Best big boar broadhead?

[Random guy]

As I am talking with some of this years bear hunters I am asked often what I feel the best broadhead for bear hunitng is. Now I shoot fixed blade stuff and belive in them but I have seen some huge bear taken with mechanical blades. Such as Gordy's two back to back trophies.

Proof in the pictures? Both of these boars where taken with Rage broadheads and VERY short tracking;

Both arrows penetrated beyond what I would have excpected. Now I have seen some hits with both mechanical and fixed blade broadheads without a call either way.

So bear hunters if you don't mind I would like to hear good and bad broadhead stories. From wound, penetration and even if a mechanical failed to open (I have not seen this yet in the tough bear hides).

[Archerysniper]

I use slicktricks wich are a fixed blade mini head 1-1/4 cut when you hit somthing with it it's a hole the size of a 12gage slug I now alot of people that use them on bigger animals like elk and swear by them I used them for moose hunting and deer I didn't get to put one in a moose my dad got him but on deer you get massive blood trails. The thing with bears is the hair soaks up alot of the blood and the fat can close off the entry and exit holes leaving weak blood trails. Bigger holes from a tough sharp broadhead is what you want on bears I would not recommend any broadhead 1" or less cutting diameter for bears even on good shot placement you will probably have a weak blood trail.

[lichen fox]

I harvested my first 10 bears with NAP's thunderheads...always had complete penetration (pass throughs)...when NAP came out with the spit fire expandables I decided to give them a try...

I bought the 100 grain spitfires and have used them on deer and bear ever since...I've harvested about 12-15 deer with these and about 7 bears...all shots were complete pass throughs and over half the bears never made it 20 yards...I watched them go down...the farthest I had any bear go was probably about 60 yards...deer on the other hand I had go as far as 150 yards...I'm sold on them and have never had one fail to open on deer or bear..

[Archerysniper]

I also use the nap spitfires but just for turkeys and boy do they put a hole in a bird. I like useing a fixed head for big game their always open but thats me. I help track a doe on the metro hunt last year that a guy shot with a two blade rage at a steep angle that the broadhead opened vertically between the ribs and made a cut about 7 inches long before it entered the chest cavity and nicked the heart long blood trail wich you dont want on a city hunt.

[propster]

Sharp is the key. Lot of good fixed blades on the market - Thunderhead and Wasp make some of the sharpest blades. And you don't need a huge diameter to kill 'em quick either. Spitfire has turned out to be a good head. Anecdotal evidence is just that, many swear by the head they use because they've done well with it and just haven't run into a problem. Lots of guys love the Rage head, and we've all seen the holes and blood pouring out on TV and the critters just don't go anywhere. But those are the ones we get to see. When Bob Barrie perfected that head he was really on to something, the only problem Rage has today is that they don't always get the blades sharp. Consequently you still get a lot of incidents where you put one through an animal and it makes a good hole, but you're lucky to find it 400 yds away with no blood trail. That second bear is a dandy!

[Random guy]

That second bear is a dandy!

All photos, the first one is Pope & Young the second one is close but came in just short but what an awesome color phased bear.

As for the blades I have always stuck with Woodsmans (traditional shooter), I used to use Muzzy's for deer when i shot compound and never had any trouble. At the advent of mechanicals I had a Rocket that was new on the market at the time go clean through without a open and another mechanical that left the blades stuck in the shoulder blade as the arrow passed through. Of course mechanical blades have come along ways in that time but I guess I got spooked from them right off the bat and never went back.

Of course I have seen bear take a 50 cal muzzle loader hit and keep on going and one shot in the butt with an arrow that tipped over in sixteen yards.

Thats why my tracking gun is loaded 000 buckshot-Mag slug-000 buckshot-Mag slug-000 buckshot. Not taking a chances crawling through the brush in the dark.

[maros91]

My buddy and I use the same broadheads. Montec 100 grain. He got his bear last year with it. Complete pass through and the bear didn't go 20 yards and there was blood all over. Same with my deer, great blood but they travel a little farther. I think they are a great broadhead but to each their own. Shot placement also has a lot to do with it.

[HeviShot]

I had a poor expierence using the rage last year. Hit the bear perfectly quartering away (Have the shot on video) Only to end up trailing the bear until 3 am to find him still alive, and not very happy. The problem I noticed was penatration. After recovering the bear, we noticed the entry hole was HUGE but the arrow couldnt have penatrated more then 8 inches. Back to slick tricks for me!

[UMDSportsman]

FYI they finally released the smaller diameter 2 blade rage. it is a 2 blade that has a 1.5" cutting diameter for better penetration/lower poundage bows. i knew they were coming out with them last fall, but i finally saw them in stores this past weekend. I'm pretty sure (not 100%) that they use the same body, just shorter blades.

[Archerysniper]

Yeah I'll stick with a head that is open before it hits an animal I don't have to worry about them making a new head for better penetration.

[HeviShot]

We got them in last week and they are identical except for the smaller blades. Like you said, they are designed for people shooting lower poundage bows.

[benelli_dude2002]

I only shot one bear and that was with a bow. i used a satellite broadhead. i dont even know if they still make them. it was a pass thru at 9 yards from a ground blind. 25 yards give or take a yard to where the bear was recovered. Back in 1996 i got nice bull moose ( 52 inch spead ) at 15 yards. i was using a fixed Wasp broadhead. it was a complete pass through and I watched him go down. He went maybe 25-30 yards. I got me a package of two blade Rage i might try for moose hunting this fall up in Ontario.

[HNTNBUX]

I have had good and bad luck with both kinds of broadheads and there doesn't seem to be any one perfect head for me.

I shot a bear with a spitfire that glanced off of the ribs and followed the side down and forward to the front leg and then penetrated the front leg breaking the leg and severing an artery. I recovered the bear by shear luck with the cut artery. I have had short blood trails with mechanicals and fixed blades on other bears but less defined trails with the fixed blades.

I have also used both for deer and elk. I made a marginal high hit on an elk with a mechanical head due to adrenaline and rushing the shot but recovered the elk with good tracking. I have also made what I still believe to be a perfect shot with a smaller fixed blade, Wac-em 100, quartering away in the pocket and did not recover the elk. I found three drops of blood and could only trail it by tracks. I had over 18 inches of penetration and it snapped off my arrow but no blood trail.

I don't think there is a perfect head that will work for all situations yet. Great arrow flight with small fixed blade heads or mechanicals but limited blood trails with the fixed blade and limited penetration and failure issues with mechanicals. Broadside perfect shots mechanicals and enough poundage should work great. Tough animal or quartering shots I would give the advantage to the fixed blade heads.

I have tried many different heads and they are not magic. Until I find that perfect head I will switch back and forth depending on what I am hunting.