G5 Strykers and lack off blood trails

Titan_Bow

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Shot a buck this morning, it’s the 6th deer I’ve shot with G5 Strykers. I’m shooting a 2012 Hoyt Spyder, set at 65lbs. Fortunately I hunt pretty open country, and I’ve either watched them fall or watched them long enough to know exactly where thy went. All the deer have been lung or heart/lung, and every one has left very little blood. The couple that were heart shots did have a little more blood but still nothing like I was used to with my trad bow. Interestingly, the bull I shot with the same setup looked like someone dumped a bucket of blood. But man, on white tails and mulies I am getting almost no blood. I really like how the heads fly, and I’ve killed everything I’ve shot at with them. I just miss having a blood trail to follow. Anyone else have any experience with these heads? Is it just that I’m used to big COC 2 blades and trad gear?


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I've been on a similar journey. I have not used the Striker heads but had similar results with the Montec and Muzzy Trocar. I shot the Bone broadhead last year and also had a sub-par experience. I think it's because the Bone's are so skinny? One elk with no blood, one elk with a spray-a-thon, and one deer with no blood trail. I'm switching to that big 2-blade with bleeder style. I screwed on both Day Six and Iron Will heads on this year and they fly quiet and group well, haven't taken an animal yet.
 

SoDaky

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Shot them a couple years.Good bloodtrails on everything shot,including my biggest bull.Had no reason at all to quit using them,just always looking for greener grass.
 

*zap*

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50+ deer shot with strikers only two not recovered and one of those was thru the backstrap, usually the blood trail is good but I had a few exit wound holes that plugged up.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
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It's not just Strikers, all the fixed heads I've used can't even begin to compare to the blood trails from the mechanicals I've used. That's why I use mostly mechanicals now.
 
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I shot a whitetail buck one year with a mechanical. He went 30 yds and tipped over.

Three years later I shot a yearling cow elk with a three blade fixed. She went about the same, 30 yards, and tipped over.

Place the arrow correctly, hit important stuff and things die.
 
OP
Titan_Bow

Titan_Bow

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I’m not saying I’m not killing stuff or that I’m even having a hard time finding them. It’s just that I’ve noticed after 6 deer and an elk, only the elk left a substantial bloodtrail. The deer I shot yesterday was a broadside shot, double lung, the deer ran about 50 yards. I literally watched him fall in eyesight. When I walked over to where I hit him, and then followed his trail to where he lay, a blood trail was almost non existent. I would have had to been on hands and knees to find specks of blood. I’ve been shooting a compound for 4 or 5 years now, prior I’d shot trad bows my whole life. Every deer I’d shot with my longbow and big cut on contact broadhead, always left enough blood to easily trail if needed, that’s all I’m saying. I’ve been shooting the G5 the whole time, and I like them, they fly great, they are not expensive, and they blow right through everything I’ve shot. The only issue is bloodtrails. Really just wondering if it’s an issue with any replacement blade broadhead of similar design? I may switch up after this season.


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Something to remember, high lung shots don't bleed very well especially with complete pass throughs. Not sure if this is the case or not.

I shot a large cow elk 4 years ago, about the same size as a large 4 pt bull or small 5 pt. High lung shot with a complete pass through, she went about 60 yds downhill before I found a spot of blood the size of a lifesaver. Another 50 yds or so she was down.

I actually heard her go down, but with the commotion of the other elk she was with, wasn't 100% sure because there was no blood. That elk was shot with a 3 blade Wac'em.
 
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Beendare

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I've had the same thing happen on hogs and elk with Slick tricks.

Short wide heads have to put the thin bevel against hair, hide and bone. Same with some mech heads- they have to plow.

On thin skinned deer it shouldn't be a big issue really but thick skinned animals-yes.

Try a longer tapered head...... those retain better sharpness through the animal- I've noticed a huge difference.

...
 
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Zac

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I think 90 percent of blood trails are shot placement based. I think the only exception to this is 2 blades without bleeders.
 

5MilesBack

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Place the arrow correctly, hit important stuff and things die.

Sure, they all will die with a good vital hit........it's the finding part that's the problem. An elk can run 100 yards through thick timber in under 10 seconds after putting an arrow through them. If there isn't much blood to follow......that is one heck of a grid search to try and find them. More blood on the ground makes it much easier to find that trail.

I shot a cow a few years ago with a fixed blade on a downhill shot. She turned with her rump facing me and then just stood there for about a minute. When I finally tried to get a good angle for another shot, she took off and across a meadow about 150 yards wide and entered the timber. I first went to where she stood for a minute, only a little blood on each side of where she stood and then........nothing. I never found that arrow. Being down hill not sure how far it traveled after blowing through her.......but probably buried in the duff as well.

Never found a drop of blood through that meadow, but there she laid about 15-20 yards inside the timber on the other side with two holes in her, one on each side of her chest right behind the shoulder. The entry was mid body and the exit was lower. Would have been a heck of a search if it had been all timber and couldn't see where she ran.
 

JBrew

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Switched to the G5 this year and have been impressed with the blood trails so far.
 

Beendare

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Of course shot location is a huge factor....but its not the 100% deciding factor many defer to....at least in my experience.

Yep- high shots bleed less...no matter the BH....thats a given.

