Grizzly Broadheads

[Wudstix]

There is not much in North America that a good sharp, wide two blade or three blade won't put on the ground.  Shoot placement and sharp heads are the key. 

[Flbowhunter]

I've seen weird things happen on blood trails, but one thing that's been consistent is a wider or multi blade head leaves more blood on the ground. I think a lot of guys up north in wider areas have no problems with the skinny head's because you can see ur critter fall. Down here in the swamps if the animal makes it 25-30 yards a trail can be difficult without good blood. Another pattern I've seen is most of the guys that hunt with the skinny heads hunt deer. Deer bleed more than a hog, that fat and hair stops bleeding like you wouldn't believe. If ur worried about penetration shoot a skinny 2 blade with bleeders like an Eskimo or a stinger.

[ozy clint]

I think it was said earlier, what's the difference between a grizzly and every other 1 1/8" 2 blade head?

[Terry Green]

I've seen weird things happen on blood trails, but one thing that's been consistent is a wider or multi blade head leaves more blood on the ground. I think a lot of guys up north in wider areas have no problems with the skinny head's because you can see ur critter fall. Down here in the swamps if the animal makes it 25-30 yards a trail can be difficult without good blood.

I hear ya, there's a guy that use to post here that showed a lot of pics of hogs from Cali, and he shot narrow grizzes, and he always claimed he saw his animals go down in sight.  I guess so as his pics revealed that the terrain was like hunting on a golf course.


I told him to bring his heads east 

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[Roger Norris]

I've seen weird things happen on blood trails, but one thing that's been consistent is a wider or multi blade head leaves more blood on the ground. I think a lot of guys up north in wider areas have no problems with the skinny head's because you can see ur critter fall. Down here in the swamps if the animal makes it 25-30 yards a trail can be difficult without good blood.

I hear ya, there's a guy that use to post here that showed a lot of pics of hogs from Cali, and he shot narrow grizzes, and he always claimed he saw his animals go down in sight.  I guess so as his pics revealed that the terrain was like hunting on a golf course.


I told him to bring his heads east 

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That picture is perfect Terry.....up here we hunt swamps pretty hard...not the same vegetation, but imagine vines of every type...poison ivy, wild grape, etc...before a hard freeze and big wind, it is too thick to see an animal further than 10 feet. If a deer goes 100 yards with no blood, you better be an expert tracker.

[Wudstix]

That looks allot like the blood weed here in Texas.  You can walk right by a critter laying three yards away and not see them.  With limited blood and hog trails criss-crossing every where, it can be rough.  Add some downed trees and flood debris and yeehaw!

[ozy clint]

I've seen weird things happen on blood trails, but one thing that's been consistent is a wider or multi blade head leaves more blood on the ground. I think a lot of guys up north in wider areas have no problems with the skinny head's because you can see ur critter fall. Down here in the swamps if the animal makes it 25-30 yards a trail can be difficult without good blood.

I hear ya, there's a guy that use to post here that showed a lot of pics of hogs from Cali, and he shot narrow grizzes, and he always claimed he saw his animals go down in sight.  I guess so as his pics revealed that the terrain was like hunting on a golf course.


I told him to bring his heads east 

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Kingwouldbe?
I used to enjoy his posts.

[Terry Green]

Yes, Dave is a hoot!  We chat on the phone every once in a while. 

[ozy clint]

Haven't seen him here for years.

[Wudstix]

I miss his big hog adventures, as well.

[Mike Yancey]

All I have to say about this is I don't know! I have been killing stuff with a longbow for 50 years now and have used most heads out there at one time or another all with good success. With that being said, I have used the Grizzly for about 20 years now and have a pile of animals to their credit both here and abroad.

I will also say that there are some very experienced bowhunters here and can't figure out why the wide range of experiences on this.

With my thoughts on this I really question what some call sharp. I did loose an animal in Africa a couple of years ago to a shot, that in all aspects on film and in experience looked perfect! Absolutely no blood and the trackers couldn't find it. In all honesty, I have to fault myself on that for getting careless and thinking that kinda sharp was sharp enough. I got a pass through but still I knew the head should have been sharper. After that experience I vowed to never shoot one that wouldn't pop hair at the touch. Going back to Africa the next year with that in mind I worked every head with a file, three grits of stone then leather until you could walk by one and get cut. Two animals fell to those heads that year and both animals you could see blood fly in the air at the impact with the naked eye and on camera it was even more amazing to see. One a 1000 pound Eland and the other a Bushbuck and I'm not kidding, blood filled the air at impact on both animals and it wouldn't have been any better if it had six blades. 

Again, I know there are real experiences from some great hunters here that can back up their opinions! I just know for me that I like how they fly, I have NEVER had a head failure by breaking or turning and have a pile of critters to their credit both large and small.   

[Wudstix]

A common comment throughout is good solid, straight flying, easy sharpening scary sharp heads are the good ones.

