The failure to open is part of it. Mechanicals generally aren't built from the same quality of materials or as heavily constructed as quality fixed blades are. So durability and edge retention of cheaper disposable blades becomes a concern. That being said there are some higher quality mechanicals out there, just the same as there are some low quality fixed. One of the other concerns with mechanicals are they could open in flight, throwing your shot way off line. The biggest one though is if you contact heavy bone with one. Most opinions and testing indicates fixed will perform superior in heavy bone vs a mechanical. Mechanicals also lose some energy to open, robbing your arrow system of penetration, couple this with the giant cuts and you can easily run into trouble. There are some wider cut fixed out there that offer the advantages of a fixed without giving up so much cutting to a mechanical. Hybrids are also an option that can balance the risks/rewards of both.

 

Good points, I shoot swhacker broadheads which are great but like you said, durability is an issue (blades get dull and bent). I also agree hitting bone could be bad news with a mechanical but I don’t mind relying on shot placement to avoid that where I hunt (I’m never really in a situation where I have to consider a shot with a deer quartering toward me). Hybrids are an interesting thought though, I’ve never really looked into using them but I’m going to do some research now. Thanks!

 

JMO but all fixed broadheads are not created equal just as all mechanical broadheads are not created equal.
Most of the negative comments about mechanical broadheads, not opening in the animal or opening prematurely have been started by fixed broadhead manufacturers and spread by bow hunters that lost their animal and it sounded like a great excuse for why they failed to kill and find their deer.
There may be better mechanicals than the 1 3/8'' Grim Reaper Razor Tips but I haven't tried them as the GRRT works great for me. If you put them on your string and check them to be sure they will open and close before you take your shot, they will work period.
As far as throwing things off if they did open, which I have never had happen in 20+ years. They would still fly as good as a 1 3/8'' 2 blade, especially in a wind which does happen quite often when hunting. In the past 20 years have taken over 100 big game animals with the Grim Reaper 1 3/8'' Razor Tip without a single failure. WFM

 

There has been a long running "experiment" on this topic. It's essentially a controlled hunt situation on a military base and they track people's equipment and success rates as well as a couple other metrics. Over the many years they've done it, mechanical broadheads out perform fixed on whitetail deer by something like 10% higher recovery rates.

Here's an article about it. Does Broadhead Choice Really Matter? - NDA.

Regardless of the complaints or reasons one might give as to why they perform better, the reality is that for the average person, they are more effective on deer. Most people don't know how to broadhead tune. Most people don't even know what tuning a bow is and mechanical heads are simply more forgiving than fixed blades, in a number of ways.

 

Great study thanks for sharing it. I wish there was more experiments with archery equipment instead of having to rely so heavily on anecdotal evidence.

 

Broadheads regardless of what kind take the blame for poor results when often it’s improper bow tune, poor arrow build, or poor shot location. However, here are the downsides of mechanicals:

- Possibility of failure: anytime you introduce moving parts to your arrow, you decrease it’s structural integrity and deployment issues can arise. You don’t get this many anecdotal stories of heads not opening by coincidence.

- Blade retention & dullness: Too many mechanicals have really dull heads. You should be afraid of mishandling your broadhead. With many brands, that’s just not the case. G5 makes the only mechanicals I’m extremely careful when handling because their heads are sharp.

- Re-use: Most mechanicals are built as one-and-done heads, which keeps you buying more. Fixed blades don’t really have this problem.

- Noise: upon impact blades deploy. That’s good and all, however the “shwack!!!” sound is not good. Noise is unused energy, and will cause the deer to run further than it may would have if hit with a fixed head.

- Penetration: Due to their design, mechanicals use more energy in deployment. This can result in the arrow not passing through the animal entirely. You want a full pass-through.

Since you’re new, here’s a video for better understanding. @AnAverageJack is an archery personality which I’ve come to really trust in his tutorials and reviews. With all this being said, I will be a hypocrite this year and have some G5 Deadmeats/Havocs in my quiver along with my fixed.

 

Thanks for the recommendation,


Thanks for the recommendation, this Average Jack guy does seem to make very informational videos that will be helpful for someone with a pretty surface level knowledge of archery like me.

 

I am planning to shoot a 200 gr tuffhead this year. Most of the new single & double bevel such as iron will, day six, cut throat, and tuffhead(i know there is more obv.) seem to be way tougher than most of the muzzy/ other replaceable blade broadheads.

 

Everyone's laid out a lot of good points. Imo its just a matter of opinion and risk vs reward. cutting diameter and flight is the downfall of fixed and failure to operate correctly is the major downfall of mech. I've seen a rage go completely through a deer and not open at all. Looked like a field point wound. Also there are plenty of hunting videos on youtube of someone nicking a branch or leaf and deploying one side and the arrow goes completely off the shot and misses vitals.

