2007 Study Update, Part 8
The Penetration Enhancing Factors
By
Dr. Ed Ashby
This last 2007 Update presents an overview of the
penetration enhancing factors; what they are, their importance
and the degree of affect each has on your hunting arrow's
terminal performance.
Penetration is paramount:
In his article Hunting Arrows, published in Ye Sylvan
Archer in 1943, Fred Bear wrote, "a deer can be killed with
most any combination if no heavy bones are struck but what is
needed is something that will crash through where the going is
tough." In Hunting the Hard Way, referring to the success or
failure of any given hit, Howard Hill wrote; "all else being
equal, penetration is the name of the game."
Howard Hill designed his "3 to 1 ratio" broadhead with a
single goal in mind; maximum penetration on every hit. And it
was better penetration, not wider-cut, that Fred had in mind
when designing his original Razorhead. Around the campfire,
circa 1960, I heard Fred state; "The bleeder blade's job is to
open a larger hole in the skin and meat and reduce drag on the
shaft to increase arrow penetration. They're thin and brittle
so they'll shatter when they hit bone, allowing the arrow to
penetrate like any good single blade."
Both Fred and Howard recognized that penetration was the
essential requirement of every lethal hit; vital areas had to
be reached before any arrow could work. They realized the
deeper their arrow penetrated the more damage it did, and the
more areas it reached the better and faster it worked. Each
also knew that, despite their remarkable skills, they were
still vulnerable to their shots resulting in less than perfect
hits; times when success would depend totally on their arrow's
ability to penetrate whatever it encountered.
Since they could not forecast the shot they would be
offered, how the animal would react, or precisely what their
arrow might be asked to do; both Fred and Howard knew it was
important to be prepared for the worst that might happen, and
they did everything they knew to do to assure that their arrow
would penetrate every time, regardless of the hit. These two
bowhunting greats would agree that a sharp broadhead is
mandatory, yet both realized even broadhead sharpness becomes
irrelevant whenever arrow penetration is lacking. In hunting -
on any hit with any arrow of any type – when arrow penetration
falls short, absolutely nothing else about the hit matters.
As we all have our own opinions about which is the best Bows, arrows, or broadheads, I think each has advantages, some have more advantages than others.
What's funny is an attitude of, because I have had success in the past with a certain set up, that's it, there is no other way, my way is the only way.
I have to agree with Fred & Howard as far as, I want 2 hole's no matter what I hit on the shot, be it soft tissue lung, or 3" cartilage shield caked with mud on a monster boar, or a elk shoulder blade.
A 3 blade must move or cut more tissue to get threw whatever it hits, some like that extra cutting of tissue, however it comes at a cost, the cost! is in the form of penetration, or the lack there of.
Some will say, a 3 blade leaves a better blood trail, some times that's true, but not always, I think the sharpness of the edge and what it cuts has more to do with the amount of blood on the ground than any other factor.
Example: I shoot a buck with a 160 snuffer from a tree, I hit it in the shoulder blade, I get about 6" of penetration, no exit. That blood trail will be vary spars at best.
Now same shot using what Doctor Ashbey has shared with us, single bevel, high mechanical advantage broadhead, extreme foreword of center weight(EFOC)of over 20%-27%, minimum of 650 grain total arrow weight, now you have blown through the shoulder blade and the arrow is sticking out the bottom of it's chest. which will have the better blood tail?
Is there really such a thing as, over kill in bowhunting? I think not "IMHO"
Originally posted by Molson:
[QB]
I let the first two go by at about 25 yds and when the third stepped into my lane, I let a big 160 grain Snuffer go tight right above the elbow. I heard the distinct "SWACK" of a hard bone hit and when he ran off, I saw alot of arrow sticking out. You all know that's a sickening feeling.
Here's a pic of the Snuffer that smashed the shoulder and got one lung. Now I swear I intended this to be a pro-Snuffer post, that's why I was using them. And it did do it's job, but...
Topic: 3 bladed (Read 1403 times)
