After doing the hard work of getting within bow range of a deer, we all want the same thing: a passthrough, good blood trail, and that magical combination of relief and excitement when you find your deer. There are a lot of things that will lead to shorter blood trails—most importantly the archer’s skill—but a quality broadhead is also important.
In 2023 I tested 23 fixed and mechanical broadheads, and last month I tested nine new mechanical broadheads. All the broadheads were tested for sharpness, accuracy, durability, and wound channel. I chose the top options for deer hunting based on the results of those two tests. The top fixed blades were selected from the 2023 test and mechanicals were selected from the 2026 test.
Best Broadheads for Deer: Reviews and Recommendations
Best Mechanical: SEVR Magneto Ti 1.75
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Pros
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Quiet in flight
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Easy to practice with
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Good entrance wound size
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Accurate at long ranges
Cons
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Not very sharp out of the box
Key Features
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Weight: 100 or 125 grain
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Blade Width: 1.75 inches
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Grade-5 titanium ferrule
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Magnetic blade retention
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Blades swivel out of the way of bone
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Also available as a hybrid broadhead
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Price: $22 each
The Best Mechanical Broadheads: Tested for Accuracy, Durability, Sharpness, Wound Size, and Noise
This broadhead test was a close race, and I’d hunt with nearly all of the broadheads I evaluated. There’s a good reason to use each of them, depending on your needs and setup. But if I were going to recommend one head universally, it would be the SEVR Magneto, for its overall performance and features.
Even though every broadhead I tested grouped with field points out to 50 yards with my setup, it’s still a good idea to confirm the same is true for yours. Confidence that your broadhead will hit where you’re aiming matters just as much as confidence that it will open and cut. The SEVR broadheads are easy to practice with, and you can shoot them as much as you want without dulling the blades. All you have to do is install a blade-locking screw, shoot until you’re happy, and remove the screw before you go hunting.
I’ve hunted with various SEVR broadheads, and I have a lot of faith in them. They’ve always performed for me. But one of the newest improvements is the removal of the O-ring that used to hold the blades closed, in favor of magnets. It’s a cleaner system, and you don’t have to worry about a dry-rotted O-ring ruining your day.
In the gel test, blades that didn’t securely lock open produced inconsistent wound channels. SEVR’s blades lock open securely but also swivel out of the way of bone. In testing, the SEVR cut a good wound channel and, for what it’s worth, penetrated the gel better than the other heads.
Most of the time, you’ll be able to reuse a SEVR after it passes through a deer, but the blades will need to be replaced. A pack of replacement blades runs about $18.
The main con of the SEVR Magneto is that, out of the box, the blades are sharp enough to cut but not as sharp as I’d like. I’d recommend giving them a light touch-up with a strop or a ceramic rod until they cut thin paper with ease.
Best Value Mechanical: Rage Black Series Cut on Contact
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Pros
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Large entry wound
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Good durability
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Very sharp out of the package
Cons
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Blades rattle in the quiver
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Noisy in flight
Key Features
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100 grains
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Aircraft Grade Aluminum Ferrule
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420 SS Blades
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Blade Width: 2-inches
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Blade Thickness: .035 inch
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Three Crossbow and three vertical bow Shock Collars included
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Price: $35
The Rage Black is very sharp, it cut a giant entrance hole, and held up through durability testing. Best of all, a three-pack costs only $35.
But the Rage Black did something odd in the gel. Its exit hole was lower than the other broadheads’, and the shaft kicked up after impact. After noticing this on the first shot, I shot the head again into the gel and got the same result. I was shooting at a slight downward angle, but the Rage exited an inch lower than the other heads. The Rage Black is also fairly loud in flight and the blades rattle together when they’re in your quiver. To fix the rattle, apply a thick bowstring wax to the blades to fill in the gaps and reduce play. Despite those cons, the Rage Black is the best budget-friendly head I tested.