[Mike Yancey]

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I have given this a lot of thought and have decided that the bevel, the size or number of blades doesn't make all the difference. Sometimes things just happen and more times than not its because of sharpness.

I shot a 144'' mule deer in Wyoming with a three blade head, blew through the deer like he wasn't even there, watched him fall and when I walked up to him he jumped up and ran off. Almost eight hours later I made another stalk and put another one in him to finish the job! After skinning and looking to see what happened, the arrow passed through both, yes BOTH lungs with the perfect little three blade mark through both lungs. The lungs deflated to little hard white lumps about the size of grapefruits. I don't know that you can shoot them any better than that and with a three blade at that.

They have to be sharp, no matter the head, had the same with an antelope one year. Ill still shoot any animal in the US with a single bevel Grizzly!

[Mike Yancey]

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Here's another Three Blade train wreck. This antelope was shot at close range, perfect double lung pass through. Watched him for 8 hours and stalked up for a finish shot. Things just happen sometimes, no matter how many blades or how good the shot. In 50 years of bowhunting all over the world and truck loads of successful kills, sometimes things just happen no matter how good a shot you make or how many blades you shoot or how wide a cut! I really feel like the answer is SHARP!!!

[Bamboozle]

Cory Mattson has had narrow 2 blades banned for years on the South Carolina Bow Zone for years due to lost hogs.

[Wudstix]

Hogs can be tough to get down, if the shot is not in the vitals, or hits an artery.  Same could be said for most game.

[Hud]

We are fortunate to have some good two, three, and four blades blades to pick from, but what did Saxton Pope, Art Young, Compton and Ishi use? How about some that followed them like Fred Bear, Pearson, Howard Hill, Glenn St. Charles and many others? Some used stone points, others made crude two blades tied into their wood shafts. Fred Bear came out with the Razorhead in the 50's after Cliff Zwickey added a bleeder to his two blade. The differences might have been they got what they used razor sharp and/or serrated.  They didn't use 175 gr three blades.  The reason for bringing this up, is a lot of bowhunters do not know how to sharpen any broadhead. I have a box of crap, heads that someone tried to sharpen on a grinding wheel.  I recall stories about recovering game through their tracking skills. In some cases nothing can make up for a bad shot, or gut shot animal.

[Terry Green]

I'll have to disagree with you on that HUD. I don't know how many tracking jobs you've been on over the years but I've been in so many group hunts and led so many hunts that I have seen gut shot animals recovered and not recovered..  Bigger wider and more blades are better through the guts by far.

Multi blades through the guts provide a bigger hole for more blood period. Also there is a chance for an intestinal trail also as I have been on more than several of those.

Big wide or multi blades through the guts release more toxins, causing the animal to lay down quicker.  And stay down without having them get up with the coagulated blood clot at the entrance and exit wound.  And then going off and leaving no trail.

The more damage you can do, the better.
And if people think that shooting a forty five pound bow with a single belvel grizzly is gonna guarantee them a blow through the ball joint good luck.

Yes Corey Mattson has banned them on his lease that he has run for over two decades and they are now banned on the Laredo hunts that I run. Some of my decision was also made from the Solana hunts that I ran for years from back in the two thousands and early teens.

In my experience of tracking so many other people's animals is that narrow two blade trails end up in a dead end over eighty five percent more than any other multi blade wide blade head.

And then we want to go with the two holes are better than one.... I've never had a problem getting multi blade heads to make both.

Again the grizzly has its place but I see no place for it stateside at alll.

If I can kill a 2100 pound American Boston with a 70 pound bow and a 3 blade it seems to reason thet that you should be able to kill a hundred and fifty pound deer with a multi blade or a wide two blade.  If not maybe you should check your equipment and your tune.

I don't mean to be harsh, just stating my observations over the years.  And I'm not discounting Mike Yancey's post.  He's in a different league than most.

[matt steed]

I must say this is a great conversation, it's very interesting to read everyone's opinion and their experiences. A lot of you have way more experience than I do. I have killed around 25 deer with a traditional bow. I have used Wensel Woodsman,Bear Razorhead, Ace, Zwicky - Eskimo,Delta and No Mercy,  Snuffer, VPA  Stinger and Grizzly single bevel.

Just from what I have seen, I do feel that I have gotten better blood trails with a 3-blade head. But some of the two blade kills were amazing blood trails also.

I almost think you could shoot 10 animals today with the exact same broadhead and five would leave a good trail and five wouldn't.

The doe with the recurve was shot with a Grizzly single bevel on a wood shaft. The blood trail was amazing.

The deer hanging up was shot with a Snuffer from a 49# longbow on a 2018. The hole from the Snuffer was astronomical.

If I could only shoot one head from now on, I would pick a 3 blade.

[Terry Green]

This is the results of a Zwickey Delta four blade on a large javalina i shot with a 50# longbow. Both shoulders....

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And this is the results of a 145 grain Snuffer on a large trotting javalina with the same bow...

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