Tune Your Broadheads by Mark Burton
Before starting this process you should make sure that your bow is propery setup and tuned. If you need help with this, you can refer to my Bow Basics page. If your bow is not properly setup and/or tuned, you will probably never get good broadhead flight.
It doesn't matter if you are shooting mechanical, fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads they all need to be tuned for proper flight. For most people, we like to do our practicing with field points prior to the deer season. With this being said, don't assume that your broadheads will fly the same or have the same point of impact as your field points. When you buy your broadheads, you should get the same weight as the field tips you've been practicing with. This alone will give you a head start on setting your sights for hunting. Just a few grains difference between your field points and your broadheads could leave you wondering why they don't hit in the same place. Also don't assume that every broadhead in a pack will fly the same or have the same point of impact. All broadheads have tolerence levels, and not every one is created equal and may have minor flaws in them. This alone can affect each broadheads flight.
Let's first start with the fletching of your arrow, (being the length of the fletching and/or the twist of the fletching). Longer fletchings on the arrow along with helical fletchings, will stabilize the arrow flight with a broadhead better. This only applies when using fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads. This can be user preference, but I reccomend 4 or 5 inch fletchings for arrows with fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads. Mechanical broadheads are so much like field tips that you can usually use any kind of fletching you like, including the smaller blazer fletching. With mechanical broadheads you don't have to worry about planing. As long as your fletching will stabalize the arrow while using mechanical broadheads, that's all that matters.
Now let's consider the first variable to remove, and that is the arrow ( because arrows have tolerence levels also). Shooting the right arrow for you draw weight, is important in getting satisfactory broadhead flight. Next, we will first remove any arrows that don't fly well or have consistant impact points, while using field points, from your group of hunting arrows. This will improve your chances of having good broadhead groups. Some broadhead packages say that it will fly the same as your field tips, but always shoot them to make sure. They are basing this information on a properly tuned bow and the grain weight being equal between your field tips and your broadheads. There are alot of very good broadheads on the market, and choosing one is again user preference. It's all about what you want from a broadhead. Mechanical ones probably fly the best, but remember they have moving parts that can fail. Fixed blade and cut on contact broadheads are going to do their job, but require more in the tuning process. The most important thing is, have confidence in what you are shooting. Most broadheads come with practice blades, as not to ruin your hunting blades, so you can practice with them. In the case of mechanical broadheads, it may take only a few shots to check the impact point, to be ready to hunt. When it comes to shooting fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads the process can be much more complicated.
One thing I like to do for fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads,is to align my broadhead blades as closely as I can to the fletching of my arrows. This helps to cut down on planing. To do this, I use a plastice washer on the bottom of my broadhead (the part that screws to the arrow). The plastic washer will allow me to tighten the broadhead down to where I can align the blades and my fletchings. This plastic washer will also help the broadhead to stay tightened to the arrow, and not become loose during shooting. You can find these washers at most archery pro shops. Since we are not worried about fletching and blade placement on mechanical broadheads, the plastic washer will only be used to keep the broadhead tight.
We are now ready to shoot these arrows and further narrow down to our best flying ones. Start with one arrow and one broadhead at a time to check it's flight. If it flies well put it aside, if not try changing the arrows knock (as the knock may be flawed). If this doesn't help, remove the broadhead and put it on a new arrow and lay the first arrow aside (right now we don't know if the problem is with the arrow or the broadhead). The insert of the arrow can also be the problem, if it was not installed perfectly straight and this will cause the arrow to wobble and not get satisfactory flight. Shoot the new arrow to see if it flies any better, if not lay they arrow apart with the other one. Move on to another arrow with the same broadhead that you started with. Continue this process, remembering to align the fletchings and blades each time, until you get satisfactory flight. If you go through your arrows and haven't gotten good flight, then at this point you can say that it's from this broadhead. Put this broadhead aside and continue with the next broadhead through the steps. Keep doing these steps with all your broadheads and arrows, including the arrows that you put aside from your previous broadheads. Typically if you start with 12 identical arrows and 6 identical broadheads you should be able to come away with a quiver full of arrows that you can have complete confidence in. If at this point you're still not getting good broadhead flight, your bow probably needs some more tuning. Go back and shoot it through a paper tuner and check it for proper flight while using field tips. Onced you've established that everything is okay, head back to the target range and set your sights to the arrows with broadheads.
