Expandables or fixed?

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erics218
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby erics218 » Mon May 10, 2021 12:04 am

I shoot mechanical Nap spitfires. They have been awesome. They make a huge hole and bleed like crazy. Been using them for 20 years. Still have 2 of my original 3 pack. I just keep replacing the blades. I shoot big horsepower bows, and have always got a pass through since I was a kid. I can remember not recovering a couple shot with a Muzzy. Killed 3 deer with a Rage and nothing but a few drops of blood after impact. Everything shot with a Spitfire is a bloody mess. I will always shoot Spitfires.


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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Mon May 10, 2021 1:24 pm

I shoot slick trick, shot everything from Standard to viper tricks and they all shot phenomenal. I settled on xbow tricks because they come in 150 grain and they fly well and have good foc with brass inserts. I always seemed to get acceptable blood trails as long as i hit the mark and they resulted in quick kills.
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
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szwampdonkey
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Tue May 11, 2021 2:19 am

For many, aside from their bias, expandable would be the best option because they shoot better out of the average Joes bow.

The arguments for fixed blade are they shoot just as well if you tune your bow (most don't tune their bow) or if you practice as much as you should with said tuned bow (most don't) or that fixed blades have no chance of failing (not true) nor do expandable fail at a high rate (Rages have killed tens of thousands of deer). The average Joe will put an expandable in the boiler room more frequently/consistently than a fixed blade and when they don't they have a much greater cutting diameter thus more room for error (the average Joe will not always hit where they're aiming).

In the end it doesn't matter what you have on the end of your arrow what matters is where you put it. You put a dull rock through both lungs or the heart the deer will die 100% of the time.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby bowfreak8 » Tue May 11, 2021 7:06 am

I've shot and killed a lot of deer with both. If you want to live up near that front shoulder I suggest a fixed head and a heavy arrow setup. I'm currently shooting Day 6 250 arrows and Wasp 125 grain Drones. Puts me around 600 grains and the results have been bone crushing.

I was shooting expensive Day 6 Evo broadheads but the Wasp Drones just flew too good not to shoot.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Tue May 11, 2021 8:20 am

bowfreak8 wrote:I've shot and killed a lot of deer with both. If you want to live up near that front shoulder I suggest a fixed head and a heavy arrow setup. I'm currently shooting Day 6 250 arrows and Wasp 125 grain Drones. Puts me around 600 grains and the results have been bone crushing.

I was shooting expensive Day 6 Evo broadheads but the Wasp Drones just flew too good not to shoot.




Wasp makes a fine broadhead
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Wolfie417 » Wed May 12, 2021 4:43 am

I can see a few situations where I might use certain mechs...
However I usually rock a fixed blade.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby tim » Thu May 13, 2021 5:38 pm

This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby Ranger12 » Fri May 14, 2021 12:16 am

Did you have blood Tim?
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby hcooper84 » Fri May 14, 2021 12:34 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rrtuApLyM

Can't really ask for a better example to convince someone to switch to a high FOC, cut on contact setup. To each their own but, this is definitely a worse case scenario made to seem like a walk in the park. The amount of big deer that have never been found or kept living after a similar hit but with a different setup is probably extraordinarily high.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Fri May 14, 2021 12:39 am

hcooper84 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rrtuApLyM

Can't really ask for a better example to convince someone to switch to a high FOC, cut on contact setup. To each their own but, this is definitely a worse case scenario made to seem like a walk in the park. The amount of big deer that have never been found or kept living after a similar hit but with a different setup is probably extraordinarily high.

Cutting through the head of the humerus after hitting an unseen stick is one heckuva endorsement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rrtuApLyM
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jkelley1487
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby jkelley1487 » Fri May 14, 2021 2:55 am

I compare this topic to picking between Chevy vs Ford. You will have strong opinions on both sides. They both have their pros and cons. Go with what works for you.
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szwampdonkey
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Fri May 14, 2021 8:09 am

tim wrote:This past season I shot a fixed blade for the first time in well over a decade if for no other reason just to try one….I shot a buck watched him run between 45-50 yards and just stand there, after 2-3 minutes he sat down then another couple minutes he layed on his side then another minute he rolled onto his back and took his last breath. Now it was a total of I would say 5-6 minutes and I didn’t have a clear shot or I probably would have taken it to finish him. When I walked up and gutted him I had a perfect center mass shot directly through his heart. I was dumbfounded that lasted that long with a complete passthrough and through middle of his heart……like others have said it doesn’t matter what you shoot it matters where you put it, they will die but in this case I felt the death should have happenned a bit quicker .


Wow, 5-6 minutes certainly seems like a long time with a hole in the heart!

Was it a really small diameter head? I’ve never been a huge fan of small diameter heads due to lack of blood trails back in the day. Well hit deer, they died but the blood trails were often extremely hard to follow to the point where i could see where some more easily prone to giving up than me would have quit and not recovered the deer.

Main reason i myself switched to large diameter mechanicals and have never looked back about 20-25 years ago.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby HunterBob » Fri May 14, 2021 8:24 am

szwampdonkey wrote:For many, aside from their bias, expandable would be the best option because they shoot better out of the average Joes bow.

The arguments for fixed blade are they shoot just as well if you tune your bow (most don't tune their bow) or if you practice as much as you should with said tuned bow (most don't) or that fixed blades have no chance of failing (not true) nor do expandable fail at a high rate (Rages have killed tens of thousands of deer). The average Joe will put an expandable in the boiler room more frequently/consistently than a fixed blade and when they don't they have a much greater cutting diameter thus more room for error (the average Joe will not always hit where they're aiming).

In the end it doesn't matter what you have on the end of your arrow what matters is where you put it. You put a dull rock through both lungs or the heart the deer will die 100% of the time.


For me the question is shot angles, since you don't always get a chance at a broadside or quartering away shot. I believe a fixed head with a heavy arrow will give you more opportunities to actually take an ethical shot on different angles. I like to have a chance to take a shot rather than having to pass because of limited shot angles.
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby <DK> » Fri May 14, 2021 8:54 am

It can be debated all day based on preference but stats dont lie. Dog tracking stats show fixed has a higher pass through rate, which equals higher recovery rate. Ill stick to fixed
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Re: Expandables or fixed?

Unread postby DeadHeadSpread » Fri May 14, 2021 12:50 pm

I’ve used Muzzy 4 blade 90 grain for many years. I found every deer I ever hit with those broadbeads, some with marginal shots. Most of the time on pass thru shots the arrow would be stuck 6 inches in the ground. Since they only cost 6 bucks apiece and I have no patience to sharpen blades I always just threw them out after a kill. They stopped making the 90 grain and I’m fresh out. Looking to maybe go to Muzzy 100 or 125, still in the cheap model.
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