 2050Z and I liked to never got it tuned.......extremely finicky. Now the Mach 6 was a dream to shoot. I won a bunch of tournaments with the Mach 6. Around that time Matthews came out with the single cam design...........they have been smoking the competition ever since. The single cam is so much more forgiving and cam timing became a thing of the past.

That makes sense to me. I worked for weeks on it and never could get a good paper tear.

Both of mine are single cam systems now.

All this archery talk is getting me wound up. Think I'll break the target out tomorrow.