How Mechanical Broadheads Work and When to Use Them

Mechanical broadheads are a highly debated topic in archery hunting. Some people swear by mechanical broadheads, and others say they are absolute trash. All broadheads have their pros and cons, and every hunter has their preferences, but there are some aspects of mechanical broadheads that are worth paying attention to. Here is the complete break down of how mechanical broadheads work and why (or why not) you should use them.

General construction

Most mechanical broadheads will be sleek and narrow so the arrow flys more like a field tip. They then have some sort of triggering mechanism at the tip that activates on impact. When the broadhead hits its target, the blades are expanded out so they can cut and tear a larger area than your average fixed broadhead. Generally, mechanical broadheads are known to have much larger blades than fixed broadheads, this is because they can fit more blade in the broadhead with minimal effect on flight path if they are deployed on impact.

You can see in this picture how the mechanical broadhead spreads out. Although this helps them cut more, it also limits the amount of penetration they get, this is one of the main problems with mechanicals. They also tend to be more flimsy and breakable than fixed heads, this is because the blades have to move and are longer so they can not be too thick or heavy.

The Goal of Mechanical Broadheads

Ideally, mechanical broadheads are supposed to hit its target and expand to make a huge hole, cutting through as many organs as possible. This obviously leads to a quick kill, which sounds good in theory. Although a lot of the time they do not penetrate both sides of the animal, which for a lot of hunters, is a deal-breaker. When this happens, you can get a lot of damage, but with no exit hole and no blood trail. This can make your deer harder to track and ultimately lead to losing more deer. Like they say “two holes are better than one”. Although if you have the right set up, you can get better penetration on a more consistent basis. However, perfecting your set up is not always easy

One major upside to using mechanical broadheads is accuracy. Since they are sleek and their blades are not exposed during flight, they fly straight and true. There is a phenomenon called “planning” that can sometimes happen when shooting fixed broadheads. Planning is when the arrow seems to move around much more than you would expect during flight and does not always fly straight and true, it can look as though your arrow is flying in a spiral path. This happens for many reasons. We see it the most when shooting fast bows. The fixed blades will catch air and have a large effect on where the arrow hits. This is totally avoided with mechanical broadheads. 

Here a photo of a deer taken by Daniel E Schmidt with a mechanical broadhead. Posted by deer and deer hunting

When to Use Mechanical Broadheads

If you are hunting some really large game like moose or elk, I would not recommend using a mechanical broadhead. These heads are just not tough enough to punch through these animals reliably. Although if you are hunting turkey or similar sized game, the damage caused by mechanical broadheads will be much more effective and can give you a bigger advantage. If you are hunting whitetail or pronghorn, the choice is really up to you. The broadhead does not make much of a difference when hunting an animal of that size. The most important thing for whitetail or pronghorn is your shot placement.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• They have a better flight path and fly more like a field tip, avoiding planning
• Have a larger entrance hole
• More bleeding and carnage, possibly leading to faster kills
• They have the ability to create massive blood trails

Cons

• They have less penetration than fixed broadheads on average
• They can break much easier than fixed broadheads
• Can break on impact, resulting in a nonlethal hit
• Less energy is delivered to the target compared to a fixed broadhead

Conclusion

All and all, mechanical broadheads will always have their fans. They are super deadly when they perform as intended and they are also super accurate. They do have their problems with energy transfer, and they can sometimes be flimsy. However, if you are experiencing planning with your fixed broadheads, you may want to give mechanical a try.

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