rage broadheads

[vister]

My comment about the number of deer taken was through my years of HUNTING experience. i guess i forgot to mention that it wasn't striclty bow hunting, but thanks for trying to undermine me. In the first quote, you didn't see that I miscalculated the distance. so the arrow hit low. deflected off the sternum. And my judgement has gotten better, as that shot i took on that doe was from near the ground level. it was early, and I had stepped off my distances to two little saplings in front of me. the close one at 20, the distant at 38. and when she came in, i got excited, and as you can tell, i thought she was at the 20 yard sapling. nope, she was at the one in the back.

So now i use different colored tape marking distances, so I can't be confused, as easily. And guess what, that colored tape matches the color of my pins. A big lesson learned on judgement huh

I am not the one stressing ethical shot here! Like Chuck Adams said, "take your first best shot" whats wrong with shooting a deer in the neck. Is that not a good way to kill them? And the buck I shot, though close to straight on, was still a completely different angle. the doe, was dead nuts straight on. the buck, not perfectly straight on. he was more or less looking at 7 oclock and i was elevated. but when i grunted to stop him he looked at me, i set the 20 yard pin on his white patch, which would be 30 yard pin 3or4 inches lows, where i wanted to hit and let it fly. slice a huge gash, sliced a lung, and ended up at the guts.

An ethical shot, not really, a quick, humane kill, yes.

I didn't think I'd ever take a shot like that again. But when the emotions kicked in when having the buck of a lifetime in front of me, i wasn't thinking about that doe. I was thinking about the 4 bucks in front of him that were cutting downwind of me, and I realized it was now or never. Ultimately, my decision paid off. Its not a shot I recommend, or am proud of, but i made it happen.

Now the buck is hanging on my wall, and you can see the scar from my arrow. As i wanted the original cape used. people ask about it, and I am reminded of how lucky I got that night

I've seen the pros take some iffy shots on movies and tv. directly below their stand. they shoot, make a good shot, but the arrow stops dead in its tracks because it is embedded in the spine. shooting straight down. however, they know they'll recover the animal because the shot will paralyze it. then they have to shoot it with a follow up shot.

I guess in the heat of the moment some of us don't think with perfectly level heads. we get excited!

I've included a pic. you can see the scar. hair is too short to blend it in. this isn't how i intended to "show off" my buck of a lifetime. thanx for belittling me

[crown_seven]

I got nothing but respect for that shot, it shows confidence and it shows that you practice and put your time in, as far as getting lucky well all of us have been lucky a time or two thats what hunting is all about, you cant tell me that shooting a buck of a lifetime is all about skill and homework although it helps for sure but there is always luck involved in being in the right spot at the right time. Maybe some people dont shoot enough to be confident to make a shot like that and thats fine but dont cut someone else down for it. I personally dont practice enough for that but if i did I would take it in a heartbeat. I think what it boils down to is vister should be congratulated for a great buck and we should move on!

[96trigger]

How the H did the this topic get so far off?????

Strictly statisticly speaking, you have a 66% chance of not getting that deer. There are things however, that you can do, to increase the ODDS of getting into that 33% chance recovery.

You could also say that statistically speaking you only ever have a 50% chance of recovering that deer, either you do, or you don't. This is called messaging the numbers to get them to say what you want.

[charliepete]

Vister....I guess I'll leave it at saying to each his own. You mentioned not being proud of the shot you took on that buck. For me, I want to look back on my shots and be proud of the choices I made. I'm not pretending to be perfect either. I've pushed the limits on some shots (both in retrospect and at the time), but from 20 years of bowhunting I have the experience to look back and see that most of the time taking iffy shots to make things happen didn't work the way I'd hoped. I probably shouldn't have singled you out, but I'd hate for all the new bowhunters that read this sight to take what you are saying as far as frontal shots and 'making it happen' as gospel just because you put a terrific buck on the wall. In my experience it will lead to wounded deer and people being turned of from the sport. You didn't confirm it, but I'm betting your batting 50% on recovering frontal bow shot deer. To me that's just not a good result for a guy like you that spends lot of time in the woods and is proficient with his equipment. You also didn't respond with how many deer you've taken with a bow. From your other posts it sounded like no more than a handful. I'll hazard a guess that if you don't start taking quality shots you're wounding percentage will go a lot higher than the one wounded out of a handful that it already is.

