How does the Woodsman compare to the Magnus Snuffer? I bought a set of Snuffers to use this season? Do the Woodsman whistle as much as the Snuffers? Is one more durable than the other?
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I can send you a couple of Woodsmans for a couple of Snuffers. I have not tried the Snuffers . The Woodsmans put 3 deer, a fox and a squirrel in the pan last year with no failures. Well I didnt eat the fox. LOL
In my experience on deer, hogs and turkeys with these heads:
Snuffers leave better blood trails...
Wensels penetrate better....
Wensels fly like a field point...Snuffers will too if your equipment is tuned properly....
They both work well on game...
I killed a doe with a Woodsman and a doe with a Snuffer last season. They both performed exceptionally well, but the Snuffer did so much internal damage, one would have thought a rifle killed her.
I'm probably leanin towards the Snuffers again this season.
Brutus
JMO, I shot snuffers in years past, too much tuning and poor penetration for me. Tried woodsmans and would never consider using another head since. Alot of guys use snuffers and swear by them and I don't doubt they can do the job, just not for me. Try them both, take game with both and see the results. Might suprise ya. dino
I've never tried the Woodsman, but the Snuffers will do some damage to whatever you shoot. If you're going after deer, I would no doubt go with the Snuffers.
I've never had a tuning problem with Snuffers.
Looking at the two, it looks like the Woodsman might/should penetrate better on the bigger game.
Both will do the job, but the Snuffer is hard for me to resist. :D :thumbsup:
Mike
I'm with RAW HIDE! Them Snuffer's are hard to resist. LOT'S of blood and no problem getting them thru a deer even with my 46# longbow. No dought both are good heads. Oh yeah' mine always fly great and I've yet to hear one whistle. :archer:
I used snuffers last year. They were 125 gr. screw-in on Terminator Hunter 4560 carbons out of my 55# Mahaska longbow. I made one bad shot and hit a doe in the shoulder blade. The snuffer did not penetrate, just stuck in the bone...no blood trail. After a six hour search, the deer was not recovered. I still have nightmares of that one. The next opportunity, I sent a snuffer through both lungs and into the ground on the far side of a small doe. The shot was a little high on the near side and in the center of the far lung. Damage was massive! The blood trail was like following lines on a highway for about 40 yards, then a huge pool around the deer.
I guess the moral of the story is, if you put a snuffer through the boiler room you will have a short easy tracking job. Penetration through bone is another story.
I am trying 125 gr. Woodsman on cedar shafts this year. I'll probably be using my Kota recurve this time. I'll post a report after this season.
Razorcaps are a great compromise IMO. Slightly bigger than a Woodsman, somewhat smaller than a Snuffer. They are shorter than a Woodsman. Seems like a great design and you don't need to mess with the tips to make them durable, from my experience and testing. I'm shooting them this year.
Craig
I've used both and frankly I don't believe that using one means more dead or another means a poorer blood trail. I may be wrong though. :) I think the lader has more to do with where you hit it and that you'd have to shoot the same animal the same spot to form a true research based opinion. The most damage I saw this year out of 10 bears taken was Tippit's stone tip-the exit wound was amazing! MY WW fly exactly like my field points so I am sticking with them for obvious reasons.
I used Snuffers for years. I had problems with penetration from tree stands so I quit using them in favor or the Woodsman, Razorcaps and Phantoms. The three that I currently use have never given me a problem with penetration. If you use the Woodsman then I would reccomend trimming back the point a bit to eliminate the needle point.
Both great heads, I've used both, but mostly Woodsmans now, though I won't hesitate to use one of my older arrows with a Snuffer. Woodsman is probably a little better in the penetration department as they are closer to the fabled/proven 3:1 ratio of length to width. I probably would stick with a Woodsman on lighter bows, say under 60#, for that reason. Both very easy to sharpen with a file. I've never had either head whistle, but I'm fanaticle about making sure my BHs are perfectly aligned and spin true - interesting observation: I find that about 1 in 12 BHs of any make that I've tried just cannot be mounted perfectly straight on any of my arrows. I've heard that a light coat of vasaline will eliminate the whistle.
