Hey guys, I hunted my own property for the first time last year and tagged a nice 2 pt blacktail. I may do the same this year. It's not very big but is of course legal. I do have neighbors on one side that would not be happy to see a deer go down in their yard lol. So the most important thing for me is to have a complete pass through no matter what. No matter what happens, nothing makes you look more unethical than an arrow hanging out of a deer. The second most important thing is as big of a hole as I can get away with.
I shoot a toelke chinook that is 60#@32" so I have plenty of powder behind the arrow. I have shot a 250 VPA through the thick part of the vertibrae and had 1/4" of broadhead hanging out the back of the bone for reference. So I am pretty darn confident in a pass through with 3 blade VPAs.
I have always been curious about big 2 blades and how they compare to the typical 3 blades like VPAs or Valkyries. You can add up all the blade lengths and figure out surface areas and drag etc etc. Obviously it seems a tree shark would under penetrate and give more blood than a Howard Hill. But less obvious is the middle ground like VPA's vs 1.5" cutting diameter 2 blades like the Large Boneheads or Centaur Big Game heads.
Do you think the 3 blades penetrate more than the large 1.5" wide 2 blades in bone?
Do you think I could get away with a big 2 blade with my setup and not worry about penetration?
PS do they still make Centaur Big Game Heads??
With your set up you could probably shoot what you want. On the Tree Sharks it's just the last part that is two inch,and they penetrate pretty darn good. I shot my first two animals with them out of a 45 pound bow. The whitetail the arrow made two holes,and with the hog it was down pretty quick.
I've got a Centaur coming,and Jim said he only makes limited batches of his broadheads.
Could you shoot a large 2-blade? Sure. Will it kill them any faster than the 3-blade VPAs you're using? No.
I'll be curious as to where this discussion goes. I personally don't think the broadhead type means squat. I killed a bazillion deer with Thunderhead 125's, a non cut on contact head. I've used Snuffer's as well. So I'll sit on the sidelines and see what the gang has to say.
I hunt my own property in Washington too. My situation is different because one "neighbor" is Weyerhaeuser and the other neighbor will hop out of bed and grab his 4-wheeler to help me get the dead deer in the garage.
Blacktail deer just aren't all that big usually. I think if you drill one in the A-zone with a "heavy enough" arrow with any "good enough" broad head, they will die pretty quick.
I think where two blade, heavy broad heads offer an advantage is when things go awry on deer, and when you are trying to kill bigger animals.
Last deer I shot was with a 300 spine arrow, with a 100 grain brass insert, topped by a 175 grain Grizzly single bevel. I was in a tree stand. The shot was slight quartering away. The arrow went in the back 1/3 of the left side rib cage, came out the front 1/3 of the right side ribcage, and broke the right front foreleg. That deer was easy to find.
I may have an answer for you with pics either tonight or tomorrow....
Just gotta find time to set up the pics with a little story...
But 60@32 I'd shoot big 4 blade. I'm not sure what bones you're talking about but there's no guarantee you're gonna get through that ball joint with any head.
Your accuracy matters most. I've had deer go down quickly with two and three and four blade heads. Quiet bow, perfectly tuned arrow and well place shot/shot selection and don't worry about number of blades.
Exactly Ray, you can kill them with a field point if you can hit them in the right spot every time. I shoot multi blades because shots can be off and animals can move.
Ok guys thanks. Very helpful.
So lets see if I got this.
Even with my setup at 60@32 I probably couldn't shoot through the shoulder socket or spine no matter what broadhead I'm running.
But, I could shoot though about everything else with just about any decent head regardless of configuration.
Sound about right?