Hopefully you don't take this like an attack as I don't mean it that way. I'm just trying to pass on some free advice that took me agonizing over lost animals and thinking about my own shot selection to come to grips with. Good luck to you this season!

[Kyle]

Ya I definitely think we should get back to talking about rage broad heads, or possibly other broadheads that work well.

Charliepete,

saying after the fact " I hope you dont take this like an attack" is a real easy thing to do after you have already done the harm. You werent even talking to me and I took it as an attack. Why on earth would you feel the need to look back in FM database and draw halves of sentences up that somone said only to twist them into something to use against them? This post is about ragebroadheads. Vister used his experience with the broadhead to highlight one of its strengths, I dont think this gave anyone the right to say anything about how ethical or unethical the his decision was. He admitted he wouldnt recommend the shot; what else do you people want from the guy? If you werent there, then you really do not know what took place, and you have no right or reason to comment on anything but the exact subject at hand...rage broadheads.

LETS GET BACK TO THE SUBJECT!

[Kyle]

Vister,

Real nice deer by the way!

was it a 2-blade or 3 blade you shot him with?

Ive only used the 3-blades and have been very impressed.

[just_jig]

Back to Rage blades..

Has anyone have experience with Rage blades on Elk. Heading out to MT in Sept and planing on using Rage.

[Big Buck Buster]

I would have taken that shot, if the opportunity presented itself. There is nothing to be ashamed about with that shot. There are plenty of vitals in that area that would have brought the deer down in a reasonable time, and distance.

Nice shot.

[vister]

it was a 2 blade. sorry to have drifted off topic before. but, charliepete, i think i have told you enough of my hunting stories. maybe i should videotape, but no, i don't have to "confirm" anything with you. yes, my head on shots are at a 50% kill ratio, 1 out of 2, but as far as "the perfect shot", Im batting a thousand. doesn't matter if thats 5 or 20 deer! I do feel somewhat appauled that someone singled me out, and actually dug into the archives to do it. Thats definetly not what this site is about, or supports.

[92python]

I haven't used Rage broadheads but from all of the research I have seen they seem to be very good. I'd shoot them if I had a pack but I'm not going to buy them. Based on what I know they seem to be a one shot head that run 13-14 bucks per head.

I have got 6 slick tricks mags and 6 jak hammers 3 years ago and 7 deer later with the help of a sharpener, leather, and some stropping compound I still have 5 slick tricks and 5 jak hammers ready to go. 2 bent ferules, one an oak tree miss the other on a major bone hit.

Rage broadheads are probably a great head but I am frugal and get sick of all the marketing. Expand your kill zone? Bad thought to put into peoples heads. That along with the fact that from what I hear you usually can't reuse them keeps me shooting other heads.

Nice buck Vister!! Get off his back.....

[charliepete]

Vister you say:

I do feel somewhat appauled that someone singled me out, and actually dug into the archives to do it.

[Kyle]

I havent personally used the rage on elk, but my best huntin buddy shot a big bodied spike at 76yds with a 3-blade. He missed the first shot hight at 55yds, then decided to range find him. He was practicing all summer at 85yds for this hunt, so the distance wasn't an issue. shot it just barely quarting away at 76yds. cut through the front side like butter, and went into the opposite shoulder. The broadhead looked like it was drilled into the shoulder and made it about half way through. The point was just showing through the other side. It ended up being a double lung shot, and the elk only went another 60yds. He showed me pictures of the blood trail, the broadhead in the shoulder, and the entrance wound and all I can say is that it was amazing! Elk have extremely strong bones, especially shoulder plates. No he did not get a complete pass through, but for that slight angle I dont think there is a broad head out there that would have. It's darn near impossible to drill a broad head completely through an elk shoulder.

[vister]

was more than "having a look"

[harvey lee]

I believe one can sum up the shots one takes like this.

Many do not practice much and do not know exactly how well their bow shoots. Others, work very hard at their shooting and form.

I know that I do take shots that many others would never dream of but, I have the confidence that I can make the shot. If I did not believe I could make a good clean kiling shot, then I will not take it.

It all comes down to knowng one abillity and making sure they only take shots they are capable of taking and then knowing that it is a killing shot.

I have bow hunted for many years and believe I can shoot fairly well.

I also know that I can in no way shoot as well as the guys I hunt with. But, I do just fine with the deer.