I did a test today with my Snuffers. I put screw in inserts in them and put them on my Gold Tips (previously on POC). On my wood arrows they whistled greatly, on the Gold Tips they were perfectly silent and flew much more true. (?)
Question;
Were they more noisy because perhaps they were not tuned as well, or is it because on the Gold tips there was more weight FOC?
:help:
I have used Snuffers for many many years now and NEVER had a problem with penetration. tuning, or noise. Tuning is simple. Put it on and spin the arrow. I f the head does not wobble it will FLY! Never used a WW as I always thought they were Snuffer wannabes. LOL
Not quite that simple Ted...it could spin perfect on an arrow that's too weak and it won't fly for beans!
Just like any other BH,tuning requires the right spine first and foremost,then get a perfect spin and I've never had a BH arrow that wouldn't fly perfect.
VA, If your Snuffer "whistled greatly"...it wasn't mounted correctly.....
I have used both and both worked fine.Put a lot of helical on your feathers and both will make some noise in flight.I shoot lighter bows now so if I wanted a three blade the woodsman would be my choice for the extra penitration.If I had power to spare the 160 snuffer would be on the end of my arrow.Bigger is always better if you can use it. :)
QuoteOriginally posted by Guru:
Not quite that simple Ted...it couls spin perfect on an arrow that's too weak and it wound fly for beans!
Just like any other BH,tuning requires the right spine first and foremost,then get a perfect spin and I've never had a BH arrow that wouldn't fly perfect.
VA, If your Snuffer "whistled greatly"...it wasn't mounted correctly.....
I agree with everything you said with one exception. I have been mounting broadheads for about 40 years. If one was whistling...well maybe it wasn't right, but when they all whistle then it's not the mounting.
I reiterate my original question.
I have to agree with Curt, if your arrrow is tuned to the bow I also have never had a broadhead that did not fly good. I know I can unscrew my field points and take broadhead of close to equal weight that spin test perfect and it will fly good. The snuffers to me are tougher and leave awesome bloodtrails. Shawn
I've killed elk and Mule deer with Snuffers. My buddies has taken Elk as well. Never had a problem with Penetration at all. Pass throughs on all animals, In fact I shot through the(scapula) shoulder blade on a big cow elk a few yrs ago and had a pass through. Huge blood trails. They seem to be a little hard for me to get as sharp as I like though. Probably just me though.
I've shot several deer w/ both heads and haven't had problems w/ penatration from Snuffers.
Shoot what you can tune the best and get the sharpest.
IMO,If you shoot snuffers.Shoot the 145's or 160's.
VA Bowbender,
Both BH's are excellent if used properly. By that I mean mounting them properly, shooting them out of a fairly stout bow and staying away from shoulder blades.
With that said let me say one thing....I haven't shot every BH made but I would bet there isn't a BH made that won't fly right if your arrow is tuned. In other words, if your BH's aren't fly'n true.....it ain't the BH.
Sooo...with that said if you got a tuned set-up and you're gonna use them on deer or bears.... give'm a try. In my experience the Snuffers are easier to mount true.
And you don't need a ton of helical to get them to fly. Honestly....if you need a ton of helical to get your arrows to fly true then you've got problems eslewhere. Besides.....the more helical the more drag which saps speed. Remember.....you have to push blades in 3 planes through bone and tissue with a 3 bladed BH. If you have to put a bunch of helical to get them to fly then you are really defeating the purpose.
With a 2 blade BH you only have to cut in 1 plane. Also...in my experience the 3 blade BH's don't leave anymore blood than a 2 blade. Shoot'm right and there won't be a need to track.
Brett
I have both and can't make up my mind,,Both Heads are just awsome in one way or another,,JB
I like both brands, but now I shoot Razorcaps. Easier for me to sharpen.
I have taken a few animals with both types of broadheads in the past and was very pleased with each successful shot.
I did a little experimenting this past javelina season... I filled my quiver with a mix of both woodsmans (woodsmen?) and snuffers. In practice they shot the exact same without any whistling noted (from the broadhead). On the hunt, I noted very nice consistent arrow flight as I shot over the backs of four different javelina. What I determined is that which broadhead I pull out of my quiver does not matter unless next time I'm shooting at taller javelina.
