“What grain broadhead should I use for deer?” I asked the very confused worker at Bass Pro who was helping me assemble my first arrow. He looked like he was all of 16 with long hair that rebelled against a machine he didn’t really understand in the first place.
“Well, I dunno, I usually work in fishing”, he said. I had to keep from rolling my eyes. He was just a kid after all and the question was very technical in nature. I grabbed some random field tips to start practicing with and resolved to solve the weird puzzle later.
If you are a hunter like me, you make thousands of important decisions on a regular basis. Though, to you, those decisions are simple, easy, and quick. However, if you are new to the wide world of hunting, you may be completely overwhelmed by the knowledge that you don’t have. What’s even worse, you don’t even know how to begin answering them.
Where do I hunt? What method of take? Do I have the right license? As a professional woodsman and conservationist, I am frequently consulted about all of these questions and more. If we are going to successfully recruit, retain, and reactivate (R3) hunters, anglers, and trappers, we need to be ready to answer those questions. The days of being protective of your hunting spots, tips, and tricks are outdated and even dangerous to our way of life.
So let’s answer the question, what grain is best for deer? As with alot of things in archery its complicated and simple. The answer is “it depends”. It depends on what variety of deer you are chasing. Blacktail and mule deer are much larger bodied animals than whitetail. What latitude are you going to hunt at? Bergmann’s Rule states that the higher in latitude you go, the bigger the mammals get. Are you hunting in open areas or dense forests? The weight of your broadhead will change the arrows speed and range.
There is so much to consider. When selecting a broadhead that such a simple question can’t be answered without asking several more. I couldn’t blame the kid in Bass Pro for having such a stumped look on his face when I asked him what grain broadhead I needed. I was asking something so complicated that I didn’t even really understand the question itself.
Ultimately, I chose to be a little risky and selected a 125 grain Muzzy three blade. The reason was delightfully simple, versatility. I shoot a fairly fast compound bow and hunt all over the country. As I am writing this right now I am in Washington hunting blacktail deer in the mountains, in three weeks I will be in the hills of Arkansas chasing whitetail, then in November I will be in south Texas pursuing axis deer. The 125 grain Muzzy three blade is what I will use for all three.
Now is that broadhead and grain the best for any one of them? Probably not. However, who is to say what is best and what is not given the wide variety of subjective factors to consider? Ultimately, the broadhead I use is the best for me because I am comfortable with it and my bow is zeroed to it. That is honestly the two most important things with broadhead selection.
So, “what grain is broadhead should I use for deer?” The one you are most comfortable with and can shoot reliably and accurately. It really is that simple. Yet complicated. That’s the beauty of this business.