Rage disappointment

Shot my first pig ever with a Rage two blade Extreme. Hog was a big boar and I shot him at 21 yards broadside. Good shot placement, but penetration seemed sub par. I had good blood and tracked for 40-50 yards, but the blood just stopped. For pigs I’m going back to NAP Thunderheads. I haven’t seen him since I arrowed him, so my hope is he’s dead and I sucked at blood trailing. Some pictures of the blood trail and hogs.

Bow specs? Good luck getting penetration with a mechanical on that armored car.

Older Bear Lightsout, 30 inch draw and 65 pounds. It’s slow by today’s standard, but I’ve killed other hogs with the bow using a NAP Thunderhead. I thought based on the blood he was for sure dead.

With an older slower bow I would stick to fixed heads. I really like the NAP Hellrazors. Bass pro even sells the same head under their name even cheaper. I've seen Rage just rip deer in half so they are good heads for deer hunting.

Never used mechanicals myself. With that kind of blood I would think he has got to be dead somewhere.

Big Joe, better watch your backside when out there hunting in the future. You drew first blood, he may draw second! The shield plate on those big boars is thick. I've seen it stop hign powered rifle rounds from passing thru. There may not be anything wrong with your setup, just a tough target.

Sorry you lost him. I love my Rage heads but had a similar experience a few years ago

I keep 3 rage trypans and 2 fixed heads in my quiver. That big dude would have gotten a fixed head.

I shoot 550 gr (total weight) arrows at 72 pounds and 30 inch draw.

It's always the heads fault.
I kill big boars with Rage heads all the time. Punch through the shield just fine. My rig is well tuned and they seldom go over 60 yards. But if you hit them in the soft shoulder pocket you don't have to worry about the shield.

Buy a rifle.

Ahh, kid...sometimes I think you're such a twisted soul, and then, I realize you coulda' been mine!

Rage is a great head and the design itself is they lose very little KE expanding due to their slip cam design.

I would suspect that pig is dead somewhere close by.


That said, you didn't say what arrow weight, but a slower bow combined with a lighter arrow isn't gonna offer you great penetration. I've seen guy with fast bows and moderately heavy setups punch a hog square in the shoulder and they run a couple dozen yards and pile up.

Agree with above. I've hunted with trypans from my target bow (trg7 no cam) at 65 pounds and 440 grain arrows. I never got pass throughs. Even on black buck does it usually got stuck in the opposite rib cage. It killed great but the heavier arrows from current set up (and more powerful bow) usually blow through both sides.

What speed is your set up?

I’m shooting about 284 FPS with a 420 grain arrow and have zero problems getting passthrus

That's significant blood loss. I bet he isn't much further.

I shot a pig a few years back. Found good blood but couldn't find him in the dark.

Came back next morning and he was 30 yards further from where I quit looking....he didn't run 100 yards total.

I think pigs have some special clotting in their blood. I’ve tracked a lot of them a long ways over the years.

Found by processor

Total arrow weigh my was roughly 425 grains.

Lol, if you would have posted this thread on texasbowhunter or archery talk there would be replies with all caps and death threats.

It would be interesting to see true data on performance factor of cut on contact and mechanicals . I do know my taxidermist hates mechanicals

I had high hopes for the Rage, but going to try Magnus Stingers. Worst case I’ll switch back to the Thunderheads

That was a rage 2.3 extreme.

The only deer I ever shot with a rage, or any mechanical for that matter, went unrecovered. Obviously I know they can kill deer/pigs but it was enough of a reason to stick with my Shuttle T's or Muzzy's.

Did you try going out in the morning? I’ve had blood trails completely stop for 30+ yards then randomly start pouring again. Try looking for footprints, disturbed brush and try lining up the direction he went. I’ve noticed most of the time their going to run straight forward and won’t stop u til they drop. Hogs travel insane distance when spooked. I would imagine the same for when they realize they’ve been injured. Good luck on tracking down your boar!!

My dogs have made a lot of money baying off of mechanical broadheads

And Floyd was half a state away...

Who calls a dog for a pig??

Use NAP. Won’t have that problem

No kidding for a pig.LOL

I guided for years on a bow only ranch. It didn’t take long for the owner to ban mechanical heads. Not a problem on most shots on deer. On hogs, we spent many countless hours tracking unrecovered hogs.

I would chalk that up to a combination of poor shot placement and ill-suited tackle. Pigs are tough but not invincible.


People always jump straight to the broadhead as the absolute problem and don't pay attention to arrow weight, speed, or poundage.

For years I shot the rocket sidewinder. In penetration tests they performed as well as most fixed broadheads. they got beat by some 2 blade cut on contact 1 piece muzzy by 1/2 "....that was the only one that beat it. But the Rocket had way more cutting diameter and a 3rd blade.


Fixed blade heads are fine.....and work for many...but that doesent mean mechanicals don't work.


IME the vast majority of folks losing deer with mechanicals don't have the proper set up, can't shoot or both and would be losing deer regardless of arrow head design.


I have personally shot 2 deer that I know I would not have recovered due to my poor shot placement if I had not been shooting large diameter expendables. The worst shot deer dropped within 60 yards and the other went just over 100.

I agree with you about shot placement and poor setup. We had unrecovered animals with fixed blade heads, but many times more with mechanicals. It’s up to the individual to decide what to use. I used and still use Zwickau two blade heads out of my longbow and recurve. Shot placement and tuning are critical no matter what you are using.

They bay wounded deer. I've watched those dogs work and they're impressive.

Rage is as bad as their customer service. Never again.

I used Rage Extreme for deer with great success. Only killed one hog with one that showed up while deer hunting. It ran 40 years pumping blood. That said, I am using Muzzy fixed now just for peace of mind that I won't have a mechanical failure. I get nervous about bumping the arrow on something in the blind and knocking the blades loose from the collar or whatever.

My wife was watching a Netflix show called Hart Of Dixie, a character dropped a crossbow that looked like it had a Muzzy fixed 3 blade on the bolt. It hit him in dead center of his thigh, no pass through, the doctor (main character) pulled it out, bandaged his leg and he walked out with a limp.

The hypodermic leaves a big hole.

Sometimes that doesn't matter; I shot a big sow with a 44 mag.. I went for an ear shot, but blew off part of her face and head.. She rolled around and I thought she was done for. I should have shot her again.. she got up ran and we tracked a lot of blood for over two hundred yards then. not a drop. She just disappeared into God only knows where.
No more ear shots for me if I'm pistol hunting.

A properly placed mechanical is just as deadly as any bullet.

I use wasp jackhammers and hogs don’t stand a chance. Due to design not really any chance for it to fail.

I don’t take hard quartering [censored] with any broad head

i seen a mechanical bounce off a deer. and i have a witness. i quit using them many years ago and havent lost one since

Magnus Stinger 4 blade has served me well. Pigs and deer. My .02

I've killed about a jillion of em with the old bear razor head with a 50 lb recurve.but cannot shoot it anymore so I got me a Parker f4 and shoot muzzys and dang it kills em too