Expandables Bear ?

[394-NTELK]

Getting ready for spring bear always used thunderhead broad heads wondering what your luck has been with expandables.my Whitetail rig is shooting Easton Epic 400's with Rocket Steelhead 100gr Broad heads.I believe they'll hold up (as I put one over a deers back and five inch's into rocky ground with no blade failer)just wondering what you guys are using.

[Mikey]

I wouldnt hesitate to use that set up for a second on bear ...Seeing as thats what I am using exactly ...
Epic 400s ...GKF Deadhead demons (Rocket Steel heads)

[Kirby]

Personally, i would stick with fixed blades, or a head that opens before penetration like the Tekans. With a bears thick fur your gonna want a big entrance and exit hole for bleed out with. I was shooting mechs for deer, but swiching back to fixed this year.

On the same note, both would work great if ya hit the boiler room.

Kirby

[Quebec Outfitter]

I would go with the fixed blades too as my choice, mechannicals are great for deer but have had a few of my hunters loose bear with their mechanicals, all of them went back to fixed broadheads.

[kakko]

I use Razorbacks for most big game fixed blade but able to rotate and keep the arrow on track also help in planning with arrow flight not to much drift, I have a set of them for practice and a set for hunting a couple have been through animalsa few times a quick sharpening and ready to go again

[camel]

I would go with the fixed blades too as my choice, mechannicals are great for deer but have had a few of my hunters loose bear with their mechanicals, all of them went back to fixed broadheads.


work great on Black Bear.I wouldn't hesitate to use them on bear.I use NAP Spitfire 100's and have killed two bear with them.I like a slightly quartering away shot on bear,both that I have shot had a great entry and exit wound.Both entered about the 5th rib up from the midsection and exited though the base of the neck just inferno of the forward shoulder.One bear went 50 yards and the other only 30 before expiring.My bow is set on 64,lbs and 28.5" draw.The wound is devastating and blood trail is awesome.I would recommend them to anyone hunting bear AS LONG as they can hit the boiler room and not the shoulder.Which is probably why some of you clients lost their bear,poor shot.Placement is everything as it should be with any game your shooting at.

[Quebec Outfitter]

Hi Camel, well i cant say just how they all were placing their shots, but i know of one that glanced off the backbone as it was entering and the arrow went down the bear's side, that was very high angle shot facing, and the archer who was using it has hunted bear with me for almost 30 years and has taken every one of his with the bow, so it might be just one of those things that happen. I have aproximately the same specs on my bow as you and i also have mechanicals that i shoot, (rocket 125's) when deer hunting, but i still use my old Bear Razorheads on moose, old but have proven themselves over the years.

[acearchery]

"Getting ready for spring bear always used thunderhead broad heads"

I was in the sane dilemma as you are. My advice is if the T-Heads are working for you, don't change! - After using expndables, I will never use them again.

Stick with what you know works, and have experience with!

[Prdtrgttr]

I've found bears easy to kill, their ribs are much softer than a whitetail's or mule deer's. Last year we shot 3 bears with Jak Hammers(1 3/4 inch cut), the total cumulative distance the animals travelled was less than 60 yards. These heads hit hard, they're tough and they leave devastating holes. We had pass throughs on all our bears. We are going back Bear hunting again this spring, and Jak's will once again be adoring our quivers. Good luck to you guys.

[Kirby]

I've found bears easy to kill, their ribs are much softer than a whitetail's or mule deer's. Last year we shot 3 bears with Jak Hammers(1 3/4 inch cut), the total cumulative distance the animals travelled was less than 60 yards. These heads hit hard, they're tough and they leave devastating holes. We had pass throughs on all our bears. We are going back Bear hunting again this spring, and Jak's will once again be adoring our quivers. Good luck to you guys.


How big were the bears? Not being rude, just curious, here we get 350-400 pound spring bears, and I've always found them harder to punch through that mulies/wt

Kirby

[Prdtrgttr]

One 5.6 footer, One 6 footer, One 6.6 footer. I've seen lots of game shot with these heads, and the damage they do is incredible. Super accurate, tough and really short blood trails. Hope this helps you Kirby.

[Kirby]

One 5.6 footer, One 6 footer, One 6.6 footer. I've seen lots of game shot with these heads, and the damage they do is incredible. Super accurate, tough and really short blood trails. Hope this helps you Kirby.

Cool, sounds like a good head! Nice bears too.(any pics :) )

Kirby

[Quebec Outfitter]

Well the season has kicked off here with the first bear that i skinned last week, a 200 lb boar and lo and behold what was inside the neck vertebraes, a nice one year old rocket 100gr mechanical broadhead. the hole had reclosed so well that you could not hardly tell there used to be an entrance wound, but on closer examination, the shot was taken at a quartering away position, entering just behind the top of the shoulder blades and as it entered the opening blade kicked out the angle of the arrow and guided the broadhead along the vertebae ridge along the backbone. The threads on the broadhead finally wore out and the shaft eventualy pulled out and just the broadhead was left in the bear. I know of two of my hunters that were using this particular type of mechanical broadhead who wounded bears last year that we never found, so at least one made it through the winter. Just thought i would let you in on this one.

[Prdtrgttr]

Finding broadheads inside animals is really nothing new, is it? My best whitetail buck, which I killed with a Jak Hammer, had a Thunderhead buried in its shoulder. This doesn't make these heads bad, it's just what happens sometimes. Similarly, fixed heads will glance along vertebrae when shot at inappropriate angles. Although, I didn't kill the boss hog bear I wanted this year, I did shoot a boar just shy of 6' . Once again I used a Jak Hammer, he travelled 40 yds, and was totally bled out. Both exits and entrances were huge. Just thought I'd let you on this one too.... :)
Good luck to you! :beer:

[Top-pin]

from my experiences I had nothing but good luck with my rockets ... I was shooting steelheads 100 gr and I always had pass through's and my animals never went far after the shot. I just switched my broadhead set up after years with the rockets ... i tried the new sonic heads 100 gr they work awesome .... they did a good job on my 2006 spring bear !!!!

I hope nobody get's offended but poor shot placement has allot to do with animals not dying quickly or at all in my opinion .... I don't think we could directly blame any broadhead at that point !!!!! If you hit the shoulder or high up in "no man's land" your not going to kill that animal ... period!!!! Some hunters don't practice enough and they make quick judgement shots which results ininjuring or wounding animals..... if you shoot expandables and hit the animal where your supposed to it will kill them quickly and efficiently every time. People don't put the practice in as they should I have seen it several times and if you are one of those guys I would bet you will end up with an unfilled tag at the end of the season nine times out of ten.

Anyway that's my thoughts ..... in a nut shell !!!!

the picture attached is my 2006 spring bear .... my equipment is bowtech defender bow, sonic heads 100 gr, excel carbon arrows.