Using Mechanical Broadheads for Bow Hunting
Tex-Mex Outdoors 08.16.11
Using mechanical broadheads is a very controversial issue and has been for over twenty years. I started shooting mechanical broadheads back in the late 80s when Greg Johnson brought out the Rocket and Buck Blaster. They had three fixed blades and three mechanical blades with 3″ blades and a 3″ cutting diameter. They were devastatingly effective and weighed in at 100 grains.
I remember the first big game animal I took with this broadhead was a wary ole Gobbler in Kansas and it was unreal. I shot that Gobbler broadside and cut off one wing – it looked like I had hit that Gobbler in the body with a chopping Ax. On its way out the other side, the arrow cut off the other wing.From that point on, I was hooked on mechanical broadheads .
Now, I know there is a faction out there that is dead against the mechanical heads but one must remember that mechanical broadheads have been proven over the past 22 plus years. Personally, I have taken bull elk, mule deer, huge whitetails, nilgai, eland, zebra, kudu and many other big game animals with mechanicals and have had very few losses.
Some things that I do highly recommend for new & old bowhunters.
(1) Make sure your bow is tuned to your arrows and that you’re developing at least 60 foot pounds of kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is important. Don’t let anyone kid you!
(2) Make sure that when you’ve decided on your favorite mechanical broadhead (I really like the Mathews Edition Grim Reapers in 100 grains and with 3 blades and a 2″ cutting diameter, I like big holes and lots of blood on the ground) they fly like your field points. You may have to change your bow sight for your broadheads only. I also make sure that I spin my arrows with the mechanical broadheads on the arrow to make sure they spin true. If I have an arrow that is wobbling, I go to work and make sure that arrow is spinning straight, this could be caused by a bad insert, nock out of alignment, or the broadhead is not lining up with your fletching. Be sure to check all of these.
(3) When you’ve returned to camp or home after each hunting excursion, pull each and every arrow out of your hunting quiver and check each and every mechanical broadhead, as these blades that are sitting in your quiver can collect dirt, grim, grit, weed seeds and could alter you flight and not open. It’s very important and your obligation to check your equipment each night after hunting no matter how tired you are.
(4) Like I said, I really like the Mathews Edition Grim Reaper broadheads. But there are some really great mechanicals on the market today and you will have to find the one that fits your style
Jim Miller, Host of TEX-MEX OUTDOORS TV SHOW first picked up a Bow and Arrow in 1961 at the age of 13. Jim has been
tipping over critters both great and small ever since. Smitten by the Bow Hunting bug long ago, long before Bow Hunting became popular. Jim
has been involved in the Bow Hunting World in One capacity or another for 47 years.
Long about 1976 having perfected his bow shooting kills, Jim started winning Archer Tournaments. His achievements got the attention of
PRECISION SHOOTING EQUIPMENT and asked Jim to join the PSE Bow Hunting Advisory Staff…..Quite an honor for a Sharecropper’s son
from the Bootheel of Missouri! Over the next five (5) years Jim collected dozens of record book Whitetail Deer, Antelope, Bear, and Mule Deer
along with a number of “Nice Animals”
In 1981 PSE hired Jim to Rep their line of products across a number of Upper Midwest states. Jim was in the thick of the Rep Business for
the next 17 years, eventually forming his own Rep Group (RAM MARKETING) and taking on a number of Top Quality Hunting Lines. During
this time Jim became only the Third man ever to take the Grand Slam of Wild Turkeys with a Bow, Osceola, Eastern, Rio Grande, and Merriam’s.
In 1989 he entered the Video Business Plus managing his Rep Business.
In 1998, Jim took the inevitable Big Step and traveled to Africa for the first time with his ubiquitous Bow, taking a 40 Plus inch Sable, a Superb 57 inch Kudu,
14 inch Bushbuck, Zebra, Impala, Duiker, Steenbok and warthog. In 1998 Jim took 29 Big Game Animals with only 30 arrows, which has got to be
some kind of a Record in itself? 1999, was another Banner year in “Killer” Millers Biography, being selected as a Panel Member for Voting Membership
of the Archery Hall of Fame. Then going on to take the first ever Modern day Afghan Urial Sheep with a Bow, setting the New SCI World Record.
A whirl at Magazine publishing, another successful trip to Africa for more Critters, a Mexico Gould’s Turkey with a Bow. A huge Mexican Nilgai
(Aren’t they hard to even get with a Rifle?) An SCI number 2 Axis Buck, a Huge Aoudad top Five (5) in SCI with a Bow SCI record book Red Deer, Plus countless Whitetail Deer, Antelope, Bear, Mule Deer, Turkey, Elk, Javelin, Wild Hogs, Mountain Lion, Coyotes, Bobcat, Fox, Later…. And we arrive at today.
Jim “Killer’ Miller is a man of experience. He’s taken over 300 animals with a Bow! A feat few Bow Hunters ever equal.
Jim Miller today is the Host and Producer of (TEX-MEX OUTDOORS) TV PROGRAM which air’s weekly , WILL BE AIRING ON THE SPORTSMAN CHANNEL, 2011 AIRING ON THE THIRD AND FOURTH QUARTERS / AIR DATES AND TIMES / SUNDAY @ 1:30 PM / WEDNESDAY @ 2:00 AM / THURSDAY @ 5:30 PM ALL TIMES QUOTED (EDST)
Jim has hunted the hard way all of his life, with a bow and arrows, which is exactly what you might expert from a hard Crabbed Kid raised on a Cotton
Farm in South East Missouri. He knows the Hunting Business inside and out. He’s an honest guy whose word is GOLDEN. If Jim Miller tells you he
Is going to do something you can deposit his work in your Bank Account. He’s a solid Man who can be trusted and in this day of “Fly By Night”
Promoters who comes around with their hand out, asking you to plunk down your hard earned money to help support their TV programs and Hunting
Habits. It’s comforting to know a Real Guy like Jim Miller.
