No blood with 2-blade single bevel broad heads?

[carsonkeys]

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to take two deer with my bow. There was absolutely no blood trail to speak of for either of them, and it has quite honestly soured me a bit. Has anyone else run into this issue?

 

[LostArra]

I believe there are too many factors involved to blame lack of blood trail on a broadhead.
Traditional or compound?
Did you find the deer?

 

[LostArra]

I reread your post. You were "fortunate" so I assume you found them.

 

[edwal]

I have shot a good number of deer back east with 2 blade heads. Yes, I think most blood trails were not super great but I also had most of the deer fall within sight or I could here the crash of them falling. My guess is that they simply didn't feel the hit as bad. 2 deer actually just stood there, walked around a few seconds and tipped over. It also made my tracking skills much better.

 

[carsonkeys]

I reread your post. You were "fortunate" so I assume you found them.

Compound bow, found one. He was dead 70 yards from where I shot him but again, no blood. We lost sight of him almost instantly due to the thick brush and managed to stumble upon him. The other seemingly vanished into thin air without a trace.

 

[bolo1187]

I had the same experience 2 weeks ago with Cutthroats. Zero blood but it only went 40 yards. Looked like a bomb went off in her chest cavity when I was field dressing her tho

 

[Blockcaver]

I don't like two blade heads...due to the occasional poor blood trail. I shot a few 2-blade 1-1/4" Zwickey Deltas (double bevel) many years ago and had worse blood trails than the 4-blade version of Deltas that had the small 3/4" "bleeder" blades so haven't used them since other than a few critters with Ulmer Edge 1.5" single bevel mechanicals (which gave me poor blood trails).

I've settled on 3-blade heads. YMMV

 

[chasewild]

I used strickland helix from 2015 until last year.

IN 2015, I shot an elk at 13 yards and it was angled down. He bled really well. It was impressive.
That same year I shot a sheep at 45 yards and the blood trail wasn't impressive, but neither was the shot.

In 2017 I shot a bull at 43 yards. The shot was dead center lungs, no pass through. The blood was good enough, but not incredible.

In 2018 I shot a mule deer at 25 yards with a complete pass through. THe blood trail was decent, but not what I'd like to see.

In 2019 I shot a mule deer at 38 yards with a complete pass through at a steep angle. He bled really well.

I switched broadheads for the exact same reason you've eluded too. I switched to the Trophy Taker A-tacs this year. I shot a bull at 25 yards and he didn't bleed as much as I'd hoped.

THe A-tacs fly better than the two blades (from what I've heard, they fly better than most out there), but I really wish there was more cut to them. I really like the look of the Tooth of the Arrow and the Iron Will Wides @Bill V

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I have some buddies who have killed lots of deer with the stickbow.. The one guy averages about 6-7 deer a year. They have moved away from the Dr. Ashbey style heads for that same reason. Personally I've only shot bigger broadheads so I'm no help firsthand. I do know that WIDE 2 blades like the Simmons Land Sharks will leave plenty of blood.

 

[wildwilderness]

I also have had sparse blood trails with small 2 blade Broadheads. I only shoot them now if I think penetration will be an issue, - brown bear, moose, where I used an Iron will with bleeder so not a true 2 blade. I’ve seen a couple others shot with small 2 blades and don’t like it. The hole closes too easy

Now I have killed a couple animals with a rage hypodermic 2” and it did leave a great blood trail. So my thought is if you go 2 blade go big. Otherwise I will stick to a 3 blade

 

[Papabearhunts]

I shoot 2 blades. My aim point is generally farther forward than most and bottom third. I’m used to spot and stalk out west and when I climbed into tree stands, it took me a few draws and let downs on live deer to figure out the angle of the dangle from an elevated position. I tend to think deer that the hit looked “good” are back or up. Not always the case just my experience. I tend to get good blood trails forward and lower third because there are big/higher pressure vessels there—lots of spray versus drops. This is a great discussion and I really appreciate the civility. Best of luck out there!

 

[Arctic Hunter]

I’ve shot several whitetails with them. Had the same experience. Great penetration, but never had good blood trails.

 

[Lytro]

I switched to Kudupoint 100's this year. I was a little concerned about blood trails prior to using them, but I've been pretty impressed so far. I recently ordered the contour+ kudus with the bleeders, but haven't tried them yet. I've shot Montecs since 2008 and the blood trails were never great, but I don't think I've ever had a deer fall out of sight. I wanted to switch due to durability. The tips would consistently chip or bend on them after hitting the ground on pass throughs.

First kill was a pronghorn (20 yards quartering to and downhill). I hit him in the chest close to the shoulder joint and it sliced his belly wide open on the exit and his entire stomach dropped out. The arrow buried itself in the grassy hillside and I never recovered it. There wasn't a ton of blood, but I watched him run about 80 yards and bed so I didn't look too much.

