Killed a bunch of critters with the ole thunderheads
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Broadheads.
- Thread starter Iglow
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Me too, for a lot of years. Not my choice these days but there was a time I wouldn't use anything else. I've zero doubt I could screw one on today and kill deer without skipping a beat.
Savage
Well-Known Member
Slick trick viper trick 100s
I never did use an overdraw. Always thought they were weird and looked dangerous. But I sure used a lot of xx75's and Thunderhead 125's!!! I doubt any bow I had back then would bust 200fps and even with that the Thunderhead tipped arrow would blow though a deer and bury itself in the dirt. IMO it was the best of the best in that time.
As carbon arrows became a thing they were heavily focused on light weight, while simultaneously bows were making huge strides in efficiency. Not only were bows more powerful per weight but the arrows were significantly lighter. Shooting fixed heads got kinda tricky due to wind plane. I found myself having to worry about bow tune to a degree I'd never even thought about before. Along with that came mechanical heads, which were actually a pretty fair band-aid for funky arrow flight. Didn't fix the bow tune issue but negated it to some degree.
Now days carbon arrows are being made purposely heavy and mechanical heads aren't just a band-aid for bad tune anymore, but rather designed for efficient blood letting. Tuning is now also not such a mystery that requires some secret skill. Anybody with YouTube can tune a bow and effectively match arrows to their draw weight & length. Not coincidentally the trend back to fixed blade heads is also a thing again. Seems we've caught up with technology. Today we have a situation where any entry level bow is light years more capable than flagships of 30yrs ago, and any broadhead choice is a good one.
If my 30yr ago self could see the broadhead, arrow, and bow tune arguments of today, I'd slap myself because surely it would be a dream. Any set-up of today would feel like cheating back then. That's why I don't argue with anybody about any of the nonsense they argue about these days. Everything is so good right now that it would be hard to find a set-up that wouldn't easily kill a deer.
I learned from an old Indian guy that for thousands of years the native Americans got so good at pursuing wounded game that they became known as "trackers". Able to track wounded game without even a blood trail just by reading hoof prints and upturned leaves and such. They had to do this because their arrow heads were so poor at the time. Eventually they realized that recovery of game was so abysmal that they quit using Rage broadheads and started making arrowheads out of actual rocks…. knapping them in many shapes we see in collections today. Literally hurling rocks tied to sticks was more effective….
So you have never used a rage i take it
Lol..When did Ranch Fairy start claiming to be an old Indian guy?
Once. Rage hypodermics. Blade deployed upon release, sounded like keys jingling all the way to impact, 18 yards away, sailing about 9" high and forward. Shooting a 74lb draw monster 7.0 looked like about 3" of penetration into the shoulder. Deer rolled breaking off the arrow and running away on 3 legs. I'm not a tracker and trailed her about 300yds before losing blood. In my entire archery past going back to aluminum arrows and Walmart branded broadheads, the only deer I can say with absolute certainty I lost due to equipment malfunction beyond my control. I hate nothing in the industry more than rage broadheads.
A looong time ago I shot one that was eating acorns with a 3 blade Savora at about 18 yds. The deer just flinched, looked down hill, picked up another acorn and at about half chew she froze for a second, wobbled back and forth for a couple of seconds, stifflegged over and slid down the hill. I was impressed. That was back in the stone age, now I don't use anything but old black Magnus or Stingers.
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If the blade deployed upon release then it wasn't secured properly within the retention collar to begin with. Having used them for several years, I can see how that could happen though. The collar design definitely left a lot to be desired but were manageable as long as you checked them each time you pulled them from the quiver.
I have never had an issue with Hypodermics and my largest archery bucks to this day were killed with them.
IMO Rage brought the heat on themselves with that shock collar design and then kept it there by continuing to push it for years. They deserve the reputation they've gotten from it.
I was a big fan of the old o-ring Rage heads and still believe they are fantastic heads. When the shock collar design came out Rage pushed a huge marketing campaign for it, and I bought a pack because to see what it was all about. As I do with every head I hunt with, I target shot them. First shots were great, no issues. Every shot after that had a whistle/rattle noise in flight, and after a few shots the blades began deploying prematurely. So I bought a pack of the replacement collars. Sure enough first shot with new collar was great. Every shot after was noisy and soon blades prematurely deployed.
My thoughts were and still are that it's a horrible design, but it does work as advertised when used as advertised. If everybody followed the instructions and replaced the collar with new after every shot, there likely wouldn't be any issues. That's neither reasonable nor realistic given the circumstances. No other broadhead on the market I know of requires replacing the proprietary retention device each & every shot. Somebody at Rage should have been sensible enough to realize that but as far as I know that design is still available so maybe not. Unfortunate because the head design is actually pretty clever and works well. The issue that ruined their reputation spurs almost entirely from that dang retention collar.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
Wooden Arrow
Well-Known Member
old Bear 2 blades...i carry a shaft with a stone point too, just in case . one of these days...
I called the customer support when mine failed, honestly looking for a refund. They told me to "add" a dental band to fix my problem…. So I told them I'd just take them back to Richard's instead
I dearly miss those old Bear Razorheads. They will always be one of my favorites, even the Super Razorheads that I used on aluminum shafts back in the 80's.
Yes, they are as reliable as any broadhead ever made! Also, the price is tough to beat.
Their only drawback is the bend in the blade makes it difficult to sharpen them in a clamp-type sharpener.