5 miles points out a factor I think is mostly overlooked- the animals reaction on the shot. If they take off like their tails on fire of course the blood trail is going to be tougher....as they go faster for sure but also a lot further. There are things a guy can do equipment selection wise AND shot selection wise to mitigate that. 3/4 of the animals I've shot in the last 10 years don't react violently to the shot....sometimes they just stand there.....which is of course a huge advantage.

An example of this is my current setup; recurve with a heavy arrow. I shot a hog in the tall [noisy] grass on a windy day that had no idea I was 12 yds away and the 2 blade went through him so fast he just stopped rooting and stood there...until he toppled. On the other hand with the same whisper quiet setup I had a bull I was calling to walk into an opening and I drew in plain sight of him- busted of course- and he jumped the string taking the arrow square in the hip. 3" penetration and the arrow just dropped out.

So that's^ only one part of the equation. Then factor in penetration- a big one IMO- not so much a problem on whitetail deer but when you are talking big hogs and elk....it becomes a major factor.

Seems to me there is a lot more to it than just 'big holes'


....
 

Brandon_SPC

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If we are just talking in regards to the broadhead and not ALL the other factors ( angle of entry/ exit, whether bone was encountered, etc), simple edge retention when the blade is actually cutting through the animal. Replacement Broadheads like G5 Strikers, Slicktricks (killed a ton of animals with these), muzzys etc all have thin blades and also the rockwell hardness of these blades are not up to par to hold a good edge. You can get thin blades RAZOR sharp very easy but they generally will not keep the edge while cutting through the animal.

Shoot something like a VPA 3 blade, QAD Exodus, Muzzy One, Ironwill, Day Six, Schwacker Razors, Steel Force Phathead, Valkyrie,
 

OR Archer

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If you’re unhappy about the results then look for a different head. Lots of good quality heads available. No sense in to keep using them if you’re not liking what they’re doing for you.
 
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Shoot something like a VPA 3 blade, QAD Exodus, Muzzy One, Ironwill, Day Six, Schwacker Razors, Steel Force Phathead, Valkyrie,

Hardness has to do with the durability of the steel at impact relative to its use with broadheads. Some of the ones listed above do not have the blade angle that replacement blades do, which means you will never get them as sharp. Sure, they'll retain the edge better because they are more "blunt", relatively speaking.

The cow I shot that ran 20 yds or so was with a VPA...
 
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Hardness has to do with the durability of the steel at impact relative to its use with broadheads. Some of the ones listed above do not have the blade angle that replacement blades do, which means you will never get them as sharp. Sure, they'll retain the edge better because they are more "blunt", relatively speaking.

The cow I shot that ran 20 yds or so was with a VPA...
They'll get every bit as sharp, and they'll retain it past the hide on the entry side. 420 SS (which every replaceable blade ever is made of) simply doesn't have the hardness or the carbide content to retain a razor edge beyond the hide or ribs on the entry side. Additionally, harder steels are actually capable of taking a much finer edge, simply because they are hard enough to support it. Really fine edges on 420 roll/fold or wear away under hard cutting force (like a broadhead punching through hide and ribs). A head that is razor sharp all the way through is going to help a lot with bleeding out the off side (supposing location is equal).
What Beendare said above is pretty much the whole rest of the story on blood trails.


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Btaylor

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If you’re unhappy about the results then look for a different head. Lots of good quality heads available. No sense in to keep using them if you’re not liking what they’re doing for you.
I am kind of with the above comment. I say that because in my experience with both fixed and mechanical heads there are some that FOR ME have produced really good blood trails but animals consistently ran further than expected, some havent produced very good blood trails at all but consistently put animals down in less than 100 yards and some that both put animals down quickly and produce substantial blood trails. Cant begin to tell you why in specifics but I tend to stick with heads that fall in the last category.

For me the G5 deadmeats have performed similarly to what you describe with the striker, Very poor blood trails but out of the handful of stuff shot with them none made 100 yards.
 

5MilesBack

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I haven't had an elk shot with a fixed blade fall under 100 yards, they've all run further than that even broadside double lung shots, and none of those had what I would call "good" blood trails. Some didn't start dropping blood for 75+ yards. But all the ones shot with 3-blade 1.5" cut mechanicals had much better blood trails and all fell in less than 100 yards.
 

Beendare

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420 SS (which every replaceable blade ever is made of) simply doesn't have the hardness or the carbide content to retain a razor edge beyond the hide or ribs on the entry side.

Additionally, harder steels are actually capable of taking a much finer edge, simply because they are hard enough to support it. Really fine edges on 420 roll/fold or wear away under hard cutting force (like a broadhead punching through hide and ribs). A head that is razor sharp all the way through is going to help a lot with bleeding out the off side (supposing location is equal).



Good post^. Sure a razor blade will feel sharp due to the thin blade and thin bevel.....but how will it stand up to hair, hide and bone?

Much of this depends on BH design...ie- taper. There is a reason the old Thunderheads were so effective; The tapered design put less pressure on the thin edge.....that taper helps the blades hold sharpness through the animal.

Species matters too; Comparing a whitetail to an elk ...everything is tougher on an elk. Thats why just about every head works sufficiently on a deer....and then the same BH performs poorly on elk.

"Big Hole" with most designs means you have more thin edge in contact with Hair,Hide and bone....plan accordingly.

...
 
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