Expandable Broadhead Failure

[retrieverman]

Well, not a failure, but they don't kill well when you shoot a deer in the REAR LEG. I found this one in a really nice young 8 point that I've been watching since September. By my game cam pictures, he was shot some time around the 15th of November. I really wanted to see this buck grow another year or two, but his condition had deteriorated to a point he needed to be put down. The meat appears to still be fine except in the immediate area around the wound.

[Tennessee Rebel]

I was taking the cape off a small 8 pt last Sunday then helped the guy that gave me the cape skin and quarter it. When we took off one shoulder, there, right under the spine was a three blade Rage that looked like it just came out of the package! Still had the insert on it.

[xcaliber]

Sad part is that the yahoo that shot him probably bad mouthing the bow, broadhead, etc. Good for you taking him out.

[galamb]

Combination of poor shot placement and a broadhead that has mediocre penetration at best = wounded deer.

(just venting a little here - not directed at the posters on this thread)

If you are not going to take the time to get really good with your bow and you are willing to take "any shot" - since we can not stop you, at least use a broadhead that has a reasonable chance of putting the deer down - RAGE is not that broadhead.

I have tested over a dozen broadheads for "penetration" and the Rage 2 blade is the absolute worst of the bunch.

Yes (I here the defenders already), if you put it through the boiler room it works great - but so would a field point...

[DuckHunt]

Yes (I here the defenders already), if you put it through the boiler room it works great - but so would a field point...

Thanks! I needed that laugh. There is nothing like a good dose of reality.
DuckHunt

[retrieverman]

Combination of poor shot placement and a broadhead that has mediocre penetration at best = wounded deer.

(just venting a little here - not directed at the posters on this thread)

If you are not going to take the time to get really good with your bow and you are willing to take "any shot" - since we can not stop you, at least use a broadhead that has a reasonable chance of putting the deer down - RAGE is not that broadhead.

I have tested over a dozen broadheads for "penetration" and the Rage 2 blade is the absolute worst of the bunch.

Yes (I here the defenders already), if you put it through the boiler room it works great - but so would a field point...

You do understand this deer was shot in the HIND LEG, right? That's just piss poor shot placement, period.

My "expandable failure" comment was meant as a joke, and the fact that it's a Rage is just a coincidence and irrelevant given the shot placement.

[Pydpiper]

I can't tell if this was wrote jokingly or not..
Rage seems to have people that love them and people who hate them, nothing in between.
It sounds like a serious post, but in your signature you list Rage as your broadhead.
I have had good luck with them, not my first choice though.

Combination of poor shot placement and a broadhead that has mediocre penetration at best = wounded deer.

(just venting a little here - not directed at the posters on this thread)

If you are not going to take the time to get really good with your bow and you are willing to take "any shot" - since we can not stop you, at least use a broadhead that has a reasonable chance of putting the deer down - RAGE is not that broadhead.

I have tested over a dozen broadheads for "penetration" and the Rage 2 blade is the absolute worst of the bunch.

Yes (I here the defenders already), if you put it through the boiler room it works great - but so would a field point...

[Fred T]

A real shame.Hopefully that shot placement isn't indicative of their true skill set.Otherwise they should stick to the target range.

[one shot scott]

Allow me to play devils advocate.

Judging from the pictures..That wound is approx at the same height as the vitals. On a heavy 1/4 away it is only a minor mistake of the hunter or movement of the deer and it's gonna land where it did.

Still a poor shot regardless, but lets not just assume that the deer was perfectly broadside and a duder hit it in the rear leg. Although possible... But I perfer to give the benifit of the doubt.


NOW the RAGE? Now that's just not right! Lol. Just kidding!!

Edit: congrats man on the deer, even tho you would have liked to see it live for a few more years.

[retrieverman]

Allow me to play devils advocate.

Judging from the pictures..That wound is approx at the same height as the vitals. On a heavy 1/4 away it is only a minor mistake of the hunter or movement of the deer and it's gonna land where it did.

Still a poor shot regardless, but lets not just assume that the deer was perfectly broadside and a duder hit it in the rear leg. Although possible... But I perfer to give the benifit of the doubt.

