Arrow Penetration Issues

[deerwhacker444]

I need some advice from some seasoned archers. I've been deer hunting for many years but have killed only a few animals so my experience level is low. My current setup shoots a 429 gr. arrow @ 275 fps for about 72 ft-lbs of Kinetic energy. From what I've read, that should be adequate for anything in North America.

I was using these Broadheads from NAP. They fly right and I though would penetrate well.

I shot a little buck a couple of weeks ago that I posted here:

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22075

The shot was at 10 yards. The arrow penetrated the deer but didn't completely exit. The fletching was sticking out one side. Upon examination on field dressing, the arrow hit a rib going in and one going out. Seeing as how the arrow only touched ribs, I thought the arrow should have passed thru at that distance, but wrote it off to dumb luck.

On Sunday evening, I shot another small buck. Distance was about 28 yards and he was quartering away. The arrow entered a little on top and behind the shoulder and stopped. The buck took off running and the arrow snapped off. Upon closer examination, the arrow showed penetration to be atleast 9" due to the hair and blood. The broadhead and about 3" of shaft remained in the buck. There was very little blood. After he went in the tree line all sign stopped. I searched that night and the next morning but couldn't find him. I would have thought 9" of penetration would be enough to get 1 or both lungs and lead to a quick kill and easy recovery. But that proved not to be the case. There is nothing I hate more than feeding the coyotes.

My question is, with penetration being questionable on 2 hit deer, are these broadheads junk? Could the shape of the tip provide more resistance to penetration than one might think. I would have thought that with the KE that my bow is putting out, a decent arrow setup would have zipped right thru him.

My cousin has encouraged me to switch to Magnus Stinger Buzzcuts which he has had good success with. I've heard that they penetrate well.

I'm starting to lose confidence in my gear. Hitting my target is not a problem but I will start limiting my distance if kills aren't quick and decisive. I would have thought 30 yards would be no problem but now I'm not so sure.

What do you guys think..?

 

[bigcountryok]

Your's isn't the first report I've heard of with issues with those heads. But the 10 yard shot with a 70lb bow should have just blown through.

My first thought is that your bow is out of tune and the the arrows aren't flying properly. If the arrows don't impact straight on you're going to have pentration issues.

I would also have to second the Magnus Buzzcut they are great heads, but with your set up if it's tuned properly you should get pass throughs without any issues at all even using large mechanical heads.

 

[imhntn]

Any cut on impact broadhead will penetrate better unless you hit solid bone, like a shoulder blade, and then they tend to curl the tip a little and do not penetrate that well. It is very hard to penetrate the shoulder blade no matter what you shoot. 9" of penetration would be enough if the hit was good but one lung takes quite a while for the deer to die. My brother shot one with the magnus this year that went 400 yards before it died and it was some tough tracking cause it went through a lot of grass. It took a few hours to work the blood trail and the deer was stiff when found. It had been dead awhile but had covered quite a bit of ground first. Things happen fast and it is really hard to tell about a shot sometimes. My brother hit one last year that we thought was a perfect hit but the deer ducked and leaned away from him hard. We saw the buck again later and the entry wound looked perfect but the exit was high on the back like the arrow just slid along the rib and exited the top of the back. I doubt if the broadhead is the problem. You are just going to lose one every now and then and you will be fortunate if you figure out why. Lots of deer are butchered with broadheads in them. Just keep after them.

 

[30BulletHoles]

Your's isn't the first report I've heard of with issues with those heads. But the 10 yard shot with a 70lb bow should have just blown through.

My first thought is that your bow is out of tune and the the arrows aren't flying properly. If the arrows don't impact straight on you're going to have pentration issues.

I would also have to second the Magnus Buzzcut they are great heads, but with your set up if it's tuned properly you should get pass throughs without any issues at all even using large mechanical heads.

I'd shoot a broad head target and measure baseline penetration, paper tune and shoot the target again. If there's not a difference in penetration I'd switch broadheads.

 

[oneshotonekill]

The first one does sound kinda iffy on the penetration unless it hit the rib alot harder that what you thought. It still got the job done. The second one sounds like more of shot placement problem. I shot one quartering away a while back and the arrow slid all way down the rib and cut the throat killed the deer....that sentence should be read as I was lucky. Maybe the shot was a bit further back than what you thought and it slid down the rib cage impacting the sholder and stopping.

I have always used thunderheads and never ever had a problem lots of blow through shots. Good luck and checking tuning may be a good start.

 

[lameduck]

Slick Trick broad heads are amazing. I have put down around 75 hogs with them over the past two years and I love them. I have actually used the same broad head for 10 hogs, but had to change out the blades.

I would say follow the tuning methods mentioned above, you also might try the walk back tuning method.

 

[doctorjj]

I've had some shots that didn't blow through when I was using lighter weight Thunderheads on aluminum shafted arrows. Now I use these heavier broadheads Steelforce on carbon arrows and have blown through and stuck in the ground, including a shot on a 9 point about 4 years ago where I hit the shoulder blade. The broadhead made a nice cruciform cut right through the shoulder blade, blew through the other side and stuck in the ground about 4 inches. I was impressed. The broadhead looked new after I cleaned off the blood. The deer's front quarters had blood and "shock" all through them. It actually ruined a decent portion of meat. My dad told me I needed to turn my bow down.

As for why you are having problems, it could be a lot of things. If you hit a rib square on, it's gonna be hard to blow through, regardless of equipment. Also, as someone else mentioned, make sure your bow is tuned perfectly. Any fishtailing will rob the arrow of energy as it tries to penetrate.

As for tuning methods, I usually just shoot a few arrows while watching my arrow instead of the target. How? Take your aim, then without moving anything, with both eyes open, just refocus on watching the arrow as it comes out of the bow. If you can see any fishtailing, it needs to be tuned. Bright colored nocks help in this process. It becomes easy after a few shots and strangely enough, I usually still shoot just as good as if I kept focused on the target.

 

[kdlong]

check the tuning first make sure the arrows are flying correct.as for the broadheads i have been using rage three blade ever since they came out shot a small buck last year right through the spin the arrow went plumb through the spin and stuck in a tree behund the deer. i made a holeabout the size of a baseball through the backbone needless to say the deer nevermoved another inch i did have to replace the blades but other than that the broadhead was in good shape i shot a hoyt power tech set at 65 lbs with a 29.5 inch draw with a speed of 315 don't know the energy foot lbs

 

[dennishoddy]

A video camera watching your shot will answer any tuning question you may have. Arrows normally look like a snake off the bow, but get straight right after. Proper tuning sounds like it may help you. I took the first three deer of my life with a 45# bow using bear razor heads. I had complete pass thru's on all of them. Its not your broadhead in my opinion.

 

[doctorjj]

i shot a hoyt power tech set at 65 lbs with a 29.5 inch draw with a speed of 315 don't know the energy foot lbs

Have you chronographed that? Was the chronograph calibrated? The reason I ask is the IBO on that bow is only 302. At 29.5 inches it would probably max out at about 295 with a 325 grain arrow.