The best broadhead is a sharp one that is well placed
With the Indiana Archery Deer Season getting closer, I am being asked many questions and asked for my opinions on some rather detailed information that could and will affect shooting accuracy. Most recently, I have been asked for my opinion on broadheads. Let me start off by stating, the best broadhead is a sharp one that is well placed!
Back in the early 1960s when I started bowhunting, we only had what was referred to as fixed blade broadheads. They were one piece, normally rather flat, and needed to be sharpened after every shot.
As bowhunting progressed, some archery manufacturers started adding a "bleeder" insert, making what was normally a two-bladed broadhead into a four-bladed broadhead that added extra cutting ability.
Golly, there were broadheads made Bear Archery, Super Hilbre, Ben Pearson, and Bodkin, and many animals were harvested by the broadheads, ranging from rabbits, squirrels, coyote, fox, and larger animals such as whitetail deer, antelope, moose, and elk. Before long, much larger animals were taken, including elephant and rhinoceros. It was soon realized that a bow and arrow was no longer considered a kid's toy.
As archery progressed and moved forward, the archery industry, including broadhead manufacturing, went through a phase of changes. They soon started making hybrid and mechanical broadheads that incorporated moving insert blades.
The flight characteristics were amazing. The early model expandable broadheads were razor-sharp, and bowhunters were shelling out high amounts of money because you no longer had to re-sharpen the blades. You could replace them, which was faster, easier, and more expensive.
Companies such as PSE, Bear, Wasp, Savora, Nap, Deadringer, Thorn, Rage, and many more jumped on the bandwagon and started manufacturing great hybrid and mechanical broadheads.
There were several issues during this time because the replaceable blades were very thin and were subject to breakage. Many deer processors were finding pieces of the blades inside the meat of harvested animals.
Not only that, some of the early machining was somewhat lacking and quality control standards were not as reliable. Many of the broadheads and threaded inserts were one piece. They had to screw into a bushing inside the hollow arrow shaft.
Many of these arrow heads were "out of concentric," and this caused a slight but noticeable wobble, creating erratic arrow flight. It was not unusual to buy a dozen broadheads, and you would be lucky to have three that were perfectly machined.
Due to improved commitments and increased dedication to quality control, this issue pretty much has been eliminated, but I highly recommend when you purchase any broadhead -- fixed blade, hybrid, or fully mechanical – that you check and re-check them regularly.
I suggest you purchase an arrow spinner and take the time to check every broadhead. All you need to do is place the arrow, with broadhead attached and fully tightened, and spin the arrow shaft to see if there is any visible wobble in the shaft itself. Watch the arrow point and make sure it does not wobble up and down.
Most archers these days are using carbon arrow shafts, and it is unusual for them to become bent. So, any wobble could indicate the point is misaligned. If there is such an indication, you might try to remove the bushing insert from the arrow shaft and make sure the front of the arrow shaft is cut squarely. Then you can check the see if the point of the broadhead is bent or damaged.
Any wobble will affect arrow flight. You can also re-glue the bushing inside the arrow shaft and twist the bushing and rotate it slightly.
As far as strength testing broadheads is concerned, I have seen commercials and videos where company representatives are shown shooting their arrows through 55-gallon steel barrels, shooting through 4x8 sheets of plywood and shooting into concrete blocks.
Yeah, that is impressive, but I don’t hunt barrels, plywood, and concrete blocks. I can’t afford to deliberately destroy broadheads because at $30-$35 each, that is a lot of money to me. Those broadheads are furnished for the commercials, and mine are not.
I place more emphasis on arrow flight characteristics and sharpness. I will purchase the broadheads and make sure they fly perfectly and that they are sharp. If they perform to my expectations, I know they will work on the intended animals I am pursuing. If they don't, they occupy space in a storage box.
Most of the time, I am bowhunting Whitetail deer. With the equipment I use, I have the highest confidence that if I execute the shot process, my equipment is fully capable of performing the task at hand.
Like I said, the best broadhead is a sharp one that is properly placed. If you want to strength test your broadheads, that is your choice. But I described how I test mine, and it is much cheaper and easier than paying the $30-$35 per broadhead price.