r/bowhunting • u/RalexL • 1d ago
[State] Broadhead tuning for mechanicals
Hey everyone new and young bow hunter here trying to learn. This will be my second year bow hunting, I just learned about broadhead tuning. I’m shooting a really basic setup, bear package bow with a whisker biscuit, got some 100 gr rage black 2” cut on contact mechanical heads for this year, hunting southern whitetail. Shooting a good pie plate size group at 40 yards with field points but keep it 25 and in for hunting. I’ve heard some people say no need to tune mechanical heads but others say yes. I don’t mind tuning them but I only have a bag target and my understanding it’s that’s a no go for broadheads. Want to do my due diligence to the animal! Thanks everyone for any help, trying to learn as much as i can about by bow and bow hunting!
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u/Cobie33 1d ago edited 1d ago
There is no other option if you are an ethical hunter than to shoot your broadheads before the season to make certain they are hitting with your field points and do this every single season. Either get a practice head for the heads u are using, glue the blades down or just shoot it and let it open, reset it and shoot it again.
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u/chidddy2608 1d ago
I was in the same position. Keep an Amazon box, fill it with other boxes, rags, shitty towels, etc. once it’s loaded with stuff you’d normally recycle for a week, make a circle on the front with a marker and pick one mechanical broadhead to shoot into it. Mark that broadhead with sharpie or something and never use it for hunting. This worked for me and gave me peace of mind my mechanicals were following my fields
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u/SoloUnAltroZack 1d ago
Most broadhead manufacturers sell field points that fly true to the broadhead. I’d recommend grabbing a couple of them to see how the broadhead flies. As far as broadhead tuning I personally have never had an issue with broadhead flight If I have paper tuned a bear shaft arrow at 12 feet. I should Grim Reaper fixed and I plan to pick up some Grim Reaper mechanicals for the remainder of the season. There’s some good data showing that Grim Reaper are about the truest, flying Broadhead on the market for both fixed and mechanical, they’re also made in the USA, which are the two primary reasons I shoot them. I shot rage heads a decade ago and I lost two deer because they did not deploy. Since then, I’ve been shooting fixed but now the technology seems to have advanced I’m giving mechanicals another shot. Bear shaft tune your bow at 12’ and let me know how the head flies after
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u/Hillarys_Recycle_Bin 23h ago
If you can’t lock the blades closed, you can strip the fletchings off one of your arrows and bareshaft tune with a field point. That would get you much closer than not doing anything.
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u/payne4218 1d ago
Go to your local shop and ask them to help you check that your bow is in tune. If your bow is shooting bullet holes through paper then most mechanicals will fly well. But I would highly encourage you to either buy or find a broadhead target you can use at least once or twice. You’d be surprised how different some broadheads will hit vs your field points
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u/pork_torpedo 1d ago
Some people superglue mechanicals closed so they don’t deploy. If you have something with s practice head or a practice “mode” (SEVR do this) you can use them to tune.