grizzly broadheads

[citori]

I have shot two deer this season with the 175gr single bevel screw in heads.  The first one I did not get good penetration and very poor blood trail.  The second one was a heart shot with adequate penetration.  Blood trail was over 150 yards and VERY sparse.  Mostly specks and a few drops.  When I got to the deer the broadhead was broken off even with the insert of the arrow.   Has anyone had issues with the same type things? I love the design of the heads but am just kind of concerned with these issues.

I shot a deer last year with my 40#@28" osage self bow and had a complete pass through. This was with same 175 grain single bevel grizzly and the arrow stuck in ground.  That was a VERY small deer though!

I shoot a 40#@28" widow PSA carbon and a 41#@28" widow PLIII with 440grain arrows.  Both bows shoot 170fps average. I draw 29" or a tad more.  So the draw weight is right at 45# at my draw. 

[DNewer]

I’ve used grizzlies for years but avoid the screw in Broadhead adapters like the plague. The ones I have used in the past were titanium.  I don’t trust the aluminum at all. And I’ve had the screw in steel adapters bend more than once. I have never had any issues with the grizzly heads.  Have killed a hand full of animals with them including this hog who moved at the last minute.  Also including a bleached out antelope humerus that I shot with a 125 grain grizzly. Notice the split knuckle. This was the exit side.
The hog was a 190 grain grizzly Kodiak on a brass glue in/glue on adapter in a carbon shaft out of a 53 lb longbow. The Antelope was a 125 grain grizzly on an aluminum glue in/glue on adapter on an aluminum shaft out of a 55lb recurve.

I would investigate a stronger connection.

On the blood trails….in my limited experience, the blood trail is as much a function of what was cut as it is what cut it. A heart shot takes out the pump and you lose pressure. A lung shot that doesn’t cut the pumps plumbing if you will results in far greater blood trails.  Also I have noticed that the sharper snd more smooth the Broadhead finish the more internal damage there is that I can only compare to a rifle shot.  Lots of blood shot meat from an 1 1/8th inch cut. I tend to get exit holes with single bevel heads vs the slits I used to get with double bevel one two blades.

[Bowguy67]

I don’t use the single bevels but use grizzly. Am impressed with the amount of blood often. If hit in an undesirable spot such as high with no penetration it’s not good but what broadheads are? Something you said though struck me as odd. Never seen a deer go 150 yards heart shot. Possibly if running down hill but I’d still be surprised.  Maybe you misjudged range? Maybe you didn’t actually hit heart? Hard to believe a heart shot didn’t spray all over. Hearts are low, to hit it you’d be exiting low. If up high it’d he harder to do but if so you’d think you’d prob get a poke through as it’s so low typically you’d almost come through the arm pit up at a high angle.
Any of these could perhaps mean more fault or circumstance of shot placement, not so much the broadhead used. Food for thought and possibilities maybe

[citori]

The shot was in the armpit right above the white belly hair, and the exit was right through the tendon in the offside just above the elbow.  It is 189 yards to the tree line down the path in front of my stand.  The deer was at what I estimated 30 yards from the tree line and fell right by that mowed path that was 189 yards.  The deer ran
 a bit further that that actually because in the last 40-50 yards he looped out of the path. When cleaning the deer the broadhead went right through the heart.

I was surprised it went that far myself.  Typically my deer are down between 40-75 yards, and I get REALLY worried if I am tracking and it gets to 100 yards!

[Bowguy67]

I hear ya, pretty hard to believe but anything is possible. I think I’d not sweat it unless it became a consistent thing. I saw a you tube guy said he used the single bevel and sometimes the hole was big enough to allow intensetines clog the hole. Maybe that happened? Confusing part is the heart isn’t an intestine type area. Wonder what else coulda done it

[Joeabowhunter]

I would say any broadhead is capable of leaving great and/or poor blood trails.  Every shot is entry and exit specific and animal specific.  My personal experience has been very good with Grizzly broadheads.  First use on deer with a Grizzly was the buck in my avatar.  Worked great, aroow blew through easily and made for short tracking job on a heavy body buck.  I've had some of my best blood trails using them.  Hard to find a much better penetrating head IMO.  All that said I'm giving another head a shot (pun intended) this season.  Just wanting to try something different.

[SuperK]

I used Grizzly broadheads on and off for several years.  I had mixed results...sometimes great penetration, sometimes not as much as I thought I should have had.  I also used arrows that weighed 500 grains, not 650.  No EFC either.  Bloodtrails were the same...some good, some not-so-good and some nonexistent.  I had a lot of edge roll on my hits on deer.  I really didn't like that.  Never had that with a Zwickey or Ace.  I also didn't like the tanto tip.  It may be the best for "busting bone" but try to push a Grizzly through a piece of leather.  Then do the same with a Zwickey Eskimo.  Big difference.  Now figure in the cost and I went back to Zwickeys and Ace.