If you shoot fixed its just more hassle of tuning broadheads to match your field points and practicing with them. I personally carry fixed and have one arrow with a mech just in case a shot opportunity makes more sense for that. but it all depends.

Lots of good options either way. Pick your poison.

 

Everyone's laid out a lot of good points. Imo its just a matter of opinion and risk vs reward. cutting diameter and flight is the downfall of fixed and failure to operate correctly is the major downfall of mech. I've seen a rage go completely through a deer and not open at all. Looked like a field point wound. Also there are plenty of hunting videos on youtube of someone nicking a branch or leaf and deploying one side and the arrow goes completely off the shot and misses vitals.

If you shoot fixed its just more hassle of tuning broadheads to match your field points and practicing with them. I personally carry fixed and have one arrow with a mech just in case a shot opportunity makes more sense for that. but it all depends.

Lots of good options either way. Pick your poison.

I don't disagree, just merely pointing out something important. Because it can be more difficult to tune a fixed head, it causes laziness amongst hunters (not saying this is you). Instead of actually tuning a bow properly, they say....AHHHHHHHH why bother when I can just throw a mechanical on there and be all set....with that mindset you miss out on soooooo many benefits. Quieter bow, more efficient bow, etc....

Simply put, go paper tune a bareshaft through paper, and then fletch a shaft and go shoot the fletched arrow with a bareshaft. Get them to hit the same spot and have the same entry angle. I can almost GUARANTEE that any fixed blade you put on your bow is going to fly exactly with your field points.

To preface....tuning means setting your rest at 13/16 off riser and shimming cams or yoke tuning, etc. (Obviously more to it than just that, but it captures the gist of it)

 

Agree with @thirdhandman

Ive had nothing but success with my GR mechanicals. I also track wounded game during the season. The calls where game was lost from mechanicals, generally falls under 2 categories:

-Too low draw weight to get them to be effective

-Bad shot placement

That being said, I've blown through shoulders with my GRs.

 

I have just transitioned to fixed, I’m shooting the G5 Montec 100 GR. I have them mounted using Bohning Blazer vanes(factory on the arrows) with the inserts and blades in-line with the fletching. I’ve just started shooting them and so far the results are pretty impressive at 20 and 30 yards, dead on with field points. Hope to get some 40 and 50 yard shots this weekend.
I personally don’t care for the fragile nature of the collars, had 3 of them break in a quiver.

 

Failure to open, in my opinion, isn't even in the discussion. It does happen, but it's rare enough that it wouldn't be a concern. I personally don't use a mechanical for a few reasons. 1. They are not reusable which means, more money spent. 2. Less pass thrus 3. Not durable (Blades bend) 4. Debated, but can cause much more of a shock to deer upon impact. 5. Many times, using mechanicals is an excuse to not properly tune your bow (This is not all people obviously, but that mentality is running rampant)

Your idea that their is "less" cutting diameter would be fixed if you simply put a tooth of the arrow broadhead on the end of your stick. Those 4 blades make for more cutting survace than a rage broadhead and a much more devastating hole than a little slit. I chose fixed blades because: 1. They are more durable 2. If you choose a solid one piece design like tooth of the arrow, it is reusable (I have taken 6 animals with the same head) 3. Much less chance of failure, and by failure I mean the blades dont break or bend like on most mechanicals.

In all honestly, if you choose the right fixed blade and tune your bow properly, there is no reason to not go fixed blade. If I was going mechanical, the only one I would touch with a 10 foot pole would be the sevr's or possibly some of the grim reapers.

 

I've broken more fixed heads than mechanical heads. It was only one in all the years hunting but I broke a blade off a Thunderhead and I've never broken any of the spitfire or killzones that I've used on various game. I also have never not been able to reuse those mech heads and some in my quiver have multiple kills on their record. I've also never not had a passthrough with my mech heads but have had non-passthroughs with my fixed though that was when I was shooting less weight with a slower bow but still.

Not all mech heads are created equally and while I've not used any since they were sold and moved production overseas, the NAP mechs I've used have been outstanding and very durable. There are pros and cons to both but research has shown that for the average end user, mech heads out perform fixed on deer sized game and smaller.

