I used a Rocky Mountain superlite to kill a doe with my crossbow last year, but thought it should have worked better. It was a double lung almost pass through, stopping at the fletching on the offside. I waited an hour, and found the animal still alive. It required a second shot. With the lower speed and penetration of a crossbow, would a cut-on-contact blade work better. Anybody have experience with the bear heads?

What speed does your crossbow chrono at?
How heavy is the bolt?
If you had a double lung hit and she was still alive after an hour then she was one tough hombre!
Was the broadhead damaged in the doe?

I have never chrono'd it. It is a recurve set at 150#, my arrow/broadhead is 410 grains (2413 at 17")and sustained no damage thru the animal. I can only think that the non-cut on penetration point was going slow enough that it pushed some blood vessels out of the way instead of cutting them. My thinking is the cut on impact points will take less energy to reach the vitals. I just wondered if the two blades at 1.125 inches width worked well on deer sized game.

[ 11-03-2003, 02:39: Message edited by: arty ]

I used some old bear razor heads for by kids as they wee shooting lighter bow weigths. They worked very well I used them as a two bladed head with out the inserts.

Arty,
I'd chrono that bow first.
I shoot a 62# Onieda shooting 540 grain 31 inch 2413's and get 208 fps. I'd be real suprised if you were getting under 225 fps and that isn't considered slow. I'd also be concerned is using the Bear Razor at the faster speeds because of possible folding upon strikine bone. I'd buy a package and shoot it through new plywood, paint cans or an old shoulderbone (if you have one) to see what the end result is at a hunting distance on a hard target(mishit)

Another option would be Muzzy's as the trocar tip is designed to be sharpened and as it is tool steel it will take and hold an edge. I have been using them of 13 years this way. to sharpen take the tip an assemble it withour the blades. it is a 3 sided point so lay on flat side(2 edges) on a sharpening stone and comence to sharpening like you would a knife, do the other 2 sides to the point that it shaves the hair in the back of your forearm. I wipe them lightly with an oil to prevent rust and you have a cut-on-contact bone smashing broadhead.

Arty, if that is one of the very short heads with an abrupt angle to the blades to get width, it is your problem. I have had bad results with this type of head with deer going twice as far. What you want is a long cutting edge and even if it is the same width as what you have it will cut better. The proper ratio was worked out years ago and I don't remember exactly, but I think it was 3 to 1. The blades should be 3 times longer then the width. I might be wrong on the dimensions but I do know a longer cutting edge cuts everything it touches. Kind of ridiculous to have a head longer then 3". The Muzzy is good as are the Cabella's brand which are extremely good for the price. Bear razorheads are good too, they are better then the old ones. We used to bob the points on the old ones to keep them from curling. Lots of good heads out there, just stay away from the real short blades. Your crossbow bolt should have zipped right through that deer. I guess you could compare it like this; Take your arrow and chop at a piece of meat. Now draw it over another piece and see what made the best cut.