Broadheads

SamF

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Hi all,
I recently bought a bow and will be hunting with it later this year, I am just slightly confused with what broadheads to use. I am shooting 400 grain spines and the bow is at 70lbs. Not sure whether to use fixed blades or mechanicals or what grain broadhead to use. Have been looking at the 100 and 125 grain grim reapers and the G5 montec but open to ideas. I will be focusing on nyala, impala, kudu and warthog. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
 
Your arrows and broadheads are exactly what I started with. Local bow shop set up for deer.

Stay away from mechanical broadheads for the larger animals.

Look at some videos posted by @Bowhuntr64 (Lusk Archery).

Also, read Dr. Ed Ashby's writings, based on a lot of research he has done.

For you 400 gr shafts, I'd get 200 gr, two bladed, single bevel broadheads. You might add some weight to the shafts too. 650 grain total weight with high FOC, 20% or higher seems to be good for larger PG, elk, moose, etc.
 
I stopped using mechanical broadheads several years ago on whitetails, much less big stuff. I shoot 70#, heaviest arrow I could find that was carbon, and 100grain tips. Lack of penetration was a deterrent for me. I couldn’t imagine using a mechanical on the bigger items you list. I know some would love the bigger holes they may create, but I love two holes
 
Your arrows and broadheads are exactly what I started with. Local bow shop set up for deer.

Stay away from mechanical broadheads for the larger animals.

Look at some videos posted by @Bowhuntr64 (Lusk Archery).

Also, read Dr. Ed Ashby's writings, based on a lot of research he has done.

For you 400 gr shafts, I'd get 200 gr, two bladed, single bevel broadheads. You might add some weight to the shafts too. 650 grain total weight with high FOC, 20% or higher seems to be good for larger PG, elk, moose, etc.
I read it as 400 spine arrows, not 400 grains. In which case a 200gn broadhead would likely leave him underspined.

In my experience nearly any head will work on nyala, kudu, and impala. They are tough, but not particularly stout.

Warthogs on the other hand are quite stout, and I favor a quality 3 or 4 blade broadhead. Ozcut or tooth of the arrow, iron will w/ bleeders, etc.
 
I use slick trick magnums.

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Accuracy over everything. Switched to mechanical never looked back. Been shooting the beast 2.3. The beast mechanical are top notch. Will be taking them to Africa In two weeks. 70lbs 440 grains
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Your arrows and broadheads are exactly what I started with. Local bow shop set up for deer.

Stay away from mechanical broadheads for the larger animals.

Look at some videos posted by @Bowhuntr64 (Lusk Archery).

Also, read Dr. Ed Ashby's writings, based on a lot of research he has done.

For you 400 gr shafts, I'd get 200 gr, two bladed, single bevel broadheads. You might add some weight to the shafts too. 650 grain total weight with high FOC, 20% or higher seems to be good for larger PG, elk, moose, etc.
This is some horrible advice. Your 400 spine arrows with 200gr heads will certainly be underpinned and not fly well.

Make sure your arrows are flying perfectly straight, first of all. From there, sharpness and structural integrity is critical. I’m happy to respond to any specific questions, and I’d put my success with a bow up against anyone - many different heads work. Nothing you’re looking to hunt is particularly hard to penetrate. Your setup tune and accuracy are the most critical thing.
 
Yes, I also think .[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]” spine is likely too weak unless you have an extremely short draw. A more common spine would be .[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]”.
 
Welcome to the archery rabbit hole. Do all the learning you can.

Learn about proper spine (it’s not called grains like you said) each company has different numbers for models of arrows they make. With Carbon it is common that the spine which is actually a standard deflection measurement (bend) at a certain weight and length of shaft.

The stiffer the spine the less the bend. So a smaller Spine number is a stiffer arrow. The heavier the point (either field point or broadhead) which IS measured in grains, the stiffer the shaft has to be to maintain arrow tune. - Tune is very important to accuracy and penetration. Tune is simply having the arrow fly dead straight with no wobbling.

FOC (front of center) is also a point of much debate. It is basically weight forward. Like a dart- heavy infront so it flies better. Try to throw a dart backwards and see what happens :)

Mechanical broadhead tend to fly straighter than larger fixed thus can be more accurate especially if the arrow is not perfectly tuned to the bow and archer. Your Form - or how you shoot the bow- is also very important in accuracy and getting straight arrow flight.

