How do you practice with your broadheads?

[Hookeye]

Block target is what I use for BH.

IIRC they make various types and rate them on bow and Xbow speed.

 

[Hookeye]

BTW, I shot a groundhog over a yr ago and my Montec is still in the tree (pass through).
Need a little slide hammer to get that thing out.
Was only shooting a 60# Hoyt LOL

 

[two70]

Not a c/bow hunter. Try real hard not to shoot trees. When I do that's a job for a hammer and chisel.
Metal detector for finding lost arrrows/bolts.

I'm talking about shooting through a deer and still burying into a tree past the broadhead. Or the bolt continuing on so far after passing through a deer that it is impossible to find. Those are both likely to be things with a crossbow, not so much with compound. Its cheaper in the long run to just replace a broadhead than to replace a lost or damaged bolt and broadhead.

 

[patience0830]

I'm talking about shooting through a deer and still burying into a tree past the broadhead. Or the bolt continuing on so far after passing through a deer that it is impossible to find. Those are both likely to be things with a crossbow, not so much with compound. Its cheaper in the long run to just replace a broadhead than to replace a lost or damaged bolt and broadhead.

Again, not a crossbow hunter and my pass throughs end up in the dirt from my stands.

 

[two70]

Again, not a crossbow hunter and my pass throughs end up in the dirt from my stands.

Good for you. Now, how is that relevant to the OP, who asked the question about site in practices, not broadhead selection and clearly stated for crossbow use?

 

[HuntMeister]

What bow do you have?
A really economical target for broadheads only is a 5 gallon bucket with a proper fitting lid filled with rubber mulch. Cut most of the lid out and replace with cardboard. The cardboard becomes the face of the target. Mulch will stop any BH nicely and it will not be difficult to remove the arrow from the target. What arrows are you shooting?

 

[AndreusMaximus]

What bow do you have?
A really economical target for broadheads only is a 5 gallon bucket with a proper fitting lid filled with rubber mulch. Cut most of the lid out and replace with cardboard. The cardboard becomes the face of the target. Mulch will stop any BH nicely and it will not be difficult to remove the arrow from the target. What arrows are you shooting?

It's a Rocky Mountain RM-370 crossbow, shooting 20" carbon express piledrivers.

Thanks for the idea of rubber mulch, if the straw bales don't work good enough, I'll give that a try!

 

[HuntMeister]

Did you shoot the practice BH on all the arrows or just the one?

 

[patience0830]

Good for you. Now, how is that relevant to the OP, who asked the question about site in practices, not broadhead selection and clearly stated for crossbow use?

I replied. He engaged. We have had a discussion. Butt out. MYODB.

 

[AndreusMaximus]

Did you shoot the practice BH on all the arrows or just the one?

Just the one so far. I'll try it on a different arrow to see if that changes anything.

Thanks!

 

[HuntMeister]

If it were me, I would number each arrow. Shoot each one 2-3 times from a good, solid bench setup to get a general idea of POI vs POA and record this info. Do this with field points first then your practice BH. I would record shots at 20 yards & 40 yards minimum, and longer if you plan to take longer shots. You will be able to identify the flyers and then know which arrows are good to hunt with and which ones are not acceptable to hunt with.
One more thing, if each arrow is not consistently hitting at the same POI, I would guess you have a issue with the bow or your shooting form.
Keep us posted on your findings.

 

[AndreusMaximus]

If it were me, I would number each arrow. Shoot each one 2-3 times from a good, solid bench setup to get a general idea of POI vs POA and record this info. Do this with field points first then your practice BH. I would record shots at 20 yards & 40 yards minimum, and longer if you plan to take longer shots. You will be able to identify the flyers and then know which arrows are good to hunt with and which ones are not acceptable to hunt with.
One more thing, if each arrow is not consistently hitting at the same POI, I would guess you have a issue with the bow or your shooting form.
Keep us posted on your findings.

I was able to get out and shoot a bit on Saturday, but I was limited on time and didn't have a rest set up so I just shot a bit at 25 yards from the prone position. At that distance the rage mechanical broadhead I tested was hitting in the same spot as both the field tips and the practice rage head. There was a pretty stiff, but inconsistent breeze blowing from left to right, though, so my groups were a bit strung out horizontally; of all the shots I fired there was only about a 2-3 inch spread vertically, but 6-7 inches horizontally, with most of that spread caused by several shots being off to the right of my aiming point. I'm guessing this was due to the wind, though, so I didn't make any adjustments to my scope; I'm definitely going to have to practice more to figure out if that was actually the cause, or if I was just pulling shots off to the right.

To test the broadhead, I used a couple bales of straw with an empty seed sack on the front as an aiming point. Seemed to work pretty well, though it really demonstrated how fast the blade loses its sharpness; the first couple shots went almost through both bales, but after that it quickly reached the point where it would stop in the first bale, and I would just pull it the rest of the way through.

Great idea on numbering the arrows! What's the best way, in your experience, to mark them? Mine are black everywhere except for the vanes, but it feels like marker or pen would just rub right off. Maybe I'll try permanent marker on the white vane and see if it sticks.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[HuntMeister]

I agree that the horizontal stringing could be due to the wind. I just use a ball point pen to number the vanes and have not had any problems.

 

[two70]

I replied. He engaged. We have had a discussion. Butt out. MYODB.

I'm not sure what your issue is but YOU chose to reply to me and to keep engaging. Which would be fine if it was at all relevant but it isn't.

 

[singlestacksig]

I was able to get out and shoot a bit on Saturday, but I was limited on time and didn't have a rest set up so I just shot a bit at 25 yards from the prone position. At that distance the rage mechanical broadhead I tested was hitting in the same spot as both the field tips and the practice rage head. There was a pretty stiff, but inconsistent breeze blowing from left to right, though, so my groups were a bit strung out horizontally; of all the shots I fired there was only about a 2-3 inch spread vertically, but 6-7 inches horizontally, with most of that spread caused by several shots being off to the right of my aiming point. I'm guessing this was due to the wind, though, so I didn't make any adjustments to my scope; I'm definitely going to have to practice more to figure out if that was actually the cause, or if I was just pulling shots off to the right.

To test the broadhead, I used a couple bales of straw with an empty seed sack on the front as an aiming point. Seemed to work pretty well, though it really demonstrated how fast the blade loses its sharpness; the first couple shots went almost through both bales, but after that it quickly reached the point where it would stop in the first bale, and I would just pull it the rest of the way through.

Great idea on numbering the arrows! What's the best way, in your experience, to mark them? Mine are black everywhere except for the vanes, but it feels like marker or pen would just rub right off. Maybe I'll try permanent marker on the white vane and see if it sticks.

Thanks again for all the advice!

silver sharpie