Iron Will entry/exit & blood trails

UtahJimmy

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Jul 6, 2016
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SLC, UT
Iron Will entry/exit & blood trails

Quite a few guys on here were carrying these around the hills this year, let's hear/see some evidence of their effectiveness or disappointment.

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Joined
Jul 11, 2017
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440
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WV
I killed two whitetails with the same 125gr non vented head. Both mature, big bodied bucks. First one was 15 yards, had to clear a small limb so I held right on his leg bone and put the arrow through the heaviest part of the bone and through his heart. Exited through the meaty part of the offside leg. The entry leg bone was shattered. Broadhead had no damage and arrow was laying on the ground in perfect condition. Buck made it 75 yards. At impact there was a TON of blood but there was no blood trail. The blood couldn't exit because of the muscle of the legs blocking the wound channel.

Buck #2 was 17 yards, just slightly 1/4 toward me. Tucked it tight in behind the shoulder, through the top of the heart and exited low on the other side. No bone contact and the arrow was buried 10" in the dirt. That buck didn't have a chance to make a blood trail, he literally made it 15 yards and tipped over dead!

I really like how these heads shoot and how strong they are. They are a pain to sharpen though and really my only complaint. Entry holes are your typical COC slit and I don't think they will produce massive blood trails. They penetrate great tho and can handle bone and that's more important to me than a huge blood trail.
 

geriggs

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Jul 9, 2013
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Wish i would have taken pics of blood trail

I dont have pics of either just the result but I can tell you I was shooting 60lbs and a 425 gr BE Rampage arrow and i made a terrible shot (rear hind quarter). The arrow went through the hind quarter and up through the gut and into liver. The blood trail was the best i have ever seen but im sure thats because it hit the femoral artery. He was kicking blood in the air 6 feet on bushes and trees. Had we not pushed him he would have only gone 50 yards from where i shot vs the 110 he went. I believe the Iron Wills were a big part as to why i got so much penetration out of a medium weight arrow and 60lb bow. Arrow was all the way up in him.
 

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Danimal

Lil-Rokslider
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Jun 30, 2018
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Florida
At impact there was a TON of blood but there was no blood trail. The blood couldn't exit because of the muscle of the legs blocking the wound channel.

Thank you for being reasonable and insightful on this issue. I've considered switching to IW's for a while now. Haven't made the jump yet but this is influencing me to make the switch. I've had this happen to me on a deer before. I cut half the heart with a mechanical, lodged it in the opposite side shoulder bone, the deer was dead within 40 yards from the shot. After a couple hours of searching I was lucky enough to find the deer with little to any blood trail. When I lifted up his hams to drag him out from some brush, a plug of meat and clot broke free and shot hose of blood out the the entry wound. It's not always perfect even with a good solid shot and gear.
 

Beendare

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Why would IW heads be any different than the many other good strong 2 blade heads?

Good heads I'm sure, but did I not get the memo that these have magical powers? /grin
 

marktole

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Jan 12, 2016
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Kansas
Why would IW heads be any different than the many other good strong 2 blade heads?

Good heads I'm sure, but did I not get the memo that these have magical powers? /grin

Agreed. Killed several deer with Magnus 2 blades that were 1/3 the price and they did fine. Most recently a mule deer at 39 yards. Black Eagle Rampage totaling at 455 grains with a 2 blade stinger buzzcut on it. Deer was quartered to me. Put it just behind his shoulder and it came out the opposite side of his ass. Fletchings just barely held the arrow in him.
 

TravisIN

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Oct 8, 2017
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Why would IW heads be any different than the many other good strong 2 blade heads?

Good heads I'm sure, but did I not get the memo that these have magical powers? /grin

I think it’s a combo of things sounds like the tolerances are very tight, they are very durable, sharp and apparently very accurate.

I keep considering them bc they have some killer marketing going on with people and it’s obviously a super quality head.

But i just can’t bring myself to buy them. To get half a dozen that would get me halfway to my WM sleeping bag I want. Haha

Other than ten days in September all I hunt is whitetail and turkeys. Definitely not going to be shooting at them with $30 head. There are plenty of heads that work in the average price range but I will say that finding heads in the normal range that offer all the things an iron will does has been a challenge.