Before starting this process you should make sure that your bow is propery setup and tuned. If you need help with this, you can refer to my Bow Basics page. If your bow is not properly setup and/or tuned, you will probably never get good broadhead flight.
It doesn't matter if you are shooting mechanical, fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads they all need to be tuned for proper flight. For most people, we like to do our practicing with field points prior to the deer season. With this being said, don't assume that your broadheads will fly the same or have the same point of impact as your field points. When you buy your broadheads, you should get the same weight as the field tips you've been practicing with. This alone will give you a head start on setting your sights for hunting. Just a few grains difference between your field points and your broadheads could leave you wondering why they don't hit in the same place. Also don't assume that every broadhead in a pack will fly the same or have the same point of impact. All broadheads have tolerence levels, and not every one is created equal and may have minor flaws in them. This alone can affect each broadheads flight.
Let's first start with the fletching of your arrow, (being the length of the fletching and/or the twist of the fletching). Longer fletchings on the arrow along with helical fletchings, will stabilize the arrow flight with a broadhead better. This only applies when using fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads. This can be user preference, but I reccomend 4 or 5 inch fletchings for arrows with fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads. Mechanical broadheads are so much like field tips that you can usually use any kind of fletching you like, including the smaller blazer fletching. With mechanical broadheads you don't have to worry about planing. As long as your fletching will stabalize the arrow while using mechanical broadheads, that's all that matters.
Now let's consider the first variable to remove, and that is the arrow ( because arrows have tolerence levels also). Shooting the right arrow for you draw weight, is important in getting satisfactory broadhead flight. Next, we will first remove any arrows that don't fly well or have consistant impact points, while using field points, from your group of hunting arrows. This will improve your chances of having good broadhead groups. Some broadhead packages say that it will fly the same as your field tips, but always shoot them to make sure. They are basing this information on a properly tuned bow and the grain weight being equal between your field tips and your broadheads. There are alot of very good broadheads on the market, and choosing one is again user preference. It's all about what you want from a broadhead. Mechanical ones probably fly the best, but remember they have moving parts that can fail. Fixed blade and cut on contact broadheads are going to do their job, but require more in the tuning process. The most important thing is, have confidence in what you are shooting. Most broadheads come with practice blades, as not to ruin your hunting blades, so you can practice with them. In the case of mechanical broadheads, it may take only a few shots to check the impact point, to be ready to hunt. When it comes to shooting fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads the process can be much more complicated.
One thing I like to do for fixed blade or cut on contact broadheads,is to align my broadhead blades as closely as I can to the fletching of my arrows. This helps to cut down on planing. To do this, I use a plastice washer on the bottom of my broadhead (the part that screws to the arrow). The plastic washer will allow me to tighten the broadhead down to where I can align the blades and my fletchings. This plastic washer will also help the broadhead to stay tightened to the arrow, and not become loose during shooting. You can find these washers at most archery pro shops. Since we are not worried about fletching and blade placement on mechanical broadheads, the plastic washer will only be used to keep the broadhead tight.
We are now ready to shoot these arrows and further narrow down to our best flying ones. Start with one arrow and one broadhead at a time to check it's flight. If it flies well put it aside, if not try changing the arrows knock (as the knock may be flawed). If this doesn't help, remove the broadhead and put it on a new arrow and lay the first arrow aside (right now we don't know if the problem is with the arrow or the broadhead). The insert of the arrow can also be the problem, if it was not installed perfectly straight and this will cause the arrow to wobble and not get satisfactory flight. Shoot the new arrow to see if it flies any better, if not lay they arrow apart with the other one. Move on to another arrow with the same broadhead that you started with. Continue this process, remembering to align the fletchings and blades each time, until you get satisfactory flight. If you go through your arrows and haven't gotten good flight, then at this point you can say that it's from this broadhead. Put this broadhead aside and continue with the next broadhead through the steps. Keep doing these steps with all your broadheads and arrows, including the arrows that you put aside from your previous broadheads. Typically if you start with 12 identical arrows and 6 identical broadheads you should be able to come away with a quiver full of arrows that you can have complete confidence in. If at this point you're still not getting good broadhead flight, your bow probably needs some more tuning. Go back and shoot it through a paper tuner and check it for proper flight while using field tips. Onced you've established that everything is okay, head back to the target range and set your sights to the arrows with broadheads.
Bucks of the Bluegrass.com
© 2007-2009 : Bucks of the Bluegrass.com