 

I've got nothing against mechanicals, if people know how to shoot them. I've just never hunted big game with them because I've had such excellent results with fixed, since 1987. I've never needed wide cuts to kill quickly either. All my broadheads are 1 1/16" -- 1 3/16" wide. About 50% of deer I've killed were taken over the years with Thunderhead 125's, 1 3/16" cut diameter. Most were down and dead in seconds, within 60 yards. I also killed a 5x5 bull elk with one. He made it 30 yards and had stopped moving within 10 seconds. (I double-lunged him but also center-punched his ascending aorta). I also killed my first bow-killed turkey with one. Those were all with the older, made in USA Thunderheads though. The blades aren't as good on the new Chinese made ones, so in my book, they're discontinued by NAP.

Another great fixed broadhead was the Muzzy Phantom 125 4-blade. It had a 1 1/8" cut diameter--with main blade and bleeder both that same width. I had a couple of deer that didn't even realize they'd been shot, after it passed had through both their lungs. I had one big doe walk 15 yards after the shot and then just lie down, and one buck who looked at my arrow stuck in the ground next to him, picked up another acorn and then flopped right there, 15 yards from my tree. Of other deer I killed with those Phantoms, most died within sight. I never lost any deer with Phantoms, ever, even with 2 of my worst hunting shots in my history, caused by slight deflections off limbs I didn't see. Those broadheads got discontinued by Fare-dyne, after they bought out Muzzy and moved manufacturing to China.

I'm currently shooting Magnus Stinger Buzzcut 4-blade 125's & 150's. I killed my 2020 Idaho bull elk with a 125 and watched him die 50 yards away, 15 seconds later. He spewed quarts of blood all the way there. I killed my 2021 8-pointer with a 150. My shot was a little forward due to awkward shot angle, but it blew through both his shoulders--thus, blood trail was untraceable, but I recovered the buck 105 yards from my treestand location.

Blood trails can vary a lot with fixed, depending on shot locations, angles of entry/exit wounds and which tissues were passed through. Some blood trails are profuse, while others may be nearly non-existent. I learned a long time ago to just go find 'em, blood trail or not.

 

The penetration differences are known and have been discussed at length.

But IMO if you take twenty random archers and put them in a slightly awkward treestand situation, ten shooting fixed, ten shooting mechs…. you will see much better groups at 30 yards from the mechs.

Now if someone is more serious about tuning, they’re more likely to have those fixed dialed in pretty well…. but even these folks usually aren’t too sure what a funky angle with a funky grip tree stand shot situation does to their fixed flight.

 

It seems like the selling point is usually "it shoots like a field point". That hasn't been a good enough reason for me to switch, but I'm always interested in what makes one broadhead better than another.

 

Both work, I personally like a big cut but lean towards a big cut fixed and tune. I am diving more and more into the hybrid idea. I do carry a couple mechs in case that makes more sense for the situation

 

I'm a fixed blade guy myself. NAP Thunderhead 100's for me. I've been shooting them for years and never had one to fail. I've often heard people shoot mechanicals because they shoot like field points. I am not saying that everyone that shoots them do it for that reason. Personally I've never had a problem tuning to get broadheads to hit the same spot as my field points. This along with no failures is why I still shoot fixed blades. If it ain't broke it don't need
fixing !!

 

I shoot QAD Exodus and Slick Trick Assailant, both kill very well.

 

Yea & Nay over & over. Personally, the recovery is due to the "hunter". Go to a 3D & watch many of our "so called" bowhunters shooting at foam.. SAD at times. I have been bowhunting since 1956 & Arrowed my 1st Deer in 1958-oh yea, I am an older than dirt fart. I still compete & bowhunt. I accumulated a wide variety of Biggame (recurve & compound) & the majority with a 3 blade fixed (for sure the last 45 years). That being said, I have had the privvy to know, bowhunt with many "successful veteran" bowhunters (If you measure success with a kill). I also see many of these hunters drilling targets "where it counts". SOME use Expandables BUT, through them, I have seen just enough "problems" to deter me from using them. Bloodtrails are definatly not always "great" or even good. How do I know? I'm guessing I have been on several hundred besides my own. I have witnessed perfect vital pass thrus go much farther than can be imagined & I'ver seen chit shots fall within sight.. Still shot placement & sharp head. We all know the weight being shot does make a difference in "both" cases but more so on the X Pand Able. Enjoy your next bowhunt & use what you feel is best for you. Photos-Elk, shot thru center of the heart (I checked), complete pass thru, 3 blade fixed 60#s 550 gr total arrow weight.. 1 hour later, still alive after nearly 150 yd dash. 2nd arrow to dispatch when he got up (barely). No blood in this critter when I opened him up. Buffalo, 42 yards pass thru, both lungs, same Bow & arrows. Watched fall in under 40 yds, stone dead. Wild hog, Double lunged, pass thru, ran into a thick bramble filled ravin 100 yards away. 20 min later I come up on him great blood trail & he charges me-2nd arrow to the fletch at about 15 feet behind his shouders turns him & he drops 20 yards away. He damn near got me. I have no idea how he was still alive either. 70#s same arrow combo. These were "two" exceptionl things that happened to me personally (Elk, Hog) BUT those who bowunt long enough will have some type "strange" event concerning vital hits & blood trails. I have a friend that shot A muley in Co. We triailed this thing at least a mile hands & knees mostly. He shot it thru the front leg knee. It died. walking on a trail (shock I guess) Go figure. Oh I have shot some model 125 gr 3 blade Rocky Mountain since mid 70s. Currently 125 gr.Ironhead.