Large fixed broadhead can act like a plane/ wing on the front of your arrow. Imagine a dart with the fins in front, won’t fly as well. So the bigger the blades up front, generally the bigger the vanes (fletching) in the rear have to be to control the arrow.

This mechanical broadheads the blades are tucked in more streamlined and interfere less with arrow flight , like a field point. Not all mechanical broadheads are created equal, nor are the designs. The draw back generally is that it takes more energy to open a mechanical broadhead. If penetration is an issue - like big animals such as buffalo you want all the efficient energy to go into penetration.

Whatever broadheads you use You must test them and see how they actually fly in your set up out to the distance you plan to hunt. You will be surprised than a number of fixed heads (you have to spin test every broadhead on the arrow you plan to shoot) will not shoot to the same point of impact as a field point and groups may be bigger.

Don’t hunt with that same head unless you change the blades or resharpen. Sharpness makes a difference in bleeding and penetrating

A perfectly tuned bow/arrow combo and perfect shooting form archer can shoot most any broadhead effectively

Another consideration is cutting diameter and total cutting surface. Both once again important to penetration. The bigger and more blades the less penetration.

The flip side it increased cutting diameter and surface also tends to cause more trauma and more blood and better blood trails. Drawback is bigger and more blades if they hit bone will stop dead and not penetrate well.

So there is a balance based on the animal you are shooting. A small animal would need less energy to pass through completely so a Larger cutting diameter and more blades would be warranted to kill faster and leave more blood.


An extremely large and tough skinned animals needs a smaller diameter and less blades to penetrate deeper. These tend to be the fixed 2 blade designs. Single bevel believers will trade a bit of sharpness for the argument they can split bone better.


So do your research, lots of opinions and marketing spin out there. But the better you understand the principles you can choose more wisely.
 
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This is some horrible advice. Your 400 spine arrows with 200gr heads will certainly be underpinned and not fly well.

Make sure your arrows are flying perfectly straight, first of all. From there, sharpness and structural integrity is critical. I’m happy to respond to any specific questions, and I’d put my success with a bow up against anyone - many different heads work. Nothing you’re looking to hunt is particularly hard to penetrate. Your setup tune and accuracy are the most critical thing.

@Joey17 why is this horrible advice?

The OP did not write 400 spine, he wrote 400 gr. I took him to mean arrow shaft weight and having a 100 to 125 gr broad head gives him a total arrow weight in the 500 to 525 gr. Since you are a subject matter expert, I think you will agree that it a light arrow.
 
@Joey17 why is this horrible advice?

The OP did not write 400 spine, he wrote 400 gr. I took him to mean arrow shaft weight and having a 100 to 125 gr broad head gives him a total arrow weight in the 500 to 525 gr. Since you are a subject matter expert, I think you will agree that it a light arrow.

I read it a few times and it seems that grain weight and spine may have been inadvertently mixed. Hopefully OP can clarify. My response erred on the presumption (never presume - my apologies) that he meant spine.
 
@Joey17 why is this horrible advice?

The OP did not write 400 spine, he wrote 400 gr. I took him to mean arrow shaft weight and having a 100 to 125 gr broad head gives him a total arrow weight in the 500 to 525 gr. Since you are a subject matter expert, I think you will agree that it a light arrow.
He wrote grain spine, which shows a lack of understanding on his part, and I’ll bet anything he’s referring to spine - no arrow has 400 grain just printed on it. Furthermore, telling someone to double their head weight without changing the arrow is always poor advice. Also 525 is in no way too light at 70lbs for the game mentioned. Seriously, what animal there do you think can’t be penetrated at 525 grains for a 70lb draw?
 
My go to is the 125 gr Slick Trick Magnum. I used it on 515 gr total weight arrows out of a 70# draw bow last time for pass throughs on a nyala and blesbok. On my first hunt they soundly dropped my blue wildebeest with not quite a pass through, but the rig was a bit lighter. I actually used Muzzy hybrids for an nyala and bushpig with great success on hunt #3. But for one head to do it all up through a kudu I'd stick with Slick Trick. They fly great, cause plenty of trauma and leave a wide open wound for easy tracking, if you don't see them drop in sight.
 
Slick Trick out of my crossbow passed completely through this guy and came out unscathed.

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