[GCook]

Know a guy who heart shot a doe this season that went 125 yards with a pretty sparse blood trail.  Seen the slice through the heart myself.
They are tough.  Not a fan of blood trails from single bevel heads.

[ed lash]

I shot my biggest deer with a single bevel Grizzly. Used them for several years. They get good bone penetration and kill well. My blood trails with them were overall poor, so I switched. In my hands, they were hard to sharpen, and I’m a good sharpener on most edges.

[Tom0728]

I loved the broadheads themselves, but the aluminum adapter always broke on impacptpt. If you switch it out with a steel adapter you will have better results.

[Terry Green]

Newer and Tom, ya'lls testimony of the aluminum inserts is a shock to me.  I have been shooting aluminum inserts since the early 80s and have NEVER broke a post, not once.  Over those years I recall two that got slightly bent, both were pass throughs  that resulted in a dead deer and a dead hog.  Don't know if it happened in the animal or what the arrow hit after it exited the animal.

I always make sure my heads are tight, and I shoot right wing feathers to keep them tight at impact.  Yes, right wing will tighten the Bhead at impact, and a left wing could loosed a tad, just enough of a tad to create leverage to start the head bending at the post. Once it starts to bend it might bend slightly or more sever depending on the now slight bend of the head creating more resistance to push the head farther over. 

Being that I have been using them going on 40 years, if they didn't work I would not still be using them.

This is very puzzling.

[DNewer]

Believe it or not I bet the end of a hammer head shaft one time. Insert, carbon shaft, Broadhead adapter and Broadhead. The aluminum inserts don’t bother me as much as the aluminum Broadhead screw in adapters. I don’t trust the skinny threaded posts and have had both aluminum and steel bend.

May be hard to tell in the pic but this is the head and Broadhead adapter that was in the AD HH shaft that was also bent. Shot a sub 200 lb hog and it had buried in the offside shoulder. This is what came our. I also have steel adapters that have bent at the posts with no BH damage. Don’t read the threaded system. Not saying it won’t work for you but I’ve had too many bend to shoot them any longer if I absolutely don’t have too. I will spend the money on titanium if I have to.   Broadhead and Broadhead connection integrity is a very important penetration factor. As I’m sure most on here are aware. I don’t shoot enough animals to take the chance so I pay the insurance and beef it up.

[Terry Green]

DNewer, geezzz I meant adapters! 

I also do use aluminum inserts, but my post was meant to be about adapters, sorry.

And most of my shooting was with 60 to 70#s, stumping and hunting.

"Broadhead and Broadhead connection integrity is a very important penetration factor."

Yes, I am fully aware of that, but it has never been an issue with me, nor have I lost an animal due to that.  Just very odd that you and Todd have the opposite than my 40 years.  Tom made it sound like every shot he took with an aluminum adapter the post broke.  Something is very odd.

[Tom0728]

I'm not sure how I made it sound like one broke every shot? Either way,out of 6 I did have two break.
After that I switched to steel adapters and didn't have any more problems. The heads were good, the adapters were just weak in my opinion. 

[Terry Green]

Tom, your comment..... "the aluminum adapter always broke on impacptpt." you said always, that sounds exactly every shot. Thanks for clarifying.  I also know that some people have had more steel adapters break off than I have with aluminum.

Not to say you didn't have issues, but my experience is 180 degrees from you and DNewer.

From literally thousands upon thousands of stump shooting with judos, from TX bunnies to a bison over 2000#s, no telling how many deer and hogs, and many other critters. I have all the confidence in the world with aluminum adapters, and have seen zero reason to change.  Again, from mostly 60 - to 70# bows and 585 grain arrows to 650 grainers.

Again, that sounds very odd to me that's all.  Not arguing with either of you, it just sounds like there could have been other issues causing y'alls  experiences.

[DNewer]

 I had one (aluminum Broadhead adapter not a grizzly head) bend and swore them off after that. A few years ago I made up some field tips with glue on and aluminum adapters I had left and had one fo those bend literally shooting it into a 3D target (did not hit anything hard, no damage to the field tip but it sure as heck was bent).
They work great for 99.999% or the people 100% or the time. I just can’t put them on an arrow I intent to try to take game with.  I have lost all confidence In then and know they can and will fail, given the opportunity, even if it’s an extremely small -% of time.  This thread alone highlights a number of failures.

The set up I am shooting now has never failed me not once but if it did you can bet the farm I would switch it up tomorrow.

Maybe I got a bad batch or adapters, who knows but they do seem to work for most people.

[Tom0728]

Terry thats true I did say always.  It was 2 of 6. One broke when I knocked it off my shelf and it fell from my treestand to the dirt. Switched to steel and shot them into trees just to mess about. No troubles. All I'm saying is a pry bar isn't made from recycled pop cans. I can break an aluminum adapter with a little side force, with the steel ill split the shaft.

[H A Higgins]

160 grn SB grizzly with a 42 grn adapter is my preferred BH.  Have killed deer, elk, bear, mt. Goat with them.  They have to be sharp!  Good blood trails and even marginal hits turned out in the end