2 blade vs.3blade for better blood trails

[Sharpster]

Honed and stropped Grizzly Broadhead, no exit wound, did not hit spine or the major artery below the spine. All blood is from top of both lungs only. Deer went only 15 yrds. Shot last week in Iowa...

 


 

 

Ron

[Flingblade]

I shoot Magnus II two blade heads on deer and woodsmen or snuffers on turkeys where penetration is not an issue.  I haven't had much luck with 3 blade heads on deer.  Every time a 3 blade hits bone it stops = wounded deer.  At least that has been my experience.  I usually hunt in thick brush where the shots are close and I am able to get an exit better on steep downward angle shots with a two blade head.

[Mr.Magoo]

I've had good blood with both and bad blood with both.  However, when things have gone wrong for me, I believe more penetration would have made the difference.

[Charlie Lamb]

Ron... Don't mean to be a smart ass, but was that buck shot with a 12# bow? Just curious.

I shot Bear Razorheads w/bleeder and Zwickey Delta 4 blades for years and at one point switched over to two blade Zwickey Deltas. Spent 4 or 5 years killin stuff with them and switched back to 4 bladers... by that time the Magnus I w/bleeder was available.

I'll shoot a two blade head into a critter in a heart beat. As has been said "they all get the job" done when razor sharp. That ain't even a question in my book.

I just find the quality of blood trail is "more dependable" for my tastes with the multi blade.

I should add that penetration isn't an issue for me. My 625 grain arrows flying at 180 fps. go right through most everything without problems.

If I was shooting less I might consider switching.

[Bonebuster]

I shoot two blade heads exclusively.

I shoot a heavy bow and heavy arrows. If it weren`t for the vegetation, I can usually stand where my arrow is in the ground and see the deer laying there.

My arrows zip through, and the deer react very little. Often just a few jumps, and they stop to watch their backtrail.

I have never been able to get a re-sharpenable 3-blade as sharp as I want, but I did use Thunderheads for years when I shot a compound. When using the three blades, the deer reacted MUCH more, and always ran much farther than they do now... ALWAYS.

[olddogrib]

DRR324,
You may be right. The buck in Ron's pic (is that 2004 dated?) is identical shot placement to the doe I killed last week which I described as too high and far back.  As I mentioned, that shot was a pass-through and the deer went approx. 75 yds, but I could find little blood other than where the deer lay.  Any opinion on why that one looks like the "Texas chainsaw massacre"?  Maybe on a lung shot it's an advantage it the arrow doesn't exit and does some secondary cutting, as well as keeps the entrance wound open.  It does have that in common with the buck I shot.  That wouldn't be my preferred shot location, but you can't argue with those results!

[Bullfrog 1]

I would THINK that that shot did get that main artery. I shot a buck years ago with the same penetration with a 60 pound bow and snuffer and got little blood and NO deer after 2 days of searching.   BILL

[Bullfrog 1]

With watching this thread and the sharpening technique thread. I must say I have ALWAYS used a multi blade head for big game. I have had good and not so good blood and pentration. This year I am trying a very wide 2 blade razor honed head. I am hoping it will be the best of both worlds. One thing I will concur is with every animal I have shot they KNEW they were hit and most ran like nuts.   BILL

[Sharpster]

This is definately one of those "what the heck happened"??? shots. I would normally agree with you about the major artery hit as well if I had only the photos to judge by but, I spent close to an hour on the phone with the hunter last night prior to posting this because I was perplexed as anyone as to the lack of penetration given the heavy arrow/broadhead combo being shot from a 50+ pound bow.

Here's why I don't believe the major artery beneath the spine was hit: The deer took at least 15 minutes to succumb. I've made that artery hit several times over the years myself and when the artery is cut the deer don't live 2 minutes...(ever in my experience). And here's why I don't think a direct spine hit was made either: The deer traveled 15 yards or so before going down, and every true spine shot I've ever seen or heard of resulted in the animal dropping in its tracks. Having had a bit more time to ponder this I'm begining to suspect that given that this buck survived for 15 minutes, perhaps only one lung was hit??? And it simply bled out over that course of time???... Don't know and unfortunately we'll never know for sure because the deer was rushed to the processer due to the hight temps on the day of the kill and a detailed necropcy was impossible. We don't even have pics from inside the body cavity which may have shed some light on exactly what happened here.

As for the lack of penetration, could it be that the BHD hit a rib very near the spine where the rib bones are much tougher? or could the arrow have hit a small twig and deflected slightly in flight causeing it to loose some of it's energy? or perhaps both? Again this is a wierd one for sure but we all know that weird things happen from time to time. I'm a honed and stropped BHD advocate for exactly the reason that the pictures show- greatly increased blood flow with little clotting but even I was amazed by these pictures.

