Two Blade Broadheads or Three

[jeffb]

It seems as though every thread I have read on this forum about bow hunting Africa leads to everyone's input towards 2 blade fixed broad heads and there never seems to be a mention of 3 or 4 blade broad heads. I was/am curious as to the reasons behind this. I tend to use 3 blade fixed here in the US by muzzy, everything from 100 grain to 130 grain. I am actually planning on the 130 grain 3 blade chisel tip muzzy's for my plains game hunt in Africa. Does anyone have any input on this.

 

[Diamondhitch]

2 blade cut on impacts penetrate better than 3 or 4 blade heads. The same can be said for 1-1 1/4" cutting diameter vs 1 3/4 monsters.

Choose your chisel tip well and keep it as sharp as possible to maximize penetration. There are some really bad designs out there designed to catch the buyers eye instead of to perform well.

 

[BRICKBURN]

2 blade cut on impacts penetrate better than 3 or 4 blade heads. .......

PENETRATION. That's it.

2 For BIG BAD stuff.

3 For everything else.

 

[jeffb]

Definitely agree on the "catch the buyer's eye" designs. I have used the Muzzy 3 blade Chisel Tips for quite awhile and have never been disappointed. The 130 Grain ones I will be using in Namibia has 3 blades w/chisel tip and they are 1 1/4". I believe they will work just fine, great penetration and cutting. The list of plains game I plan on taking include, Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Impala and Plains Zebra. More if the right opportunity comes into play.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Definitely agree on the "catch the buyer's eye" designs. I have used the Muzzy 3 blade Chisel Tips for quite awhile and have never been disappointed. The 130 Grain ones I will be using in Namibia has 3 blades w/chisel tip and they are 1 1/4". I believe they will work just fine, great penetration and cutting. The list of plains game I plan on taking include, Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Impala and Plains Zebra. More if the right opportunity comes into play.

Exactly.

DG, drop to a heavy 2 blade and the repertoire is set and ready to go.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Muzzys have been highly regarded for a long time for good reason. they are tough and well designed. While nowhere near as sharp as a cut on contact head, the chisel tip is hollow ground and as sharp as it can be plus the chisel is full shaft diameter so it doesn't chisel a bit then drag a ways then cut with the blades. They should work great on all plains game, although my preference is cut on contact 2 blade for everything, anything more is overkill IMO.

 

[Patrick R]

Definitely agree on the "catch the buyer's eye" designs. I have used the Muzzy 3 blade Chisel Tips for quite awhile and have never been disappointed. The 130 Grain ones I will be using in Namibia has 3 blades w/chisel tip and they are 1 1/4". I believe they will work just fine, great penetration and cutting. The list of plains game I plan on taking include, Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Impala and Plains Zebra. More if the right opportunity comes into play.

nothing wrong with this, i am using the 120gr on all the animals above mentioned with great success. Stick to what you know!!

 

[INGOZI]

Two blade heads are more suited to hunters in need of extra penetration, as is the case when hunting dangerous game or with low poundage set-ups. Modern compound bows have power and penetration to spare, hence no more need for two bladed broadheads. Three and four blade heads ensure far better and shorter blood trails, just ensure that they are shaving sharp.

 

[Bushman10]

There is nothing wrong with a 3 blade as long as you don't shoot Gemsbok and Eland with it. Kudu and anything smaller will easily fall with a proper shot placement of a 3 blade. The Gemsbok is a very hardy animal with a very strong rib cage and the Eland rib bones are even heavier and thicker. For the time that you hit that thick bone then you need the two blade to ensure penetration. For anything else your Muzzy 3 blade is a very well proven blade.

 

[INGOZI]

There is nothing wrong with a 3 blade as long as you don't shoot Gemsbok and Eland with it. Kudu and anything smaller will easily fall with a proper shot placement of a 3 blade. The Gemsbok is a very hardy animal with a very strong rib cage and the Eland rib bones are even heavier and thicker. For the time that you hit that thick bone then you need the two blade to ensure penetration. For anything else your Muzzy 3 blade is a very well proven blade.

Not really the case, a multitude of Gemsbuck and Eland have been successfully taken with both 3 and 4 bladed broadheads out of average poundage bows. Shot placement and shaving sharp blades are key.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I think it all depends on your setup and what sort of momentum you get out of it and what animal you intend to hunt.

If you have a low momentum setup for the indented animal, it is better to use a super sharp 2-blade broadhead. Silver Flames from German Kinetics is a great choice for this.
If you have a setup that gives you higher momentum for the indented animal, you can use a super sharp 3- or 4-blade broadhead instead.
For a 3-blade I would use a Exodus and for a 4-blade I would either use a Slick Trick or a DRT.

Mechanical broadheads is something that should only be used with high momentum setups in my opinion. If I would use a mech, I would either use a Rage Hypodermic or a Ulmer Edge.

I tend to lean on the overkill side when it comes to setups and gear. I prefer to have high momentum and use strong super sharp broadheads that can take some beating and being able to penetrate well even if bones are hit.
I think it is specially important on PGs as you need to aim close to the shoulder making the risk higher for hitting the scapula.

