Rage or no Rage, that is the question?

[landon55]

I have heard different thinks from all sorts of elk hunters. I have used Rage broad heads to hunt whitetail deer but need an expert opinion for elk season. This will be my first elk hunting experience and I am more than excited. I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I go.

 

[TheTone]

Why run the risk of using something that might be an issue?

 

[JDH]

I use them for whitetail only because that is all I have to hunt so I'm not an expert opinion. But I did have one of the older style with the flat blade on the very tip break when I shot a doe. I switched to the newer style with the more solid tip and haven't had any issues. That being said I don't think I would use them for anything larger and tougher to take down mainly because they aren't a solid tip. Also if one blade for some reason doesn't deploy then you have a larger animal that can run farther.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

If you don't have 100% confidence in your equipment, why use them? BTW, I asked that exact same question on this board 3-4 years ago. Chose to go with what broadheads I had full confidence in.

 

[Mudranger1]

I've killed whitetail and a bear with the rage 3 blade and was very pleased. Shot an elk at 10ft last year and the arrow didn't go thru it. Switched to fix blade this year

 

[JohnCushman]

All I will shoot with a Rage is turkeys with a 3 blade. To me, and this is MY opinion only, the blades on most mechanicals are flimsy and I wouldn't trust them to deploy properly and break ribs on an elk to get the needed penetration. I've had blades on the Rages fail to deploy. I've got friends that had bad results trying to shoot elk and other big game with a Rage as well. Elk are big bodied, and heavy boned, so I would want a good chisel tipped broadhead to punch through the rib cage or scapula. I'll stick with my Shuttle T's for big game animals.

 

[JDSanders]

Go with fixed blade. Mechanicals "might" work but why risk it. Fixed blades are tried and true. You have only so much time to hunt elk. I want to know that when I let an arrow go as long as I have done my job it will do its job.

 

[Redwood]

Plenty of people use mechanicals for elk, especially rage. I won't use them as I've witnessed failures, failures were a rage would have been ideal if they performed as advertised. Plenty of blade discussions already; I'm a fixed blade, chisel tip, replaceable blade kind of guy and so I use the 125gr magnum slick tricks.

 

[MontanaWild]

They will be just fine if you put them in the right spot just like any broadhead. Obviously a fixed blade is a better option but plenty of elk have been killed with mechanicals.

 

[WyOpitz]

Go fixed blade. Check out Magnus stinger buzzcut. Amazing reviews with awesome penetration and field tip flight.

 

[elk addict]

That right there is why I won't use them. I'm definitely not planning a shot to the scapula, but it's happened to me twice in the last 10 years, and with my fixed head I punched right through. I've torture tested Rage, Ulmer Edge and Grave Diggers, and the blades don't hold up as well to hard objects like a good chisel point fixed head.

But you'll get A LOT of opinions on this matter

 

[sbhooper]

I shot a couple of deer with them and went back to fixed-blade Slick Tricks. The blades rattle and sometimes deploy if you bump something. My blood trails were no better than with fixed. I have never been a real fan of mechanicals, just for that reason-mechanics can fail.

TV shows are full of people using them successfully on elk, but that may not always show the whole story. Those blades are expensive (read that over-priced), because the company has spent a lot of money buying off all those shows.

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

fixed blades for the reasons listed by the others. . .

 

[Eyeguy]

I go both ways with rage…..I hunt deer with them. I love everything about the way they fly at long ranges and they hit hard. They saved me last year when I made a marginal shot on a whitetail….blood trail looked like a heart/double lung shot. Wound looked like something out of a .375 caliber rifle. Hit the deer quite a ways back but they made up for my error. Now on elk….failures have been documented. For that reason my Elk arrows are tipped with Muzzy Trocars. These are MEAN and are indestructible. The blade design is made to hold true on longer shots…and this has been my experience at up to 60 yards. My effective range is 40-45 so these will be a very good choice for me this fall. I have shot them in crosswinds (on purpose) and haven't seen much drift in my effective range. Pumped to try these out. Shoot whatever YOU have confidence in but this is my choice….doesnt make it right or wrong.

 

[brownbear932008]

I would say an animal as large as an elk and tough better be safe use a fixed blade forget about the rage or any expandable IMO.

 

[teamhoyt]

I ve killed several elk and deer with rage some of these were not close shots by any means. never had a problem, trust them 100%, I use the 3 blade becuase I prefer and big open wound channel instead a flat sliver type cut.

 

[Schaaf]

I ve killed several elk and deer with rage some of these were not close shots by any means. never had a problem, trust them 100%, I use the 3 blade becuase I prefer and big open wound channel instead a flat sliver type cut.

TeamHoyt, Awesome buck in your avi, You shot it on my cousins place I believe? I saw him twice earlier in the season but couldn't pull through. Glad someone was able to get him!

 

[fwagner]

All I will shoot with a Rage is turkeys with a 3 blade. To me, and this is MY opinion only, the blades on most mechanicals are flimsy and I wouldn't trust them to deploy properly and break ribs on an elk to get the needed penetration. I've had blades on the Rages fail to deploy. I've got friends that had bad results trying to shoot elk and other big game with a Rage as well. Elk are big bodied, and heavy boned, so I would want a good chisel tipped broadhead to punch through the rib cage or scapula. I'll stick with my Shuttle T's for big game animals.

I hit a elk last fall in the scapula/shoulder blade with a rage three blade......sounded like I hit a brick, the knock flew off and the penetration was only about a inch, never made it through the bone. Needless to say we didn't recover the elk and I still have nightmares!! Use a fixed blade......

 

[fowl_minded]

Ulmer edges

]I shot fixed blades (G5 Montecs) for the first couple years of archery hunting and i had some success but i did have a bad episode and lost a bull. i was never fully pleased on how any fixed balde shot out my bow at the time so about 4 years back i made the switch and i upgraded my bow to a faster and advanced bow and started shooting the ULMER EDGE broadhead. 100 grain and i tell you what them broadheads are the truest flying tips i have ever seen even the guys that have been with me on elk hunts or whatever that have seen them fly have switched..... plus they open the game up like a zipper i dont think i have had one critter get farther than 100 yards after i shot them. These broadheads are awesome i highly recommend them....... here is the Antelope i killed just this year on August 17th i shot him at 80 yards and he went down like a sack of potatos..... look at the hole in his front shoulder it was 3 1/2 inches wide. the picture is attached

 

[landon55]

Thanks everyone for all of the help. From what it sounds like I will make the switch to a fixed broadhead. Why do all these shows promote rage as the best thing since sliced bread? Does the company really pay them that much?