MY EXOCET IS BAD !

[sumner4991]

Well . . .it an unfair debate. Simply because I have shot the mini fixed blade broadheads. You have not shot the wide 3 blade mechanicals. You are debating from what you think. I am debating from my experience.

I'm not saying that the fixed balde broadheads are bad. They are actually very good. I'm just saying they are not the best choice. We harvest via blood loss. All other things remaining the same, the larger cut wins. However, in this case all things are not the same.

Here is a picture of the buck I gut shot. There's a complete write-up about the kill on the forum thread, I think it was around November 11, 2007. He was moving at close range and I missed the vitals. He went about 20 yards, actually a little less. The arrow had passed through his stomach and had barely pierced the skin on the other side. The arrow in the picture shows the POI, but, had worked it's way out when the buck fell. So, the angle isn't exact, it was a little more downward.



The 2" wide , 3 blade Rocket Hammerheads did a number on this guy. A month later, I think to the day, I shot a doe that just dropped. I didn't miss the vitals on her. She was standing still.

All I ask is that you try them for yourself before discounting them. I will say, I wasn't happy about not getting a pass through on either animal. So, I'm planning on switching to the Rocket Strictnines after I use up all the Hammerheads I currently own. However, if I can't achieve a complete pass through, then I'll stick with the wide cut mechanicals anyway. Because, they drop the deer.

Debating the performance on something you have not tried for yourself . . .well, that's what the compounds guys are doing in the crossbow debate. Just try something at least 2" wide and 3 blades.

Maybe they all do not drop like the two I've shot. However, the guy that got me to try them claimed to have shot 17 and he swore that all 17 dropped within 7 yards. So far, I believe him.

How was the fishing? Did you go into the Gulf. My brother-n-law lives in Branford, FL and he loves to fish the Gulf. I'm hoping to get down there soon and see what we can catch.

Take care,

Scott

[speedball]

sumner, in almost 11 years of using spitfires i've never had one open before it got to its target even using my daughters exocet the 125 spitfires have put deer and one black bear down in a hurry, yea for a while i used slicks but with the solengen blades they use now i wont even consider them, the blades are terrible at holding up under bone there sharp but i can get a plastic knife sharp too!! Ive talked to reps at N.A.P. and they test spitfires to 500 fps at that speed the acceleration is greater than any crossbow on the market including the bowtechs, hey i'm not disputing your accounts just wondering if the head was faulty,dirty or if the retention clips had more than 5 shots on them,speed............

[crazyfarmer]

i see some talk about penetration in here.. thats going to always rely on what bone you hit, the angle, and the distance. Ive made a 25 yard shot on a buck which smacked his front shoulder with the slick trick head and didnt get half the bolt into the deer. The front shoulder bone mass stopped the bolt, but still the head did unreal damage and the deer only got 45 yards away. This was on a mature 3.5 year old so his bones are a little harder than younger bucks. I love the flight of the slicks and the fixed head is always there with no worries about opening.

being a gotta try junkie, I made the switch to the 3 blade rage heads, also 100grains. The grouped about 1inch better for me, which isnt a huge deal. But the extra cutting area was my biggest reason for the switch. I have yet to see one of these heads open in flight. Also, since they rear open, you dont lose speed. I had another 3.5 year old buck walk by at 25 yards and got a perfect pass through, but it was also through the lungs so no bone to really slow the bolt.

bottom line is that its alot of factors that will effect the shot... which bhead someone uses may not work the same for another. Slicks worked great for me. Rage bheads work great for me also...

[sumner4991]

speedball . . .all I can say is the NAP Spitfires I have were new. I paper tested them and they were opening before POI about one in every three shots. It was very easy to tell even without the paper because the ones that opened prematurely missed their intended POI by 8 inches+/-(the rest were absolutely perfect). I spoke to Greg Smith at NAP(sure that name sounds like a fake, right) . . .anyway, he sent me some NAP Spitfire Magnums to try. I have only fired them 9 times and thus far perfect. Remember, I am shooting an Exomax at the highest speeds I can muster up, most of the time. I really like the Spitfire Magnums . . .just wish they had 2" blades.

crazyfarmer . . .don't you mean, one broadhead might work for one shot, but, not another? Unfortunately, we can't normally load the broadheads for the type of hunting we are doing(short range vs. long range and/or maybe one angle vs. another). Would be cool if we could. I suppose we can/do to some degree. How's the new camera doing for you? Gotten any pictures of new horn growth?

