Broadheads And Great Arrow Flight

These two things don't always go together to well. Why, you ask? In order to answer this question you have to get back to some bare bones tuning. This is the key to good broadhead groups no matter which head that you choose to launch at a critter.

Is your bow tuned properly? How well do your arrows equipped with field points group at 40 yards? Do they group at 50 yards and how large is it?

The old standard was approximately 9" at any given distance. Let me explain. Have you ever heard the expression, "I can hit a pie plate at 30 steps and that's good enough for me!" Well, it's not good enough for me and shouldn't be your standard either.

Can you can shoot a group of 6 arrows at 30 yards into a 5" circle? Why not? This should be a bare minimum for your groups. Ideally, a 5" group at 50 yards should be your goal. Yes, it takes a lot of practice and requires that your bow be tuned perfectly but the game that you are hunting deserves it.

I would recommend taking your bow to a professional and having it setup and tuned correctly. Let me make myself clear on this. After someone tunes your bow, they should spend a few minutes with you to be sure that it will punch a perfect hole in a piece of paper with you shooting the bow. I should warn you that this does not mean that your broadheads will fly correctly but you will be off to a good start.

Second, I would like to point out that most bowhunters are do-it-your-selfers. If you are one of these people by all means continue reading. After shooting a group of arrows with field points at 20-40 yards, pay special attention to arrow flight and your groups in the target. If they are tight and your arm is up to it, fling some broadheads. How is the grouping? Not so good? Then you will need to continue reading. If they are good, stop here and get off of the computer and go shoot some more.

I have used this link to the Easton Tuning Guide in a previous post and consider it a valuable tool in tuning my bow. http://www.willowcreekarchery.com/Easton-arrow-tuning_guide.pdf After downloading go to page 11 for broadhead tuning.

After you complete the tuning of your bow to your broadheads you will find that almost every head will fly good. Here is the exceptions. Yes, there is almost always an exception.

• When trying a different head, check the alignment.


• If shooting expandable heads, use a bread tie or a very small piece of wire so that it will not open during flight. Also this will stop them from opening in the target and saves on replacement blades.


• Test every head that you have. I have found only one brand broadhead that would not group with all of the others. Hint: One of the most popular on the market for years.

OK. Now that you are armed with the knowledge, go try it out!

String Jumping Issue

Have you ever had a deer jump string or duck an arrow just as it arrives resulting in a miss? I believe that there are 3 distinct causes for this.

1. Loud bow



2. Nervous or alert deer



3. Noisy arrows

I will start by saying a loud bow is something that is taken for granted these days due to the manufactures really stepping up and introducing quality products.

I have shot at a lot of alert deer and have somewhere in the 60% success ratio. When a deer comes in and knows something is wrong, their senses are heightened much like our own. Anything will send them running at warp speed. If possible wait it out. Let them calm down and then set up your shot. If you must shoot and the deer is at 20 yards or less, aim really low. Watch some hunting video's and you too will be convinced that an alert deer will drop 8" or more.

Noisy arrows? Yes, arrows do make noise and at times a lot of it. I was shooting with my brother one day and he had walked to the target before I had stopped shooting. While standing behind a tree for 2 or 3 shots he yelled that the arrows were noisy. After some investigation it turned out that some vanes and/or broadhead designs are just noise makers and need to be avoided to prohibit string jumping.

I had the good fortune to have been given several broadheads to test for a name brand company that was introducing a new design the following year. At the time these would retail for a staggering $36.00 for 3 pack. When everything else was around $15.00-$19.00 dollars.

After having my brother stand down range at my indoor range and listen to the heads, we determined that the loud whistling noise was caused from the new heads. I quickly changed to some other popular heads and shot those.

Conclusion, not all heads are created equally. Be sure to test a few on your own this year before headed out to the stand.

Best of Luck