Archery Talk

I had moved away from Rage broad heads and shot various fixed blades. While I was happy with the way they flew and did recover the animals I shot, I personally did not have great blood trails. I tried the Rage Trypans the last couple years and have been very happy all around with them.

 

I keep a couple of each in the quiver. A shorter shot, shooting 545gr @74# with a 30" draw, a mechanical will devastate. I got some Annihilator for my fixed and they are pretty sweet. They hit exactly the same as my mechanicals

 

Ok....full disclosure. No one was a bigger Rage basher than me. Bought 1-1/2" Rage Hypodermics in 2017. I shot a buck and my son shot a doe that year. Blood trails were incredible. Didn't take pics. However the following are from 2018.

Doe was the first one I shot that year. Was surprised she made it as far as she did consider the blood trail was so heavy.




Exit.



Entrance.




Buck my son shot. Broadside Close to 30 yards. Went maybe forty yards.








This was the entrance.



Buck I shot a few weeks later. Shot was hard quartering away.









Entrance is right next to my quiver.



Exit was in the sternum close to the offside leg.



I've shot Rage, Rocket Sidewinders, NAP Spitfires. I've also shot Slick Tricks, ViperTricks and Magnus Stingers. Never had a mech fail to deploy or deflect even with "over the top" deploying heads like Sidewinders and Spitfires. For the most part the bloodtrails of all the broadheads I've used have looked like the above. With the exception of the Slick Trick standards. Easy to follow bloodtrails, just not as heavy as I'd like. I'm shooting 62 lbs, 28-1/2 draw, 29" long 420 gr arrow at 275fps. Not an overly heavy arrow, nor a speed demon.

All that being said, the best broadhead is the one that flies best from your bow. Is scary, scary, extra scary (did I say scary) sharp. And foremost, placement. Put the arrow where it needs to be. Nothing trumps placement. All things being equal.

 

Bare shaft tune your bow and you can shoot any head ya want. I’m anti mech cause I’m old school and was shooting single bevels before they were cool. Never in 20 years of of professional shooting have I had a fixed blade that would not shoot with fletched unless that individual head was bad.

When mechanicals work, they work great, when they fail it’s horrible. They don’t have the strength to take hard bone or impacts. Tips curl like crazy.

Once a person learns to tune a bow and arrow there is zero reason to shoot a mechanical head imo. I get better penetration, better flight and forgiveness, and the same field point accuracy. Blood trails are hit dependent.

I’ve shot over 300 whitetails in my short career and blood trails are 100 percent hit dependent. Lungs always seems to gush. Heart shots it’s hit or miss the same with liver. Over the years the advantages to a fixed blade have far been better then a mechanical.

For the record I was sponsored by rage and shot dozens of critters with them. Currently shooting rms 200 grain cut throats and not sponsored by them. Also shoot 200 grain vpa 2 and 3 blade heads, also not sponsored by them.

 

I’m in the market for a new bow. I had a 20 yr old Mathews that I’m retiring. I’ve been looking on Craigslist, Offer up and Market place for a decent used bow. Lots of older bows, but nothing I want to throw my money at. I’m not brand loyal but I’d like to stick to a solid brand. My budget is $700-$900ish. My problem is there is SO much in that price range. I’m not sure if I should buy new or perhaps EBay a 1-2 yr old Mathews? I use my bow for hunting. I hunt SW Florida; both from the ground and from a stand. If it was your money, what would you be looking at and why? Thanks in advance.

 

Lots of current bows have very similar cams that were available a few years ago. Yes a 1-2 year old bow would be fine. I’d try out as many brands you can try and see what feels best, things have changed a lot over the last 20 years.

 

Personally, I don't buy used bows. No real reason and I'm far from wealthy, I just figure I'm going to shoot it 8-10 years, why not start with a new one. But I also don't buy top of the line bows, I drop down a step or two and buy the less popular models. But that's just me.

 

I just bought a Matthews Triax and it’s amazing. Shoots hard and fast, super quiet, and has been pretty easy to learn on.

I’m a newbie so maybe you’re hesitant to take advice from me.. but based on everyone that’s talking about this bow online, it’s a huge hit.

 

You can buy a good 1-2 year old bow in your price range but not a new one top of the line for that price with everything on it. If it were me with that budget, I’d look for top of the line used. Now is probably a great time to be looking with people out of work and needing money.

 

Found my Triax for 700 plus about 200 in accessories

 

Check out Archery Talk forum classifieds. LOTS of good bows on there right in your price range. I've gotten alot of good deals myself through that site.

 

I have purchased both new and used bows over the years. When purchasing "used" you need to be cautious. I have purchased used bows on Archery Talk with good success and on Ebay with good success. When purchasing on Ebay I only look at sellers with a whole lot of good reviews and typically try to purchase from bow shops. A lot of bow shops sell bows they take in as trades on Ebay or try to sell older inventory. A site you could look at is "compoundbowchoice.com". They have ratings and specs for most of the top line bows to help you see which bow model you think might fit you. I have owned Bowtech, Mathews, Hoyt and Elite. All great bow manufacturers.

 

Finally got a chance to check my trail cam on my Public land Honey Hole. Haven't checked it since the end of deer season.
The big buck I've been chasing is still around. Lots of activity on this trail. These are a few of the 500+ pictures

 

Lots of hogs there!

 

Fucking pigs.. God i hate them so much

 

Yeah. Tons of Hog pics at night. I need to get a night vision scope and have some fun.

 

Thats one thing ive considered doing on my land in Texas just to put a dent in the herd out there. Unfortunately my pockets arent quite deep enough haha

The hunting outfitter down the road from my land has a NV hunt option so im hoping when he retires some of his scopes, I can snag one for cheaper from him

 

I was down at my lease in Texas two weeks ago. Man the Hogs where sooo Bad.

 

Just get some those hog kill lights, they cant see the light but humans can then shoot them

 

Yea man its rough. I cant even drive to the back of my land anymore because they have torn it up so bad.