blood trails

[artelkhunter]

I'm going to shoot 100gr simmons broadheads this year and would like to shoot them as a two blade. they just seem to fly better that way. With there bleeder I think the blood trails will be better. what do you guys think?

[Ragnarok Forge]

Blood trails have a lot more to do with shot placement than broadhead type.  Low in the chest cavity give good blood trails.  High gives bad blood trails that start further from the point of impact.  Plus where you hit front a back makes a big difference.

[Bill Carlsen]

My math says that if you increase the number of blades and/or cutting edges you will get more blood from the same wound than you would with a broadhead that cuts less. If you hit him high then the quicker he bleeds out the shorter distance he will travel and you will have a shorter trail regardless of the amount of blood. In other words the more blood the better (on the ground or not) and the shorter the trail the better (regardless of how bloody it is). I vote for the multiblade head assuming that you can shoot it accurately.

[Brian Krebs]

I think one thing we lack here on the trad gang is a study that shows the effect of the shaft on penetration.
 I know I have some shafts that seem to have more drag on them than other shafts.
 11/32 shafts are smaller than their 23/64 brothers; what effect does the increased size of the shaft have on the penetration into game?
 I do not have dip tubes; so I spray paint my shafts. Some paints are enamel - which is almost slippery; while others are rough- like matted finishes that I like because game cannot detect them as easily.
 It has been my impression using zwickey deltas for over 30 years -- that a 2 blade will penetrate well - and as much as one can ask for- with an aluminum shaft.
 But with a less 'slippery' shaft - like wood arrows - I have used a 4 blade- that seems to decrease the drag caused by the arrow shaft material.

 But that is conjecture at this point. [no pun intended]

 I would like to see a report on a sharp 2 blade with different kinds of shafts; compared to a 2 blade with bleeders.

 I have shot a few elk; one of which I shot through the rib cage - with the arrow 6 inches into the ground after a complete pass through. I followed that shot up with another shot- which went through the neck and into the ground like the first shot did. I was using a zwickey 2 blade with aluminum arrows.

 I have shot wood arrows into elk and killed them- yet lacked penetration with the 4 blade zwickey- which is only a 4 blade by virtue of its bleeder blades - with wood arrows that were rough on the outside.

 I can't conclude much from my field experience- except that sharp means more than everything.

 I would like to know about the effect of penetration with bleeder blades.....

[Bill Carlsen]

Years ago Bob Morrison did some experimenting with carbon arrows. He loaded up the point to get the weight up. Using the same shafting he added weight tubes to increase and achieve the same weight. Of the two types of arrows he found that the arrow with the weight foward rather than the one with the weight evenly distributed was significantly a better penetrator. I have found this to be true for myself. My assumption is that the weight distribution of the completed arrow has more to do with penetration, perhaps, than the diameter and maybe even shaft  material. But even in that regard I have found that carbons out penetrate all other materials.