Scott

[crazyfarmer]

Scott, I was pretty much agreeing with you

no deer pics with the camera since I cant zoom in enough. But get this, there was a recall on my S1 so I sent that in and they sent me a brand new S5. So now I have both.. XTI and S5 LMAO

[speedball]

sumner, maybe having the exocet is a blessing, the added initial boost of the max probably openz those heads and makes the blades fly open, i think there nasty the holes are huge and deer sized game expire quickly using them

[confederate]

Hey im back from Florida, We went to Lake George Shell Cracker fishing. We fished about 6 hours for 2 days and caught 180 really nice keepers. Now back to the debate. The picture of the Buck shows a really sharp angle for a 20 yard shot. My guess is the arrow hit the spine cutting the artery that runs under it and will put a deer down quick like a femorial artery shot since it is the same artery. I would think that the 2 inch cut helped do that but I would bet it wasnt a gut shot that killed the Deer that quick. I know mechanicals will kill deer. I have tracked Deer that were shot with them. I may well give them a try just to see. Mite put one in my quiver with the slick tricks. I Am uneasy about the fact that they dont get as many pass thrus as a fixed head. I have shot a lot of Deer with fixed heads and i might can remember 3 or 4 that didnt pass thru and that was do to a solid spine hit. I know that no one can say that a mechanical will always drop a Deer with in sight. A rifle shot wont do that unless you make a neck or spine shot. If you hit a deer a little high with an arrow and dont get a pass thru and the deer runs 75 yards in the late afternoon you may have to track very little blood thru these georgia thickets at night. You may be in for a tough night.

[sumner4991]

confederate . . .dude, you might want to read my post again. It was about a 12 yard shot, on the move. He went less than 20 yards on a gut shot. The POI is correct, but, the angle is a little off. You can see the nasty entry wound.

Anyway, I field dressed the deer and inspected the entry and exit wounds(the broadhead made it through). I gut shot that deer. There was plenty of corn in what was left of his stomach(mixed with some grass). Maybe it did hit the artery, however, it didn't touch the spine. No need for you to guess.

I know all about shooting/tracking deer. I take on average 4 per year and I've been hunting 30 years. I've shot them from about every angle. I promise you, this one was gut shot. I was amazed. When I saw the arrow hit, I just knew I was in trouble. I immediately took off to set up an ambush down the creek. The deer didn't round the corner. I went back and there it laid. I couldn't believe it. I shot a deer with my .270 in a similar manner and it travelled 300 yards. OK . . .you can argue this was a fluke. I'll give you that.

All I ask is for you to try them and give us your opinion then.

[confederate]

I know it takes more than a gut shot to put a Deer down that fast with an arrow.. The deer had to die from something plain and simple. If it was a fluke then you cant give a broadhead credit for it cause you couldnt count on it happening again.

[sumner4991]

confederate . . .I know it died from something too. It died from complications due to taking a 2" broadhead from close range.

It most likely passed out and drowned in the creek. I'm no medical examiner. I just know where the arrow hit and the damage it did on the way through. There was a cut about a 1/4" deep and 1" long on the liver. There was extensive damage along the route the arrow took. However, there was not a lot of blood in the cavity. The deer could have died from shock. You can blame the actual cause of death on a number of things and in each case . . . the cause of death began with a 2" broadhead. Would I have gotten the same results with a broadhead with 40% less cutting surface, maybe, but odds are against it.

How many times have you heard of someone hitting a deer where I hit that one and it drop in less than 20 yards? Especially with a bow. Most of the time we hear of long tracking jobs from solid hits. I've never heard of a short tracking job on a bad hit. This is a fluke, OK. Can I credit the broadhead . . .I can't credit anything else, the broadhead was the cause of death.

I'm not trying to sell a particular brand. Just try a wide cut 3 blade broadhead.