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bmhall4

FNG
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May 1, 2017
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5
One of the things that sold me on the IW broadheads was talking with Bill the owner. I left a DM message for him on Instagram to call me and discuss the broadheads and which one would work best for me. We talked for half an hour and had a good conversation. There's not many companies that you can just up and call the president and have a normal conversation. I also briefly met Bill at No Limits Archery about a year ago and he's a sharp guy that knows his stuff. I'm also the guy that wanted to try those heads out on live game asap and I bought them late winter. Only upcoming season was turkey and I hammered two gobblers with the same head, so essentially it was $15 per bird and it's still sharp to use again.
 

bignocks

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Mar 15, 2018
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nebraska
It seems like most including myself want to lean towards a little bit bigger cutting diameter for those not so perfect shots on jumpy animal like a whitetail. I shot a big mature buck at 30 yards from really high up. The arrow went in behind the shoulder but just below the spine, it we throught the cavity out the bottom and through the bicep area of the leg. He went about 100 yards. I will say the one thing I notice with this head over others is I feel like penetration is about as good as one could expect in a head. I also was shooting these with a junior state archery champion who was really impressed with the accuracy with field points but we only shot to 50 yards with them. The other big take away I notice is it retains it sharpness way longer than most others. Shoot most blades in the dirt and its totally dull. Shoot the IW in the dirt and notice the difference. Just my experience.
 

Tony Trietch

Part Time Bow Hiker
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Jul 28, 2013
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Northern MI, USA
Every archery kill I had this year was with an Iron Will head. All died within sight. Total distances of 6 animals blood trails didn't add up to 100 yards together.

I would say the blood trails were great but I didn't need them this year. The IW heads have not let me down.
 
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Joined
Apr 17, 2018
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Colorado
I killed a bull at 45 yards using 100G Iron will on a Easton Axis arrow. The shot was a clean pass through and the bull ran about 30 yards and bedded down to expire. These broad heads fly true and I will be using them again this year as well.
 

SunShine

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Messages
121
Every archery kill I had this year was with an Iron Will head. All died within sight. Total distances of 6 animals blood trails didn't add up to 100 yards together.

I would say the blood trails were great but I didn't need them this year. The IW heads have not let me down.



Not trying to patronize you, but from experience something tells me all 6 shots were spot on boiler room hits. So good shooting first of all. Second of all, the head speaks for itself, just by looking @ them, who would want that thing coming @ you @ 300 FPS ? Not me !

They are rugged heads for CERTAIN!!!


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Scott/IL

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Jan 1, 2014
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We killed 2 elk with them this year.

The first was my buddies bull that he hit too far back on the sharp quartering away angle. There wasn’t much blood, but you wouldn’t expect much with that shot. The arrow buried to it’s nock and the bull ran maybe 50 yards.

My elk was shot at 42 yards. The arrow entered the last rib, and came out the arm pit. It died in seconds and not very far at all. The blood was minimal, but there really wasn’t any time for the cavity to fill up.


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Bailer

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Feb 21, 2017
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Here’s an entrance. Didn’t take a pic of the exit, but clean pass through, both lungs, shoulder muscle but not bone.90AAD2C6-A038-486E-BE82-DBE1FBE4ABC7.jpeg
 

ndbuck09

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Boise, ID
Anyone single lung an elk this year with these? Curious how the blood trail was? I still maintain that todays bows and speeds are more than up to the task of wider cut broadheads than 15 years ago, yet the standard broad head diameters haven't shifted much. IMO blood trails are very important in steep, thick mountain terrain
 

Beendare

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After reading my last dripping with sarcasm post...I must apologize. I did not intend for it to sound like it did.

My intent was to imply; A blood trail is directly related to the shot location and if there are 2 holes. So one guy hits an elk high...little blood...another hits one low and its gushing. The one guy that hit the Femoral artery is the perfect example.

Now what these IW heads will do is give you amazing penetration- by design, its a 2 blade....and its ain't going to dull like your grandmas cheese knife on an animal...under any conditions.

If someone tells you they put 2 holes in a critter and it didn't bleed...it ain't the BH!
 

Btaylor

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Anyone single lung an elk this year with these? Curious how the blood trail was? I still maintain that todays bows and speeds are more than up to the task of wider cut broadheads than 15 years ago, yet the standard broad head diameters haven't shifted much. IMO blood trails are very important in steep, thick mountain terrain

I agree with that with one caveat...the bow and arrow must be in tune. For the majority of folks posting here that is a non issue but I would venture to guess that the pct of bowhunters across the country who really have their weapon dialed is pretty low.
 
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