Broadhead Debate: Fixed Blade Vs. Mechanical

One of the most frequent questions I get from other bow hunters is “which broad head is better to use on whitetails?” The short answer is the one that works best for you! Now that mechanical broad heads have been around for a long time, should they be your blade of choice?

Personally, I have tried many different broadheads and I prefer to use a fixed broadhead if I am hunting deer. However, when I bow hunt for turkeys, I prefer to use mechanical broadheads. Some may think that I am a little old fashion, but I have tried both and there is a reason I made that choice.

It is true that mechanicals tend to fly better in a little wind and also true that they fly very similar to a field tip, but once I had a mechanical fail and only partially opened which ended up wounding a deer. That was enough for me. I would have rather missed the whitetail all together. I made a promise to myself that I would never take that chance again. I know that many hunters use them and are very happy with their performance and that is fine because it is a personal choice.

Now turkeys are a different animal! I have had fixed blades go right through a turkey and then the bird flies off not knowing he is about to have a bad day. Worse yet, is the fact that you cannot track a bird that flies off and you are the one having a bad day! When using a mechanical blade on turkeys, I have found that the energy needed to open the blades on impact is enough to rob the energy needed to push the arrow completely through the bird. That is exactly what you want. If the arrow only goes halfway through, then the turkey will not be able to fly away and you will be able to have a nice turkey dinner!

At the end of the day, as I said in the beginning, the best broadhead to use is the one that works best for you. Try as many as you can and then make an intelligent choice as to which broadhead is for you.

Lou Marullo