-Vig
"With a 2 blade BH you only have to cut in 1 plane. Also...in my experience the 3 blade BH's don't leave anymore blood than a 2 blade. Shoot'm right and there won't be a need to track."
Brett
I totally agree with Brett. If a sharp Zwickey, Magnus, Grizzly two blade broadhead hits the rib cage and lungs the deer may never know it and the amount of blood will not be an issue. I believe there is too much friction on entry (compared to 2 bladers) with 3 or more blade heads for two reasons. One is more difficulty getting through the animals body having to cut with unnecessary surface area of blades, and two with more friction on entry there is more alarming of the deer's senses and it then takes off running in fright. Then the blood trailing. How can you beat a sharp heavy two blader when comparing harvest and retrievel efficiency.
However....When I worked at Willow Point Island the guides all used snuffers on fairly heavy swaged arrows with compound bows. They killed alot of deer. They were not at all worried about problems retrieving deer. We had incredible tracking labs that did that. They just wanted to blow the biggest holes possible and do as much damage as possible. So that is another scenario. I guess the broadhead type depends on your objective.
Snuffers since 1976, with absolutely no penetration problems! My observations on bone hits are from years of Bear guiding and found that NO BR)OADHEAD made and no Bow Weight will put any Broadhead thru a Bear scapula PERIOD! Shot placement is the most important aspect of hunting ,whether using a Bow or a Gun!!
Agreed Sergio! I think if a guy is worried about what broadhead it takes to penetrate heavy bones of deer and other big game, he's wasting his time.
Arrows ARE NOT bone busters. At least not dependably and especially given the average bow weight being shot by bowhunters today (45-55).
Everyone seems to obsess over "what if I hit bone" and there are a lot of other ways and places to hit an animal that aren't good. On a gut shot or even a liver shot, I want the biggest most damaging wound channel I can get.
In that respect Snuffers get my vote.
I shot my deer last year with a 125 grain Magnus II with 75 grain inserts. I've killed a lot of deer back in the day with the compound and 100 grain three blade thunderheads. The deer last year died within about four seconds and only got about 23 yards. I'm using Snuffers this year. In part because I like to try different stuff, in part for insurance on a bad shot, and in part because I hunt some suburban areas and want that deer pined down quickly. Hopefully something will walk into one of my Snuffers this year. Who know for next year...
Sorry Guru, I was assuming that the bow had all equipment matched and correct. Guess we all know what happens when we
ass u me. :knothead: :bigsmyl: I will restate my observation. If arrows and bow are mated and correct just spin your Snuffer and if it don't wobble it will fly.
Awww c'mon Charlie, where's the fun if we can't obsess over something ;)
I did at one time obsess over which head would kill better etc. When I first switched back to trad 7 or so years ago, I thought I had to shoot a STOS or similar 2 blade for penetration because I was handicapping myself with trad equipment. Over these years, and after a few practical experiences of my own, my views have begun to evolve slightly. I've found with the setups I typically shoot, the logical choice among quality broadheads is much wider than I had first expected.
I'm on a quest to kill all my critters this year each with a different broadhead. Mainly, because I think there are probably 25-50 good heads out there that will all perform within a few, imperceptable percentage points of each other for anything on this side of the pond and most anything else below the size of zebra on the other side. Dr. Ashby's reports have been very enlightening to us all...but for most game on this side of the hemisphere, you could grab most any sharp cut on contact head and hunt with confidence.
I have never used anything but a Snuffer. I use the 125gr screw in on a 3555 Goldtip. My bows are all about 55#. I have killed bear, deer and Caribou with the same setup. I have never gotten a total pass thru, however always good blood and the job that head did as it stayed in the cavity was wicked. My largest animal (Caribou) did have the best penetration. Both the deer and Bear the Snuffer hit bone on the far side. I would not expect it to penetrate that.
My set up is always tuned and basically I spin them true, line up the blades with one at 6 o'clock and always good to go. I have never had whistling.
Bill
I have shot snuffers for the last 2 years and deer I killed with them died in sight. I use the 160 grain and penetration is not an issue for me.