Broadhead Inconsistency

[buttwhacker]

Hopefully someone can help me out here. I shoot a Hoyt Powertech, set at 64 pounds, Gold Tip Pro Hunter 55/75, 30 inch arrows at 8.2 gpi. last fall I killed 6 whitetails and 3 turkeys with 125 NAP nitrons but do not feel comfortable shooting these miniheads at Elk. I would like to shoot a bigger broadheads but am having trouble. The nitrons shoot like field tips and am comfortable with them out to 50 yards. I have tried muzzy, thunderheads, and Montecs. All broadheads shoot high and right of field tips. My bow is tuned.

Question is would it help to jump up to a heavier arrow, say the 75/95 at 8.9gpi??

Thanks

Jay

 

[BigPig]

It's not so much the weight of the arrow that you should be concerned with given yout broadhead impact, it's the spine of the arrow. Your current set up is showning a weak spine reaction by hitting right. Even with your current Nitrons you are probably getting some erratic flight and your groups would surely improve with a properly spined arrow. Look at Gold Tip's arrow selector chart. You'll see that 55/75's are underspined (too flimsy) with a 30 inch arrow, 125 gr point and 64 lbs of pull. 7595 should be just right. They also happen to be a little bit heavier in weight too which should help penetration for elk.

All that said, I wouldn't feel the need to HAVE to change broadheads. Your 125 Nitrons will do just fine if put in the right place. Of course if you just want to change that is a different issue.

Regardless, you do need to step up a notch in arrow spine. I heard it said once that trying to shoot a broadhead with an underspined arrow is like trying to push a bowling ball with a spaghetti noodle. It just aint gonna work right and filght will be inconsistent. Your penetration will be impeded too, due to a wagging arrow. Corret arrow spine is everything with archery. I always start there and then begin tuning. Doing it the other way around is pointless.

 

[COLO3D]

Stick with the Nitrons, they're a good head and it sounds like you are confident in their flight.

 

[Boskee]

WAIT>>>>>>Before you go out and buy more arrows. Try this reduce your broadhead weight to 100 grains and in effect you will be increasing your spline. I've killed quite a few elk with 100 grain broadheads and none of them ever knew the difference. You may be able to borrow one from a friend and it may be just the ticket. The Wacem, shuttle T are both small broadheads that are deadly! Give this some thought and you may find it will work out OK. By the way Nitron does come in a 100 Grain model if it works! Oh and the design and toughness of the broadhead are what's really important my wife has killed 3 bulls and she shoots an 85grain head and all were 1 shot pass through kills that dropped them fast. Hope this helps.

 

[BigPig]

Boskee's suggestion is a good one in theory. Dropping in point weight will stiffen your arrow's dynamic spine. That should help some, but according to Gold Tip you will still be underspined with a 30" arrow. That is a very long shaft and you'll need more stiffness. Just look at the sizing chart here for reference.

http://www.goldtip.com/downloads/index.htm

 

[Boskee]

Bigpig is correct but it is an old trick that has worked for many. Also take a look to see if you can shave off some of your shaft where it sits in front of the rest. That will also increase your spine. Shorter arrow = stiffer spine lighter tip = stiffer spine. If you can shave off over 1/2" it may make a big difference combining the two. Then later when you're ready to buy some new arrows I would make sure you get them heavy enough for your bow as the Bigpig suggests. You also could take 1/2 - 1 full turn off your limb bolts to help with the issue. If you're going to compromise on arrow size lean towards the stiffer shaft and you usually won't have an issue. Bigpig gave you the correct advice I just suggested some known fixes that may be workable. Good luck.

 

[BigPig]

Boskee is right on. I used to have this same problem a while back after gradually moving up to 70 lbs. My arrows became too flimsy once I cranked up the poundage. Being too cheap to toss perfectly good arrows and buy more, I cut about 3/4" extra off the arrow and backed down a few pounds. This definitely helped some and improved broadhead flight, but I was at less poundage than I really wanted to be. The most noticable improvement, however, came when I finally bit the bullet and went up in arrow size. As soon as I did my groups tightented considerably.