Editor’s note:  We had the Rage Expandable Broadhead slated for a product review topic.  But instead of the normal format of range testing the editorial staff decided to let a firsthand experience speak for its self.

By Drew Hackett:

It was about 9:00 am when I saw a doe come screaming down from the ridge into the valley where I was set up. With the velocity she was booking it was obvious she was being chased. I quickly positioned myself, for surely a buck was about to reveal himself. I have always believed good shot placement is everything, but after this series of events I am starting to rethink.

As this frantic doe barreled closer it became apparent by the arrow sticking out it’s side that it wasn’t a buck chasing this doe, it was a hunter. I inspected the bouncing arrow and discovered there was little penetration and hardly any blood. I had to get another arrow into this deer. Luckily for me, and in a lot of ways for her, she bolted right past me. I stopped her at 20 yards and let a Rage rip. My arrow nearly “robin hooded” the other arrow, hitting 2 inches lower.

As I sat there thinking (and laughing to myself) about what just happened, a hunter made his way to my stand. I met him on the ground, “did you happen to see a doe pass through here?” “Well, there’s some of her” I said while pointing to a mixture of hamburger and fur that the Rage left behind. “And I’m sure if we fashion ourselves a canoe real quick we could make our way down this blood trail and find your deer.”

As I explained to the hunter what had happened he agreed with me that finishing her off was the thing to do. He felt that he put a good shot on the doe but for whatever reason she never dropped. We soon investigated the matter. The hunter’s shot was taken with the deer quartering away at 20 yards. It was indeed a good shot, well within the kill zone of the lungs. But instead of penetrating, the fixed 3-blade broadhead glanced off the ribs and slid directly under the skin. I was blown away. This gives a new meaning to the term “unlucky shot.”

My shot on the deer was eerily similar to the other hunter’s, quartering away at 20 yards. Even the placement was nearly identical by hitting 2 inches under his. But instead of glancing off the ribs, my arrow slammed through them like a shotgun slug. The mess left behind proved Rage’s claims of “Huge entry and exit holes.”

As I stood there talking about our combined kill, the hunter stopped me in mid-sentence. “This isn’t a combined kill, my shot didn’t kill this deer, yours did. If you want to keep the deer you can, otherwise I’ll tag it and…” I’m assuming he ended with something about him taking it home, I couldn’t hear him over the sound of me sharpening my knife.

I’m still a proponent of shot placement. But it sure does help to be able to take some of the “unlucky” out of the unlucky mishaps of the hunting season.

Editor’s note:  Other eyewitness accounts of Rage’s penetration and large wound channel prowess are similar to Drew’s account.  The deer Drew stuck with a Rage broadhead two years ago also left the same type of blood trail similar to being shot with a shotgun slug.  Also, the minor inconvenience of having a rib bone in the way was no problem for the Rage.

Anyone wishing more information about the Rage Expandable Broadhead can go to http://www.ragebroadheads.com/