Second kill was a whitetail doe (45 yards uphill quartering away slightly). The arrow passed through the front shoulder blade and exited just in front of the off-side shoulder and stuck into the ground in rocky soil. The deer went about 40 yards and the blood trail was pretty massive. (I do think the quartering angle helped open the exit would wider as it was pretty massive.) Recovered the arrow and the broadhead still looked new. I put it back in my quiver to use again. One odd thing to note, I had a lot more meat loss on this deer from the wound channel than I can recall on any other I've killed with the bow. I would've thought it was shot with a rifle.

 

[Zdub02]

Not quite an apples to apples comparison but I second @BigBuckDirtNap on the Montecs... Shot a few deer with them, all pass through shots from a tree stand, but minimal blood trails.

 

[carsonkeys]

I switched to Kudupoint 100's this year. I was a little concerned about blood trails prior to using them, but I've been pretty impressed so far. I recently ordered the contour+ kudus with the bleeders, but haven't tried them yet. I've shot Montecs since 2008 and the blood trails were never great, but I don't think I've ever had a deer fall out of sight. I wanted to switch due to durability. The tips would consistently chip or bend on them after hitting the ground on pass throughs.

First kill was a pronghorn (20 yards quartering to and downhill). I hit him in the chest close to the shoulder joint and it sliced his belly wide open on the exit and his entire stomach dropped out. The arrow buried itself in the grassy hillside and I never recovered it. There wasn't a ton of blood, but I watched him run about 80 yards and bed so I didn't look too much.

Second kill was a whitetail doe (45 yards uphill quartering away slightly). The arrow passed through the front shoulder blade and exited just in front of the off-side shoulder and stuck into the ground in rocky soil. The deer went about 40 yards and the blood trail was pretty massive. (I do think the quartering angle helped open the exit would wider as it was pretty massive.) Recovered the arrow and the broadhead still looked new. I put it back in my quiver to use again. One odd thing to note, I had a lot more meat loss on this deer from the wound channel than I can recall on any other I've killed with the bow. I would've thought it was shot with a rifle.

Those Kudu's have me quite intrigued, mainly due to the way they flair out (I'm assuming that's what they mean by contour) as opposed to my other "narrow" heads. Have you shot the heads with the bleeders yet? Curious as to how they fly compared to the the heads without them.

 

[Lytro]

Those Kudu's have me quite intrigued, mainly due to the way they flair out (I'm assuming that's what they mean by contour) as opposed to my other "narrow" heads. Have you shot the heads with the bleeders yet? Curious as to how they fly compared to the the heads without them.

They group with the originals and FPs without any extra tuning out of my set up. The bleeders aren't that big (maybe 1/4") so they shouldn't slow the arrow down too much through bone. (527gr Axis @ 289 FPS) I'll report back if I can stick something before rifle season opens up here.

 

[Beendare]

Ive had great BTs with 2 blades.
IMO, BT has more to do with the shot location than the head.

Ive literally seen hundreds of animals shot with an arrow; low shot with 2 holes= great BT, high shot especially with no exit- bad BT.... no matter the head. High shots with no exit are the worst.


Saw an example yesterday: my buddy shot a buck yesterday with a 3 blade- zero blood. 3 blade head. Buck turned... found at 100 yds. Shot quartering to, shoulder entry arrow lodged in back ham.... a gallon of blood but all inside the body with no exit.

 

[Jimbob]

Shot a moose with a stinger and the blood trail looked like it was from a garden hose, moose was lying 20 yds away in a pool of blood. The shot was 12 yds right above the heart with a pass-through.

Three days later my Dad shot a moose with a stinger and there was not a drop of blood, not even where the moose died 150 yds later. Gutted the moose and it was like a 5 gallon pale of blood came pouring out of the abdomen. The shot was back and high right under the spine severing the main artery running down the spine.

The same broadhead but entirely different blood trails because shot location was completely different. So, like mentioned above, shot location has WAY more to do with blood trails than broadhead choice.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I’ve been using Thunderhead 100s since ‘92. I don’t ever remember a poor blood trail when hit in the vitals. The blood trail usually start at the point of impact.

I high shouldered an 8 point a couple years ago with a mid shoulder exit. There was a great blood trail and the deer went about 50 yds.

I’ve seen/experienced enough with them to never try anything else.

 

[IdahoHntr]

Those Kudu's have me quite intrigued, mainly due to the way they flair out (I'm assuming that's what they mean by contour) as opposed to my other "narrow" heads. Have you shot the heads with the bleeders yet? Curious as to how they fly compared to the the heads without them.

Shot the Kudu contour plus this year. Fly as good as any other fixed blade I’ve shot and the blood trail on my bull was probably the best blood trail I’ve ever had. I was impressed enough to keep shooting them even though I normally like to tinker. Just really loving the way they fly and my sample size of 1 was great. I’m in the camp that shot location matters way more than broadhead as far as blood trail goes though. I choose a broadhead more on how it flies and it’s build quality, both of which were as good as I could ask for with the Kudu. If you put the broadhead where it’s supposed to go then the blood trails will be good. There isn’t a broadhead out there that a person who made a “perfect” shot hasn’t complained about a bad blood trail.