What do you think I can get away with?

[snowplow]

Hey guys, I hunted my own property for the first time last year and tagged a nice 2 pt blacktail. I may do the same this year. It's not very big but is of course legal. I do have neighbors on one side that would not be happy to see a deer go down in their yard lol. So the most important thing for me is to have a complete pass through no matter what. No matter what happens, nothing makes you look more unethical than an arrow hanging out of a deer. The second most important thing is as big of a hole as I can get away with.

I shoot a toelke chinook that is 60#@32" so I have plenty of powder behind the arrow. I have shot a 250 VPA through the thick part of the vertibrae and had 1/4" of broadhead hanging out the back of the bone for reference. So I am pretty darn confident in a pass through with 3 blade VPAs.

I have always been curious about big 2 blades and how they compare to the typical 3 blades like VPAs or Valkyries. You can add up all the blade lengths and figure out surface areas and drag etc etc. Obviously it seems a tree shark would under penetrate and give more blood than a Howard Hill. But less obvious is the middle ground like VPA's vs 1.5" cutting diameter 2 blades like the Large Boneheads or Centaur Big Game heads.

Do you think the 3 blades penetrate more than the large 1.5" wide 2 blades in bone?

Do you think I could get away with a big 2 blade with my setup and not worry about penetration?

PS do they still make Centaur Big Game Heads??

[Alexander Traditional]

With your set up you could probably shoot what you want. On the Tree Sharks it's just the last part that is two inch,and they penetrate pretty darn good. I shot my first two animals with them out of a 45 pound bow. The whitetail the arrow made two holes,and with the hog it was down pretty quick.

I've got a Centaur coming,and Jim said he only makes limited batches of his broadheads.

[Orion]

Could you shoot a large 2-blade?  Sure.  Will it kill them any faster than the 3-blade VPAs you're using?  No. 

[Otto]

I'll be curious as to where this discussion goes.   I personally don't think the broadhead type means squat.   I killed a bazillion deer with Thunderhead 125's, a non cut on contact head.   I've used Snuffer's as well.    So I'll sit on the sidelines and see what the gang has to say.

[Wose]

I hunt my own property in Washington too. My situation is different because one "neighbor" is Weyerhaeuser and the other neighbor will hop out of bed and grab his 4-wheeler to help me get the dead deer in the garage.

Blacktail deer just aren't all that big usually. I think if you drill one in the A-zone with a "heavy enough" arrow with any "good enough" broad head, they will die pretty quick.

I think where two blade, heavy broad heads offer an advantage is when things go awry on deer, and when you are trying to kill bigger animals.

Last deer I shot was with a 300 spine arrow, with a 100 grain brass insert, topped by a 175 grain Grizzly single bevel. I was in a tree stand. The shot was slight quartering away. The arrow went in the back 1/3 of the left side rib cage, came out the front 1/3 of the right side ribcage, and broke the right front foreleg.  That deer was easy to find.

[Terry Green]

I may have an answer for you with pics either tonight or tomorrow....

Just gotta find time to set up the pics with a little story...

But 60@32 I'd shoot big 4 blade.   I'm not sure what bones you're talking about but there's no guarantee you're gonna get through that ball joint with any head.

[Ray Lyon]

Your accuracy matters most.  I’ve had deer go down quickly with two and three and four blade heads.  Quiet bow, perfectly tuned arrow and well place shot/shot selection and don’t worry about number of blades.

[Terry Green]

Exactly Ray, you can kill them with a field point if you can hit them in the right spot every time. I shoot multi blades because shots can be off and animals can move.

[snowplow]

Ok guys thanks. Very helpful.

So lets see if I got this.

Even with my setup at 60@32 I probably couldn't shoot through the shoulder socket or spine no matter what broadhead I'm running.

But, I could shoot though about everything else with just about any decent head regardless of configuration.

Sound about right?