Mechanical to Fixed blade questions

[bigmike86]

Greetings, I am planning a hunt in Eagle Cap wilderness in Oregon this year and happened to catch in the regs mechanical broad heads in OR.  I have been bow hunting for about 6 years and have only used mechanicals. Is there anything I need to know when making the switch? Do you practice with the actual broadheads instead of a practice blade? Do they fly differently? Any tuning considerations or do you just slap it on and roll out?

Thanks guys, would hate to get on a nice animal and not have confidence in any part of my gear. Want to make sure I do it right.

[Reidus]

practice with the broadheads then replace blades before your hunt. Getting your bow tuned correctly is a lot more critical with fixed blades.

[demontang]

If your bow is tuned well you'll never know you are shooting a good fix blade. I've shot my RAD madman heads out to 80 yards to test them and they where flying true.

[JDHasty]

If you don't have an arrow spinner already, get one! 

[LeviD1]

I tune my bow before putting my broadheads on every year. Mine shoot just slightly high and to the right for whatever reason. I marked my sight so I have good starting points when I switch back and fourth. I spin every broadheads arrow and I don't don't switch heads on arrows. By switching to broadheads I really meant I have whole separate arrows set up. I shoot each broadhead arrow once to make sure they are good, and have 2 extras I use as warm ups during season that I don't re-sharpen. I had a bad experience with mechanicals the first year they were legal and will never use them again.

[demontang]

That's crazy that your broad heads won't fly same poi. I switch heads on my arrows all the time and never had a problem with poi.

[bigmike86]

Good tips guys! Thanks!

I am new to the west coast and see the value of fixed vs mechanical blade. Hunting whitetail from a treestand on the east coast is perfect for mechanicals as youre not really moving much once in your stand and dont have to worry about blades opening in quiver or rest while cutting brush.

Interesting about the arrow spinner, I'll have to get one. Probably should have been doing that anyway regardless of broadhead.

Do you only need to sharpen if you reuse them? Or is it common practice to sharpen them out of the box?

[JDHasty]

Good tips guys! Thanks!

I am new to the west coast and see the value of fixed vs mechanical blade. Hunting whitetail from a treestand on the east coast is perfect for mechanicals as youre not really moving much once in your stand and dont have to worry about blades opening in quiver or rest while cutting brush.

Interesting about the arrow spinner, I'll have to get one. Probably should have been doing that anyway regardless of broadhead.

Do you only need to sharpen if you reuse them? Or is it common practice to sharpen them out of the box?

I shot one brand of broadhead and was getting unexplained flyers.  The guy at the shop suggested another brand of broadhead after spinning my arrows (I am not going to name them because a different broadhead advertises here) instead of the one I was using in which he really had to work to get more than 30% to spin true out of the box, and I switched and now rarely have arrow assys that don't spin true.   

[theleo]

I hope you aren't going into that country blind.

[demontang]

Heads should be sharp out of the pack is not that's not a good thing. I shot a impala with the RAD and next day used it on a blesbok with be blades on it.

[bigmike86]

I hope you aren't going into that country blind.

Of course I am! I wish I had time to scout but I don't think I can swing it this year. I went into the pasayten blind last year and had a great time (didn't kill anything but bumped up some really nice bucks).

I'm not the best western hunter, but thanks to many years of army training my field craft is strong. I at least shouldn't die, and if I do I have pretty good life insurance for the wife any baby!

[blackveltbowhunter]

You will have a great time in the caps!! I started out hunting it blind 10 years ago and took decent bucks consistently. Never spent alot of time hunting elk in it, but always found a few. It gorgeous country and rugged.

As far as fixed heads, imo your setup will determine alot of how "forgiving" a specific head is. I have shot alot of heads over the years. One thing that has remained true for me I prefer arrows to be flying around 280ish fps vs over 300, and I shoot for bare minimum of 11 percent FOC. With 15ish really seeming to be smooth. This has made the process much easier for me. I still spin arrows etc.... but its really semantics and seems to be pretty plug and play with whatever head I want. Cheaper heads may get a bit more finicky but not anything a little homework wont cure. If your shooting a fast, or lighter setup then thing definitely become much more critical with fixed heads. Good luck this season!

[bigmike86]

Blackvelt,

Im a big dude and pull a 32.5 inch draw, so my arrows are uncut out of the box and about 550 grains with the broadhead. Ive never chrono'd them but the calculators say they are flying around 250-260. Hopefully they will be more resilient like you said.

Im going up there with an elk tag and deer tag, not expecting to tag either one. Main focus this year is elk in washington, but I looked at pictures of eagle cap and figured I had to get out there while I could, man does it look amazing! Thanks for the tips! Im super pumped

[LeviD1]

Like others said they should be sharp out of the box. Do I put an even better edge on them though..... maybe..... but not necessary.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Blackvelt,

Im a big dude and pull a 32.5 inch draw, so my arrows are uncut out of the box and about 550 grains with the broadhead. Ive never chrono'd them but the calculators say they are flying around 250-260. Hopefully they will be more resilient like you said.

Im going up there with an elk tag and deer tag, not expecting to tag either one. Main focus this year is elk in washington, but I looked at pictures of eagle cap and figured I had to get out there while I could, man does it look amazing! Thanks for the tips! Im super pumped

Im curious what bow your shooting? And poundage? At that draw length and arrow weight I would think you could be well over 260 easily. Not that you need to be, but it could prove useful information.

What time of season are you planning to get in there?

[bigmike86]

I'm shooting a Matthews Monster MR8 @ 70lbs. I think the IBO speed was 300fps, so I used that to do the calculations. It seems to be relatively flat shooting, but like I said I haven't ever chrono'd it before.

I'm planning on heading in there labor day weekend for about 4 days. Although there are murmurs about an exercise rotation happening in September, in which case I will be very very upset and have to find a general season rifle to hunt in October...

[Special T]

IBO is based off 30"draw 70lbs and 350 grain arrow.

Being built like Magilla the Gorilla really helps your speed. 2c

http://archerycalculator.com/estimate-bow-speed/

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[demontang]

Makes it hard to find a bow though

[TheHunt]

Here is something to consider.  If you are hunting brushy areas the mechanical broad heads will expand with the brush. Not good....   For Western Washington I personally do not use expandable so do your homework. 

[bigmike86]

Here is something to consider.  If you are hunting brushy areas the mechanical broad heads will expand with the brush. Not good....   For Western Washington I personally do not use expandable so do your homework.

I did experience a little frustration with this last year. I think since im making the switch for oregon anyways ill just stick with the same fixed bh for washington. Ill save my mechanicals for tree stand huntin

[bigmike86]

Being built like Magilla the Gorilla really helps your speed.

Yea and also when I get spotted by animals, they just think im another animal.

[Special T]

I'm not sure a fixed blade is going to change deflection of an arrow due to hitting brush. 2c

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[bigmike86]

I agree, more likely getting caught in some brush while hiking will open some blades and loose some of the bands or clips that hold the blades in. I had it happen a few times last year and it was quite annoying.