For the record I know the hunter very well and can vouch for his credibility. The date on the camera is simply not set correctly. Here's a good example of how a screamin sharp BHD can make the difference when things don't go as planned... even when the circumstances seem to defy explaination.

One other thought on this... It apears that this particular animal bled "out" rather than internally. If you look at the amount of blood on the ground, that's similar to what you'd expect to see at the sight where the deer was field dressed. I didn't ask but with so much blood on the ground it's hard to believe that there could have been much left inside the body cavity???


Ron

[wapiti792]

I didn't get quite the penetration I wanted on this elk with my 3 blade and am thinking of switching    Actually I shoot both. Life's too short to dance with ugly women or shoot one bow, one broadhead, or one arrow    It comes down to a 250 grain Woodsman Elite or a 2 Blade Aboyer Brown Bear for me. Both are deadly!

 

[30coupe]

The deer I have shot with Snuffers or Woodsman broadheads have left massive blood trails (short ones too). I've gotten complete penetration, but not always pass-throughs with these.    :mad:  

Last year I tried a Zwickey Delta two blade and got super penetration on a nice buck (pass through into the frozen ground). Shot centered the near side lung and came out just in front of the center on the far side. It was a 22-23 yard shot, so the trajectory was pretty flat. The buck left like a scalded cat but piled up 92 of my rather short steps from the shot. In those 92 steps I found less than a thimble full of blood!    

[Leapingbare]

I shot a Turkey with a woodsman head last week.
 I sliced both brest and split the brest bone.
The turkey went 30 yards. And 1hr laiter i had to finish it off with a head shot.
 I like how the 3 blade heads fly. I have hunting buddys who use 2 blade heads and have helped them trak allot of deer and there two blade heads put some good blood on the ground to.
 i shoot a 55# bow if i shot a bow less then 50# i'd use 2 blade heads.

[Bill Carlsen]

After doing this for 59 years I have to say without any reservation that the most lethal broadhead I have ever used is a scary sharp 3 blade Razorcap. They have given me great blood trails and even on less than perfect hits have put deer down in 100 yards or less with lots of blood. I shot a moose with one 3 years ago and it took 3 steps and went down.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by Charlie Lamb:
Ron... Don't mean to be a smart ass, but was that buck shot with a 12# bow? Just curious.

 

Charlie,

Accoring to a thread on the TBM forum, the draw weight was mentioned as being "50+." The arrows were...

 

Arrow: Carbon Express Rebel Hunter, 29 in., 100 grain brass inserts, 100 grain steel adapters, 200 grain Grizzly broadhead (KME sharpened), Total arrow weight 810 grains, EFOC at 25%

[Dave Lay]

i agree with bone buster on the impact of a 2 blade head and its affect on deer is alot of times nil.. i actually had a doe go to pick up a acorn after i shot her, she fell with in 10 yds of the hit, i had managed to slip between ribs in and out, a quick in and out matters,as far as avoiding a panic run after the shot, i have shot zwickey deltas for a lot of years both 2 blade and 4 blade and really cant tell a diffrence in blood trails, no real world experience with 3 blades, just cant make myself switch from something that works,

[Kris]

I've had exceptional and not so exceptional blood trails with 2, 3 and 4 blade broadheads, there are more considerations than just the number of blades per head.  That would be too easy.  I never used to believe it, but extremely sharp does make a difference in the amount of blood flow.  No less important is perfect shot placement and an exit wound as well ...this is so cliché but yet so true!  This argument will outlive us all and has been discussed ad nausea on this site…but it is fun to debate!

Use the broadhead you like best and pay attention to all the other details as well.  There is no one single "silver bullet".  That’s what keeps it interesting!

Best of luck!

Kris

[Mint]

I haven't noticed any difference when using a big two blade head like the muzzy phantoms. When using a smaller profile head like the 125gr grizzly the blood trails wern't as much.

[mambashooter]

I like the Magnus 2 blade 125 grain myself..but whatever suits your fancy..is what I would use.  

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have had both good and bad trails with 2 blade heads. Just killed one with a 3 blade the other day, the blood trail was awesome. It's only one "sample", but I'm impressed so far.

[S.C. Hunter]

That is a strange scene with the arrow placement. The pooling on the deer is odd and seems to have depth in the photo. If the picture I see is correct that bright red blood would indicate oxygen rich blood. Oxygen rich blood would mean a artery was cut and based on the EBL, estimated blood loss I see it would be a major artery. I don't know of a major artery in that anatomical location. The flow looks almost lava like in that it appears to have pooled after the deer was down. The volume on the ground would have been a sign of massive hemorrhage. If the vertebral artery was hit the bleeding would be more internal and intercostal arteries are not sufficient in size to produce that blood loss that quick. It is strange,can't explain what I see. I am in surgery everyday and have not seen this type of bleeding and that includes trauma from gunshot wounds or trauma from accidents.