Expandables or fixed?

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Tennhunter3
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Fri May 14, 2021 1:42 pm

<DK> wrote:It can be debated all day based on preference but stats dont lie. Dog tracking stats show fixed has a higher pass through rate, which equals higher recovery rate. Ill stick to fixed


Definitely agree.
I've seen alot of deer shot with mechanicals that had no exit hole.


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szwampdonkey
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Fri May 14, 2021 2:10 pm

HunterBob wrote:
szwampdonkey wrote:For many, aside from their bias, expandable would be the best option because they shoot better out of the average Joes bow.

The arguments for fixed blade are they shoot just as well if you tune your bow (most don't tune their bow) or if you practice as much as you should with said tuned bow (most don't) or that fixed blades have no chance of failing (not true) nor do expandable fail at a high rate (Rages have killed tens of thousands of deer). The average Joe will put an expandable in the boiler room more frequently/consistently than a fixed blade and when they don't they have a much greater cutting diameter thus more room for error (the average Joe will not always hit where they're aiming).

In the end it doesn't matter what you have on the end of your arrow what matters is where you put it. You put a dull rock through both lungs or the heart the deer will die 100% of the time.


For me the question is shot angles, since you don't always get a chance at a broadside or quartering away shot. I believe a fixed head with a heavy arrow will give you more opportunities to actually take an ethical shot on different angles. I like to have a chance to take a shot rather than having to pass because of limited shot angles.


Yep, i get the shot angles and all that but the last big buck i shot with a Rage. It was a pretty steep quartering away shot in which i put the arrow behind his last rib and it exited out his knuckle on the opposite leg. I knew he was hit bad so i climbed down almost immediately, followed his blood trail about 35 yards into the thicket, and found him taking his last breath. I had my hands on him no joke less than 5 minutes.

Id personally have no hesitation using a Rage for any shot a felt confident making. But if you don’t i’d never tell ya to use one either. But i’ve never had an issue shooting mechanicals the last 25 years.

Where i did have problems back in the day was scant blood trails with small diameter fixed blades. Deer would be hit well, lethal hits, but just damn near impossible to follow blood trails. That’s the reason i went to mechanicals 25 years ago, wasn’t for accuracy in my case.

But i still think for the average hunter out there mechanicals would serve them best as they leave a little more room for error. Though i get for some those steep quartering shots are a concern and to that id say don’t take the shot if you’re questioning it, fixed or mechanical. Probably a lot more deer would be recovered if guys on both sides of the fixed vs mechanical fence did that.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Nelson87 » Fri May 14, 2021 11:22 pm

I shot my first few archery deer with G5 Montecs and got great penetration but poor blood trails. I will say that they probably were not as sharp as they should have been, so that was partly my own fault. I never could get them to fly very well, so when Rage became all the rage :lol: I started using them with mixed results. I had several very impressive blood trails, the classic "rage" type trails that you could follow at a fast walk, but I also hit a rib on a big bodied 3.5 year old buck that made my broadhead looked like this.
11-13-09_1704.jpg


I switched to Slick Tricks and have had good luck with them, blood trails have been pretty decent, no bent blades or anything, but I havn't hit any heavy bone with them.

I decided to try single bevels this year so I got a pack of Aerohunter One heads from Crafted Archery. They're not much more than Rage or Slick Tricks, solid one piece head, easy to sharpen freehand. I havn't shot them yet, but if they fly good I'll likely have them and Slick Tricks both in my quiver.

I will say also that I noticed a difference in the deer's reaction after the shot when I started using a heavier arrow and Slick Tricks. The arrow zips right through and they don't know what happened. That hasn't happened every time, but enough for me to notice it.
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HuntingParadise
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby HuntingParadise » Sat May 15, 2021 4:33 am

A lot of it comes down to placement and either or will work. I prefer fixed just because I feel like it helps in case my shot placement isnt perfect and does a better job fully penetrating the deer and having a pass through.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby tim » Sat May 15, 2021 7:06 pm

szwampdonkey wrote:
tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.

Yes it was like 1 1/8” I believe so on the small side for sure but many straight through center of heart and complete pass thru still seems unreal to me .
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby tim » Sat May 15, 2021 7:08 pm

szwampdonkey wrote:
tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.


Yes it was 1 1/8” I believe so definately on the small size. But man right through center of heart and complete pass thru, just seems unreal to me
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby tim » Sat May 15, 2021 7:08 pm

szwampdonkey wrote:
tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.


Yes it was 1 1/8” I believe so definately on the small size. But man right through center of heart and complete pass thru, just seems unreal to me
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby tim » Sat May 15, 2021 7:22 pm

tim wrote:
szwampdonkey wrote:
tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.


Yes it was 1 1/8” I believe so definately on the small size. But man right through center of heart and complete pass thru, just seems unreal to me

Yikes I don’t know why this posted so many times lol . But I wanted to add it was also 3 blade it was not a small hole it still put a nice size hole in that heart. Maybe just a fluke but I felt that deer should have expired much quicker
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby NBK438 » Sun May 16, 2021 12:29 am

I’ve killed with both and they both work well with the expandable being my go to for a couple key reasons. I think the ability for the arrow to recover from a shot that has bad form(ie crouching, leaning, bending) is greater with a mech because it doesn’t plane as much. I also hunt an area that has small acreage sizes and I feel the bigger hole and more devastation produced by the mech head helps with short track jobs and less head aches with neighbors. They both have their place but there are more factors than just “reliability”. Getting the arrow in the right place is just as important and new designs are pretty darn reliable with the right KE and momentum. A thing I always use to fear was the dreaded 1 entrance wound hit but I have found with the increased size of the hole the blood trail is better even in that circumstance.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Sun May 16, 2021 3:44 am

I once hit a buck right in front of the rear legs with a slick trick 125 magnum. It winded me and turned to bolt right as I shot resulting in a horrendous hit. The buck ran to the bottom of the hill and stopped before a ditch hunched over for 5 minutes then gingerly walked away. I sat quietly in my stand till well after dark then snuck away the other direction without checking for blood or my arrow. Since we don't have a huge yote population i let the deer over night and went back in the morning. I found the deer within 300 yards of the shot and it just expired not long before I found it. I don't like leaving an animal suffer but if I even went to where he was standing he would have seen me and I probably wouldn't of Found him. The moral of the story is if you put a lethal hit on a deer what decisions you make after the shot matters more then the broadhead you decide to use.
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szwampdonkey
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Sun May 16, 2021 2:58 pm

tim wrote:
szwampdonkey wrote:
tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.


Yes it was 1 1/8” I believe so definately on the small size. But man right through center of heart and complete pass thru, just seems unreal to me


Their will to live is incredible at times. One of us takes one to the heart it’s lights out but the things i’ve seen over the years from these animals really show how well honed survival machines they really are.
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Jimmy wallhanger
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Jimmy wallhanger » Mon May 17, 2021 5:17 am

I have some Iron Will 125gr single bevels on the way. I've murdered deer with g5 montecs and swhackers but now I'm not ever wanting to worry about pass-throughs or the blades malfunctioning ever again.

520gr with 19% foc will slam through and part of a deer. Bone or not
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Hawkeyebowhunter » Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:56 am

I’m excited to try the Iron Will 150 wide solid heads.

Shot some mechs, mainly fixed thru the years though.

I’ll post up a review after I get them.


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