Broadheads and long distance

Yukondog

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Feb 24, 2012
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What arrow, BH and vane combo are you using out to 100yds with excellent accuracy?

I'm very happy with my BH and FT out to 60yds. Yet at 80yds my BH is constantly low by 12"+. My bow, I believe is well tuned as I have excellent groups out to 100yds. I should define my idea of excellent. I can place 5 "good released arrows" within a 6 inches group at 100yds. My definition of course will be different than the next guy.

So, what magical combination have you found that will get you BH's and FT's grouping out to 100yds with a well tuned bow?

Maybe my bow is not tuned well enough?

My arrow set up is Maxima Hunter 350, 6" wrap, VaneTec 2" HP vanes and Mag Slick Trick 100grain.

Thanks,

Matt
 

RosinBag

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Gold tip pro hunters, Ulmer edge 100's and flex fletch 360's. shoot them out to 120 and have no issues.
 

JNDEER

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I am confused on how your 12" low?? You mean your 12" low from your FP at 80, but dead on FP and BH at 60?
 

Craig4791

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I am shooting 125 Slick Trick mags, 4 fletch vane tech's on Gold Tip Big Game 100's they fly right with field tips out to 80 yds. I haven't shot them past that. I think I'm in the 13-14% FOC range with a total arrow weight of 512 grains.

Seems like way too big of a difference. Maybe try four fletch or increase FOC.
 

RosinBag

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Yukon, sorry I didn't clarify, but my FP's and Edges hit the same as they are mechanicals that have nearly nothing except a ferule. I personally think it is very difficult to get a fixed blade broad head to hit exactly as a field point much past 60 yards. BH's have more drag simply, to test it shoot your BH's thru your chrony at 60 and your FP's thru your chrony at 60 and you will see a noticeable difference. the farther past 60 you get the more the gap widens when it comes to your arrows speed.

I am also talking hitting within about 2" at 60, so no more than an inch high or and inch low of where I am aiming. If your goal is to shoot a six inch group with both FP's and BH's at 60 that can be done as your fixed blade BH will be about 3" low. All this is my opinion though, I know many will say the fixed blade BH's and FP's fly the same out to over a 100. I have yet to ever shoot with anyone that actually does it. Generally their FP is close to the spot and the BH is low about 6-8" and they always tell me it was a bad shot.

Mechanicals will get your point of aim point of impact staying the same at longer yardages, but even those will start to separate at longer ranges due to flight characteristics.
 
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Yukondog

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I should have provided better detail. When tuning I only count "good arrows". We all know what a good arrow is before it leaves the bow. At 60yds my Slick Tricks and FP are within a 2" group. FP are within 6" at 100yds. When shooting out to 80yds my FP group is strong at 4-5" more or less. When I shoot my BH the arrow is good horizontally, but it hits the bottom of my block or is in the dirt under the block. I have to make a correction. I put a tape to my block and the bottom edge of my block is 10" down from center. So at 80yds my BH is 10"+ low.

I too believe that getting true BH and FP accuracy drops significantly after 60yds. I don't own a chrono, but that would be a great test to see how much speed is lost due to BH drag from 60yds out. Has anyone every done this type of test? Would love to see your results.

I have read multiple times as well of guys getting fixed blade BH's to hit well past 60yds. I have tried Slick Tricks, Montec, Muzzy and a couple more and have never had any success. By far for me and my rigs Slick Tricks fly the best out to 60yds.

Anyone out there have any luck with Ramcat's out past 60yds? I may give that BH a go for next season to see if I can reach out there more. God willing I should be drawing my Mtn Goat tag next year and I desperately want the extra range.

Thanks for all your thoughts on this!

Matt
 
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Gold Tip Pro Hunters, 100 Grain Shuttle Ts, 70# bow, hitting exactly the same as my FPs out past 100 yards. I hope to have the same accuracy with Ulmer Edges when I leave Idaho in 25 days.
 

c5mrr270

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Victory vaps 300 with custom 30 grain outsert, 3 in zeon fusions and rocket hammer heads.

Reading your post about hitting 10" low with your fixed blades has me wondering if you have tried "broadhead tuning."
 
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why are you wanting to shoot a broadhead out to 100? might as well shoot a rifle.. Much more ethical.. Even if you can make the shot a amimal can walk out of the way..
 

RosinBag

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I shoot out that far for confidence and reality is, if I had to shoot at an animal at that distance I would.
 

Zackman

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Unlike the post above, I don't believe in telling anyone what their effective range is. Far too many variables to make blanket statements like that...

However, I do believe if you are going to shoot at your max effective range, you should be as prepared as possible. That is why I think asking for help to be better is not a bad idea. RosinBag is a great resource on this topic, as he is one of the best shots I know. On top of that, he does a lot of testing and fine tuning to get the best combinations for lethal accuracy.

