Large Abowyer wounds impact and exit pics?

[Wudstix]

Santa delivered a  handful of Abowyer heads today.  Three RB Bonehead Large and one RB Brown Bear, that I'll probably mount on some CE Heritage 350 arrows I have RW four fletched.  One LB Bonehead Large that I'll put on my standard tapered, footed Woodies to take it for a ride.  Hope to get these out after hogs very soon.  Hope to get my own data for comparison.
 

[Wudstix]

On another site was able to trade 3 Bonehead Large RB for 2 Bonehead Large LB and a Wapiti LB.  Yummy!!!  Now need a excuse to drive 2 1/2 hours North to chase some feral swine.
 

[Kris]

The buck in my file photo, I shot with a Wapiti; slightly diagonal, quartering on.  Entered 4 ribs up from the back of the rib cage, existing just in front of the rear leg, on the offside.  Not my desired shot.  He ran 50 yards and stood for 10 minutes very hurt and within view.  I could see his guts hanging out from the exit wound, as he limped away, sinking into the white pines that evening.  Because of the rearward hit, I let him go that night as a precaution.  The following morning, the blood trail was encouraging, then profuse and ultimately, short.  I found him New Year's morning 2010, it was -15 with the wind chill in southern Wisconsin. 
I've used the Wapitis since with mixed results, but knowingly would not blame the BH for these outcomes.  I love them for their size, their geometry, ease of sharpening, the sharpness I am able to obtain, robust design, hollow ground single bevel and their unobtrusive and undistracting OD color (not that this matters so much, but it fits the part).
If I could only use 1 BH the rest of my life, I would not hesitate in it being an Abowyer Wapiti.  Hope this helps. 
I do have wound photos, but out of time tonight.  Contact me personally, if interested.     

The poop - 66" 54# Jon McDonald Hybrid Longbow, 675 grain Carbon Express, 27% FoC.  12 yard pass-through, with BH buried into very frozen ground.  Recovered BH following spring 100% intact.

Best of luck -

Kris

[Wudstix]

Thanks, I'm a John McDonald fan, as well.  Miss him.
 

[mnbwhtr]

I realize this is a blurry picture but this was with a Zwickey delta, lots of blood!

[Bbulkley18]

I was always told to stay 1 1/8” or less cut diameter for trad equipment, but it seems like folks have good luck with bigger heads.

[Wudstix]

I think 1 1/8" might shine with sub-45# bows.  My bows have no problem with a spear head.   
 

[Bbulkley18]

Thanks, I’ve been running 1 1/8 but pulling 50#, maybe I’ll look into some different heads.

[Wudstix]

I prefer 1 1/4' or better for two blades.  3 blade heads help too, but I move towards 1 1/4"+ heads.
 

[Bbulkley18]

Good to know. There are lots of good heads out there, I’ll start looking around more.

[Kris]

1 1/8" always feels a bit anemic to me, unless used with a bleeder blade.  Blood on the ground cannot be determined by cut width (size alone).  Its counter intuitive but there are thousands of post on this topic.  Having said this, however, I would prefer to error "bigger," rather than smaller.  Well-tuned arrows, mindful setups and reasonable shot placement from COC 1-piece heads will yield adequate or complete penetration in most cases...  You might as well run a bit more cut through the would channel, is my reasoning.  I like 1 3/8" or larger... 1 1/2" great!  You have to account for material being lost (width) do to sharpening anyway, start out wider to get where you want to be sharpened-up, ready to go.   

Incredible blood trails can be had with Tree Sharks & Snuffers, but on the other end of the spectrum, I don't like having that much BH on the end of my arrow, or in my quiver either.  I seek an optimum minimum, and the range I provided above, meets that criterion for me, at least.

[Bbulkley18]

Good info, and makes perfect sense. I do have bleeders on the heads I run, but that extra cutting diameter on the main blades would make me feel better.

[Gun]

I shot five members of the deer family last year. All one arrow kills except my Moose. He only went about 40 yds. It was low lung and would have done the job, but I ended up putting another arrow in him just to speed things up. I  used a 200 gr Cutthroat single bevel on the Bull and Mulie Buck.

I used a Zwickey Delta w a loaded BH adapter also 200 gr on 3 Mulie does. All except one doe died in sight. All were pass thru except the Moose. 43# Bear TD

[Bbulkley18]

Guys seem to really like the single bevel heads. I’ve never tried any.

[Wudstix]

I have a handful that I am going to try, make sure to match bevel and fletch.  My BH are all heavy because I shoot heavy bows.  The lightest single bevel I plan to shoot is 175 grains the other is 210 grains.  1 1/4 and 1 1/2 respectively.  I make sure to report back here.  Snuffer, STOS, Magnus, ACE and Ribteck have all done the job, but there is always greener grass.
 

[Wudstix]

About to do some testing with Wapiti heads.
 

[Friend]

Typical

results utilizing a Tree Shark...

[Wudstix]

Many good and great heads out there pick your poison.  Have some Centaur that haven't drawn blood yet.
 

[J. Cook]

Blood trails, in my opinion, are such a terrible way to try and decide on a broadhead.  The shot placement, angle, etc. have so much more impact on the blood trail.  I am a broadhead junkie - I love them.  I like shooting different ones, and in fact every bow I have set up for hunting will have multiple types of broadheads in the quiver.  What this has allowed me to do is gather a lot of real-life evidence of different broadheads on a variety of critters.   I can say one thing for absolute sure - ALL of them work really well when tuned, sharpened and put through the 10-ring.  NONE of them make up for a terrible shot. 

I have found height of the wound on the deer's body to be the key factor in blood trails.  Tree stand shots put a ton of blood on the ground as the exit wound is nearly always lower than the entrance, and lower than the median line of the body - i.e. gravity does the work.  I've also killed deer on the ground where entrance and exit stayed above the median line and the deer died in site.  But put almost ZERO blood on the ground until it toppled over - huge holes, but no blood made it to the ground because of the holes being above that median line and it bled internally.  No broadhead choice would have changed that outcome. 

I too really like the look of the Abowyer heads - the geometry, the design, and quite simply the "look" appear to be great.  I have not bought them yet as it would simply be for "fun" as I get 2 holes with nearly every broadhead brand / style I shoot.  I may be in the minority, but my experience tells me the broadhead itself doesn't really generated the blood trail as much as shot placement of any given broadhead (assuming they are sharp and tuned with good arrow flight).  I think for every single "I got a great blood trail with x broadhead" story, you'll get someone that had the exact opposite experience with the same exact head.  The differences would lie in the shot placement, angle, etc.  I'm just not sure that blood trails are a good reason to shop for any specific head.  There's too many examples of guys with huge blood trails shooting tiny little heads making tiny little holes... just as there are examples of guys shooting the giant snuffers and getting a poor trail because of where / how they hit the animal. 

[Wudstix]

Jonathan;
I have to whole heartedly agree with everything you just wrote.  Two holes in the boiler room with a low exit make any broadhead look good.