If I was shooting a 50 lbs bow or lower or a 60 lbs bow with a short drawlength, I would use the 2-blade Silver Flame on a PG hunt.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

PENETRATION. That's it.

2 For BIG BAD stuff.

3 For everything else.

With Bricburn!! More blades = more resistance... 3 - 4 blades are perfect for cats and plains game but going after Buff a 2 blade would be my recommendation ... The muzzy's should be good for plains game.

My best always..

 

[kal]

So on a side note what do you call a two blade with bleeder blades? Im talking a DRT, Magnus stinger, Steel Force sabertooth, Muzzy phantom, ecx. Obviously not a true two blade but does that qualify as a four?

 

[Norwegianwoods]

If you use the bleeder blades, then it is a 4-blade in my opinion as you still have 4 cutting blades that all result in more resistance and tissue damage, no matter if some of the blades are called bleeder blades or not.
If you use the broadhead without the bleeder blades, then it clearly is a 2-blade

 

[jeff]

The magnus stinger is a great choice as it is a tanto tip and cut on contact and the bleeder blade is quite narrow' my wife took zebra ,kudu and blue wildebeest with it. Her bow was set at #50 and she only has a 25.5 inch draw length, all shots were pass throughs.

 

[Azbowhunter2]

Like Brickburn said 3 blades work well on Plains game and 2 on everything else. I did use the 125 grn 2 blade schwackers and was very impressed with their performance but I am shooting 96lbs KE and about 325fps

 

[kal]

For my first African adventure I am going to be using the DRT heads from Dirt Nap Gear. They are a 2 main blade with 2 bleeder blades making it a 4 blade head. they are razor sharp with a back cut and solid built. I am excited to see the performance of these heads.

 

[kathy]

muzzy is a good head. I shot them for years and swore by them. did break a few blades in the porocess. but when I started pig hunting I needed more penetration. went to a COC broadhead. no blood trail with the 2 blade, great penetration. went to a 3 blade VPA 175 grain. great penetration & blood trail. my last trip to africa, shooting 2219 easton alum, 175 grain VPA total weight 630 grains , 62lbs elite answer. complete pass thru on 2 wart hogs, 1 zebra, 3 impala, 1 kudu, 1 zebra 3/4 away stoped in center of heart. Forrest

 

[Petrus Geldenhuys]

here is my opinion: Ive been hunting bow in South-Africa for the past 6 years and have asked this question to many hunters shooting Africas plains game, to my opinion i prefer a 3 blade to a 2 blade and then just to add to the confusion i prefer a mechanical broad head to a fixed blade.
So now your wondering why, well allot of time and effort spent hunting and allot of mistakes and lost animals.

2 blade compared to 3 blade - i use 3 blade broad-heads and have not encountered a animal that you can not shoot a complete pass through on, broad side shots up to a eland with a good weighted arrow and enough speed and you will most certainly pass through and pick your arrow up about 10-20 meters from where you actually shot the animal. I think here you should rather worry about your bow setup than how many blades, 60 to 70 Lb and your arrow weight should be about 500gr then your sorted with any plains game in africa doesn't matter what blade you prefer. i shoot a hoyt at 75lb with a 550gr arrow at 300ft/s

Then the Mechanical vs Broad-head - well this is a forum on its own! i will not tell you which one is better but will tell you why i use a mechanical.
Firstly and most probably the main reason why allot of hunters in South-Africa use Mechanicals is due to the accuracy compared with your field point. there is nothing more frustrating than not getting your fixed blade tuned to the exact spot you are shooting with your field point.
secondly the mechanicals offer superior cutting diameters with higher stability, sure you can find a 2 blade fixed broad-head with a 2 inch cut but how stable does it fly?
then again it comes down to your setup, if you can afford to loose a bit of KE's due to the mechanical then i don't see the reason anyone would still shoot fixed blades on plains game.

Brand of blade is up to the hunter, most of them work extremely well and nothing drops the animal like that special make you use and trust!

with all this being said the entire game changes when you start to shoot the africa's bigger game (Eland upwards)
there ill rather stick to a fixed two blade with heavy built and your bow setup will change allot as well, higher poundage 80lb+ and as heavy arrow as your bow can shoot accurately. 1000gr

 

[Grady]

This discussion is like trying to determine what bullet is the best...Everyone will have an opinion and there are many examples out there of PG and DG being taken with both 2 blade and 3 blades broadheads. So let me throw mine in, I prefer fixed 3-blade broadheads. I currently use a Muzzy 3 blade with chisel tip and have not been disappointed. I am experimenting with Rage mechanicals, but have not been convinced that they are far superior to the fixed blade. You do have to spend some time on the range to make sure your bow is tuned properly the broadhead you are using (2 or 3 blade, mechanicals or fixed), but we can all use some extra time on the range. Additionally, you must ensure you are using QUALITY broadheads and arrows. Finally, it is all about shot placement! You can spends thousands on equipment, but if you can't place the arrow where you need to, it is all wasted! So bottom line, choose quality equipment, gets lots of practice (more than you think you need) and put the arrow in the correct spot and you should not be disappointed.