Doug is right that for most people, expandable blades will offer the best long-range accuracy. I do not personally shoot them, but respect the awesome arrow flight they provide. But when you are looking at your goat hunt this next year as the reason for wanting a longer effective range, I am curious if expandable blades are the best choice. I have not personally hunt goats, but have a goat hunt booked for 2015. But just about everyone I have talked to about them say they are the toughest animal out there.

I would be curious to hear from guys who have hunted goats on their opinions of shooting distance, blade choice, etc. based on their experiences. Either way, practice hard on those long-range shots and hope you never have to use that skill set :)
 

MattB

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Unlike the post above, I don't believe in telling anyone what their effective range is. Far too many variables to make blanket statements like that...

However, I do believe if you are going to shoot at your max effective range, you should be as prepared as possible. That is why I think asking for help to be better is not a bad idea. RosinBag is a great resource on this topic, as he is one of the best shots I know. On top of that, he does a lot of testing and fine tuning to get the best combinations for lethal accuracy.

Doug is right that for most people, expandable blades will offer the best long-range accuracy. I do not personally shoot them, but respect the awesome arrow flight they provide. But when you are looking at your goat hunt this next year as the reason for wanting a longer effective range, I am curious if expandable blades are the best choice. I have not personally hunt goats, but have a goat hunt booked for 2015. But just about everyone I have talked to about them say they are the toughest animal out there.

I would be curious to hear from guys who have hunted goats on their opinions of shooting distance, blade choice, etc. based on their experiences. Either way, practice hard on those long-range shots and hope you never have to use that skill set :)

I have only killed one goat, which I initially shot at 12 yards quartering too and made a 40 yard finishing shot 10 minutes later. I would put them just above the boar/javelina/black bear category in terms of difficulty of getting close to for a bowhunter. Add to that the fact that their vitals are more forward than most other NA game (which brings heavy bone more into play) and goats being among the toughest (if not THE toughest) NA game species, they are perhaps the last species I would try to add to my effective range to hunt.

I shoot MBH's at almost everything and I shot my goat with a fixed blade for the reasons outlined above.
 

ltlacorn

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Aug 25, 2013
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Green Bay
Muddy Bloodsport twos, 2" Vane tec, Shuttle ts for on bow, and Muddy Bloodsport ones, 2" Vanetec, and Grim Reapers for the other set up. Both are shooting great out to 80. Haven't tried out to 100 yet. Was shooting them with the kwik shooter to test for consistency to take human error out of the equation. Got my Spot Hogg Hunter and Black Gold Ascent all set up and sighted in with the kwik shooter.

The Shuttle Ts are the best flying fixed blade that I have tried for long range.
 
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Gold tip pros, with 125 grain qad exodus, they hit spot for spot with my FP's to 60.And I will say I don't see the point of shooting game that far, practice is another thing. I was always told that it's not about how many trophies you take but how close you can get to them.
 

boom

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AZ couse, i typically use Montecs..they fly out to 80 hot!! now i have grim reapers.

my bow tunes with either the montecs or slicktrick mag 100's..i'd let either go at further distances easy. i just like the wind friendly reapers..just in case. you know insurance. a couse is tiny and far.
 

Yoter

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I use Ramcats with great success at 100yrds. Goldtip Velocity 300, 425g. Front of center important at distance. I add 20g of weight to inserts.
 

BSeals71

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Mar 14, 2012
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Tried the Dan Evens setup this year and was pretty happy with it.
Ulmer Edg BH. Victory VAP arrow with four Blazer 2X vanes.
Should fly well with the shuttle t-locks also.
 
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If you're broadheads are grouping well @ 60 yards, why not just call that good? I don't understand needing to have bh's hit consistently @ 100 yards just for practice. Field points fine, shoot them as far as you can. I wouldn't ever shoot any animal that far (I shoot a recurve now, but even if I shot a compound that wouldn't make one bit of difference) 100 yards is muzzleloader range, not for bowhunting imo. Bowhunting is about getting so close to the animals that YOU can smell THEM! That's what's fun about bowhunting for me. Long range shooting is a blast, I just don't see why it would be necessary w/ broadheads. Even 60 yards, there's a heck of a lot of things that can go wrong when shooting @ an animal. Take your boots off, put on some thick wool socks and stalk up closer on em!! Good luck on your mountain goat hunt, that is one of my dreams, and living in Montana now (!!!!!) I should hopefully be able to accomplish that one day. Please put up pics of your entire hunt, from the scenery to the hero shot (God willing)!!!
 
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My setup:

Gold Tip Velocity 300 cut to 27.75"

Right helical Fusion Vanes x3 in line with
broadhead

Ramcat 100 grain

I've been hitting with great accuracy to 90 yards. Plus ramcat's leave one impressive blood trail.
 
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