Any way you want to slice it, a deer shot in the "butt" is a deer shot in the "butt", and giving the benefit of doubt, isn't going to change the outcome.

I have thought about the scenarios that led to such a poor shot too, and none of them really excuse the "mistake".

In my area, there are a lot of folks who watch too way much "Outdoor Channel" and fancy themselves to be "bowhunters" like their heroes on TV, but what they don't know is that the guys on TV more than likely don't have real jobs and practice with their bows constantly (exaggeration). The wannabes shoot a few arrows after work on Friday afternoon, and if they can hit the bullseye a couple times at 25 yards, they are good to go. This may be a slight exaggeration too, but I seriously know a few guys who fit this description pretty well. THOSE are the kind of people who shoot deer in the butt!!!

[strum]

I shot a doe in the butt a coupe years ago with a slick trick.
she had winded me and I was sure I was on her ...butt alas she jumped ..
hit her high in the ham came out low in the font ..40 yard recovery..
not stirring the pot here but if I had the choice of using free Rages for life or paying double for Slicks ..the Slicks will be in my quiver

[nchunterkw]

I shot a doe in the butt a coupe years ago with a slick trick.
she had winded me and I was sure I was on her ...butt alas she jumped ..
hit her high in the ham came out low in the font ..40 yard recovery..
not stirring the pot here but if I had the choice of using free Rages for life or paying double for Slicks ..the Slicks will be in my quiver

X200000000

Rage - great marketing, great sales volume, - piss poor BH. Look at the pic above. Left blade is trashed and this with no penetration.

B) - what the heck were they using for insert glue?

[Pydpiper]

I shoot Slicks 99% of the time. But when the wind picks up I go to a mechanical. Blood trails never seem to be an issue. Am I missing something?

[nchunterkw]

I've had 3 experiences with them. 1 - just as you show. 2 - blade opened early and I hit a deer 10" left of where I was aiming (verified by a large scratch on my stirrup). Luckily I hit the liver. 3 - Got a good behind the shoulder hit, but got very little penetration (lots of blood - but from 1 lung) ended up in a lost deer. In every case I could verify the BH was useless after the shot. Blades were not able to be used again and in about 1/2 the cases the ferrules were bent enough not to allow new blades to work properly. Once I learned how to make properly flying arrows, and have put into practice Dr. Ashby's principles relating to arrow penetration, I have had no issues getting good flight from several very tough fixed blades, and penetration has never been an issue - so I have switched over permanently. I am of ther opinion that a BH should sustain zero damage from passing through a deer - especially for the $$ we pay.

I see your point about the wind, but it would have to be very strong at 20yds to affect the POI enough - especially since I shoot rather heavy arrows. And that is my typical shot. Shot 6 deer this year. Longest shot was 20 yds (on 3 of them) the rest were all under that. Longest recovery was about 60 yds. If you search for a post of mine on how far deer travel after the shot, you will see where I took over 500 pieces of data and analyzed the distance the deer went vs. BH, BH Type, Num blades, etc., etc. and it all showed no correlation. What it showed was pretty much any BH in the vitals resulted in a deer making it less than 90yds, 90% of the time (median was ~50yds). So given that data, I see no advantage to using a large 2 blade head that might give you performance problems. Even with zero blood (not likely if you have a passthru) if the deer only goes 50yds, you should be able to find it. Just my thought process on the whole matter. Nothing sucks more than losing an animal and that is my main motivation for my decisions.

[galamb]

Yes, I do shoot Rage KE-40's with my Recurve because I like shooting mechanicals and when you are only making 37 lbs of KE on impact you need something that will "reliably" open.

The 40KE is the only one I have found that will fully deploy on impact (I shoot instinctively/no sights, with fingers, no rest etc, so a mechanical is a little more forgiving than the fixed blades I used to shoot)

But, on a crossbow, where you have "surplus energy" I have found the Rage to be a poor choice in terms of durability and depth of penetration compared to just about everything else on the market (built by the major mfg's).

So yes, LOVE/HATE - Love them with my recurve, HATE them with my Excal