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Going to Alaska to moose hunt with a compound bow set for 65 pounds. Would it be better to use fixed blade or mechanical broadheads?

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Mechanical broadheads can be nice in windier conditions because they have less profile in flight to catch the cross breeze and destroy the arrow alignment. Fixed, machined, broadheads like a G5 Montec, maintain more structural integrity as they bounce off bone and rip through an animal. I can control for decreased accuracy by passing up a shot or moving closer, but I can't control too much for hitting bone, so I opt for the most stable construction possible, the one-piece machined broadhead. On bigger game, I would opt for a heavier, beefier broadhead.

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  • It isn't only bone you have to worry about. My brother was using mechanical broadheads on a deer hunt where a little twig completely fouled the shot. He saw the twig but assumed that the arrow would just punch through it based on his experience with fixed broadheads. After that experience he stopped using the mechanical broadheads.
    – Erik
    Aug 19, 2016 at 23:51
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It doesn't really matter. The recovery rate of mechanical broadheads is a little bit higher but negligible since the rates are overall extremely good (82 % fixed vs 91 % mechanical). So, if you are used to mechanical broadheads and can afford them, I would recommend to go with them. If you aren't used to them (normally shooting with fixed broadheads), I would recommend to grab the fixed ones.

Mechanical vs. Fixed-Blade: Stratified by broadhead type (including both compound bows and crossbows), hunters using fixed-blade broadheads recovered 82 percent of their deer (874 recovered out of 1,066 hit). Hunters using mechanical broadheads recovered 91 percent of their deer (209 out of 230 hit). Note: Total numbers of deer are lower for mechanicals because they have only been approved for use on the base since 2007, although the majority of deer shot since then were shot with mechanicals. More on that shortly.

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All types of bows and broadheads are capable of producing extremely high recovery rates, but you cannot overlook the education and proficiency requirements for these hunters, and that they reported an average shot distance of less than 20 yards. The hunters on this base are clearly selective and careful about their shots, which contributed to the high recovery rates. Regardless of equipment, we all share a responsibility to practice regularly and choose the right shots. The choices you make before the arrow is released are just as important as the clinical physics of broadhead performance.

QDMA

Just make sure that your tips are more than two bladed.

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    There is the fact that mechanical blades are... errr... mechanical and therefore possible to fail working propely. I've had mechanical broadheads that didn't open or opened funny (only one or two blades instead of all three) and busted the shot. Of course, it could have been me not looking after or something but it did happen.
    – Desorder
    Jul 20, 2016 at 23:47
  • @Desorder Good point! Thanks for the input.
    – OddDeer
    Jul 21, 2016 at 6:40
  • The other question about the moose death (outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13574/…) is very related to this topic, in my opinion. If you are using less-sturdily built broadheads and your arrow goes through the kind of torture that one did, you might not have any cutting surfaces left to continue inflicting lethal damage once the moose starts moving. I really like sturdier, heavier broadheads for this reason.
    – David
    Aug 17, 2016 at 21:36

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