There is also a huge difference betwen shooting a standing target and shootin a deer in the woods. One with a bigger rack is also a larger challenge.

Practice and take good, high percentage shots and we can cut down on the wounded deer wich will help our sport overall.

Really does not matter which broadhead one uses as long as they are tuned to your arrow.

Personally I'm a Muzzy and Rage fan.

[walleye-]

Still can't figure out why you guys think these broadheads are so great? My buddy came over last night and he also is shooting the rage before we started shooting he was saying how he liked them. He also said that he hasn't noticed the noise but has only shot the pratice blades I convinced him to pull out one of his new ones and shoot it to see if it did the same that mine did. After he shot he was very disapointed and could not believe the noise and also couldnt figure out why they shot off from his practice broadhead. He then put a muzzy on that he has always shot until getting sucked into these rage. Shot the muzzy and it was right on and no noise. By the time he was ready to leave he said that he is going back to muzzys.

[vister]

the same reason u think muzzy are so great. i have had nothing but good luck with them. espescially on my iffy shot. the only noise i've heard is the ''smack'' upon arrival. i've never used muzzy, only rage and g5 strykers the past few years. guessing you've never used rage. if they were noisy, a deer will still duck from bow noise if anything

[koonie]

All the broadheads mentioned so far stink. If you don't shoot WASP or Grim Reaper broadheads you aren't an ethical hunter.

[Bear55]

All the broadheads mentioned so far stink. If you don't shoot WASP or Grim Reaper broadheads you aren't an ethical hunter.

Ya it's too bad there wasn't only one broadhead and only one bow on the market, that way everyone would be shooting the very best equipment known to man!

[Kyle]

I dont know why your so hung up on the noise...I personally have never experience this noise, but even if I had, it wouldnt really matter. Its not like the deer is going to here the noise from the broadhead separately from the noise of the string and say to himself, "hmmm, thats a broadhead coming at me I better move!" If he flinches and happens to evade your arrow its not because of the level of noise. Its because he got lucky, and because deer are just that quick. Ive killed deer with a rifle and had others around it not move a muscle, or sometimes even know anything happened. Its just luck of the draw sometimes.

[Bucksnort101]

First I have to say I shoot Traditional equipement only so the mechanical broadhead was never really an option for me. Having said that I received the latest issue of Traditional Bowhunter Magazine last night and they did test on mechanical broadhead performance and the Rage did not fair well. Granted it was used with Trad equipement, but they did not penetrate well if they hit a bone, rib, or anything other than tissue and actually broke when hard material was hit. I assume they will perform a bit better when used with a modern compound, but probably not much since there is so much more energy involved.

[ate1cropy]

I walked into a very popular archery store last fall looking for some rage broadheads and was shocked when I was told they dont have them because they dont always open... Now I know you dont know till you try em but that kind of turned me off the idea of getting a pack.

[Bigsmitty]

I was checking them out on Cabelas and reading the reviews. It seems like either people love them or hate them. Not much in between. Not enough consistency for me to purchase. If I have the big boy in my sights I need something tried and true.

I think I'll stick with my G5's

[TDH]

I walked into a very popular archery store last fall looking for some rage broadheads and was shocked when I was told they dont have them because they dont always open... Now I know you dont know till you try em but that kind of turned me off the idea of getting a pack.

I dont see how they wouldn't open every time with there design. It only takes a little bit of pressure to deploy the blades. I have shot two deer with them so far and they opened just fine. I will be using them again this year.

[deerhunter]

What do you guys do with your rages when you put them in your quiver? Do you just let them open and then just close them when you pull them out I know it is kind of a dumb question but it really annoys me when I put them in the quiver. The other thing I don't like about them is when I'm walking to my stand in the evening I always have a arrow nocked because you never know but you have to always watch the broadhead because they come open and I don't know how they will fly if one of the blades is out

[vister]

walking to your stand with a nocked rage is tricky. I use a fixed blade for that. my bow shoots rage and g5 srtykers the same, so i have both in my quiver. my quiver also came with an adapter for mechanicals. so they don't have to be pushed into foam, it is just like clamping an arrow by the shaft with the top part of the quiver.

rage will open everytime. its the ones that have been used that don't work to well again. they have to be cleaned very well to function like new. even when you shoot them into a target, some foam can get in there and cause a traffic jam. don't reuse them, and it won't be a problem. but, at 13 bucks a piece, some people insist on reusing them.