Reply To: "Needless to say, the arrow did not penetrate"

[Bounty Hunter]

#9318

sagebrush wrote: Back in the early eighties I had a supposed bowhunting expert talk me into trying an expandable broadhead. He was twenty-five years older than me and a lot more experienced. I shot a small spike-horned deer in the ribs. The arrow killed it quickly but it barely made it to the other side of the ribcage. That was the only expandable I have ever launched at an animal. In fact, I still had them until earlier this year I gave them to a broadhead collector. I argued a few times with the expert about how the heads sucked. He defended them furiously. I have always hated them ever since. Shortly after that experience I went back to a recurve from a short-lived compound adventure. I also went to two blade heads because I figured I was disadvantaged in the penetration department because of the lower power of the recurve. I have since found that even if I shot a compound at animals now I would shoot two blade heads. I really think expandables should be outlawed. Gary

It was the early 90s for me when I crossed over to a compound and was having tuning problems. I didn’t know a lot about compounds and the local shop wasn’t a lot of help either. They just handed me some Spitfire 100s expandables and said these will fix your problem. Well they did, I hit right where I was aiming everytime. Opening morning that year I didn’t see anything but that afternoon a fat doe passed almost right under my stand. I made a good shot and had it not been a good shot I know we would have never found that deer. My arrow did pass all the way through the deer (missed ribs on both sides) but the blades never opened. The deer went close to 100 yards and went down, but again if this hadn’t been in the open we would have had a tough track as there was little or no blood. Took those heads back to the shop and told them where to put them, then started reading and learning how to tune bows and arrows. My affair with compounds soon ended and I was back to my longbow and I know it is just as deadly as any of these new compounds out there because I have the right arrows and heads.