 

About 20 years shooting NAP Spitfires in three states, two Canadian provinces, and two trips to South Africa I have had no broadhead failures and a fair number of dead animals of varying sizes. I am shooting 65-70#'s (280-305 FPS) draw weight bow with a 405 grain arrow so the energy issue isn't of much concern to the point that I have had pass throughs on two Zebra's and a Kudu as well as many deer and a few black bears. All the theoretical arguments aside I can, with my equipment, see no reason to even consider a fixed broadhead.

 

I am a fixed blade guy myself, however I did buy some Sevr 1.5 after reading and watching reviews. I keep one in my quiver for longer shots, so I tell myself.... I am ready to fling it at an animal to see results. I got some exodus swept heads that I am ready to test out after reading so much on here about them.

 

There are tradeoffs pretty much with everything. To start out, the game department made shooting a field point at a deer illegal for a reason. It will kill a deer but makes a very small hole and isn't sharp period. That said. Any broadhead that goes through the vitals will kill, but the bigger the hole, the more damage is done, the bigger the blood trail and the quicker the animal will go down.

There are some really good fixed blade broadheads on the market today. So many that we hardly have the same one mentioned twice in a row in conversations. Some like Muzzy, some like Tooth of the arrow, etc. All of them with a well-placed shot will kill a deer. With mechanicals, we usually hear of Rage, Grim Reaper, or NAP which is very similar to Grim Reaper. This I think is because there is a lot of junk mechanicals and just a few good ones.

IMHO mechanical broadheads are a one-and-done. If you can't handle that, it's O.K. but a fixed blade is going to be more for you. Some people love to tinker with their car to make it faster etc. I bought my truck to drive and use to haul etc, not to be a mechanic. Just two different reasons people chose what they buy. I bought many bows over the years to shoot, not so I could work on them, although I do work on them.
Not all Mechanical broadheads are Equal so I'm Only speaking on what I know best.
Out of the pack, a Grim Reaper 1 3/8'' Razor Tip is plenty sharp. So I don't ever have to worry about sharpening one. The big reason for me shooting them is that the exit holes are ginormous. In the video average Joe said something about mechanicals pushing the meat before cutting it and he is exactly correct. Pushing the flesh about 2'' before cutting it, cone shapes the meat and makes for a hole about 2x the actual diameter of the Grim Reaper.
I used to shoot Muzzy broadheads, which by some people's standards are the best. I got them for free for about 4-5 years and liked them a bunch. When I changed to GR's the owner of Muzzy, John called me and gave me every reason he could think of to not shoot a mechanical. My simple argument to John was shooting the same arrow with the same bow I got the same penetration with the GR. In windy conditions, I didn't have to worry about the arrow planning off course and it always made a hole twice as big as the muzzy.
If the bowhunter Simply checks the broadhead once it is on the arrow to make sure it opens and closes, it will work every time. If you can't be bothered to check the broadhead chances are you aren't going to bother tuning your bow either. Both mistakes will cost one a deer.
In summing up. There are many broadheads to chose from. There are many reasons for individuals to make their choice.

In my first 20+ years of bowhunting, I harvested over 100 big game animals with at least 10 different fixed blade broadheads and had maybe 6-8 non recovered animals. In the last 20 years, my harvest numbers are up but we are allowed a lot more tags today than 20 years ago. I honestly can only remember 2 animals not recovered and both were bad shots on my part. Both were hit in the hip, both arrows were found which means the animal was able to live without a broadhead and the broken arrow stuck in them for life.

To sum it up, I have used GR for the past 20 years for reasons that mattered to me. Great flight, huge holes, great blood trails, and shorter tracking jobs. I don't care to sharpen broadheads or reuse them. I have shot them through heavy bone and ended up with a bent blade or two. I don't care about bent blades because again, I don't reuse them.
Confidence in what one is using is paramount. Any good sharp broadhead through the vitals will kill a deer. Use what you are most confident in shooting. Make up your own mind.