Best for Large Wound Channels: G5 MegaMeat
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Pros
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Largest entry wound in the test
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Sharp out of the package
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Shock collar securely locks blades in place
Cons
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Some blade rattle and noise in flight
Key Features
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Weight: 100 or 125 grain
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Diameter: 2 inches
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Includes a practice tip and extra collars
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Price: $70
The G5 MegaMeat is a nasty broadhead. It cuts a huge wound channel with large entrance and exit wounds. I think it’s a fantastic choice for hunters who are shooting with plenty of draw weight and want a larger wound channel. In the course of testing, I shot one into an apple just to see what it would do. The broadhead cut the apple into three sections and I could only imagine how devastating a similar wound channel on a deer would be. However, if you’re worried about getting pass-throughs with mechanicals shot through your setup, I’d suggest looking at other options.
One of the main cons of the MegaMeat is that this broadhead makes noise in flight and will rattle in your quiver. The blades also don’t lock open so they can close up after they’ve been deployed. In the gel test, all three blades opened on impact, but one of the blades closed as it was passing through the gel. It’s possible that the gel played a role in compressing the blade closed, but it’s worth noting if you’re considering the MegaMeat or any broadhead with blades that don’t lock open.
Best Two Blade: Speed 100 Titanium
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Pros
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Very sharp out of the box
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Well made
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No collars or o-rings
Key Features
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Weight: 100 grain
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Blade Thickness: .039 inch
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Blade Width: 2 inches
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Grade 5 titanium ferrule
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Price: $100
I killed a deer with a Speed broadhead last year and was impressed with its performance. The broadhead produced a massive entrance and exit wound with an easy-to-follow blood trail. The deer died within 50 yards. The broadhead’s blades were bent and would have needed replacing to reuse the head.
In testing, I saw similar results: a massive wound channel and OK durability. After passing through the PVC pipe, one of the blades was bent and would need to be replaced. I do like that the blades bend rather than break. Speed broadheads are exceptionally sharp out of the package, and that’s one of my favorite things about them. Another great thing is that they don’t use bands or collars to keep the blades closed — Speed uses a spring piston instead, and the specs say only 1.5 pounds of force is needed to open the blades.
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Pros
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Large wound channel
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Great price and warranty
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Easy to resharpen
Cons
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Not the highest quality steel
Key Features
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Weight: 100, 125, 150 grain
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Measured wound channel: 1.95 inches
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Blade Thickness: .059 inches
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Price: $40-52
I get excited seeing affordable heads do well in these tests and hold their own against more expensive products. The Stingers and the Black Hornets proved that you don’t have to spend a ton of money on the best broadheads for deer. This four-blade broadhead has a 0.059-inch thick main blade. It breezed through each phase of testing and shook my expectations of a broadhead in the $40-50 range. It was accurate, durable, and cut a large wound channel. Magnus also has a lifetime warranty on their heads. If you bend it or break it, send in the broadhead, and they’ll replace it.
I used the Magnus Black Hornet to kill my biggest buck with a recurve. I took the heads from the package and gave them a few swipes on a Rada sharpener to get them very sharp. I used a 43-pound Wengerd Ibex to make a quartering-to shot on a large-bodied whitetail. The arrow hit a few inches behind the shoulder and exited at the last rib. The arrow buried to the fletching and eventually worked its way completely through as the deer ran. The double-lung shot caused the deer to expire just 60 yards from where I shot him with a good blood trail to follow in the dark. The Black Hornet was still sharp enough to push cut paper and looked new after passing through the deer.
Sharpest Fixed Blade: Day Six Evo
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Pros
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Very sharp
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Smallest fixed blade groups of the test
Key Features
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Weight: 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250 grains
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Magnacut blade
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Measured wound channel: 1.5 inch
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1 1/16 Main Blade Width
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Price: $109
Day Six Evo‘s four blades are made from Magnacut steel and come in weights from 100 to 250 grains. Magnacut is known as a quality stainless steel used in knife making, and it carries the same balanced properties in the Evo. In my durability test the Evo 100 sustained no damage, and the head looked as new. It also had the smallest groups of all the broadheads shot.
The Evo 100 was also the sharpest fixed-blade broadhead out of the package. It was around 150 grams, which puts it in the range of a razor blade. The reason that’s so impressive is that the Evo 100 has a much thicker blade than a razor. The Evo 100 did well in the push force test, but its bleeder-forward design required more force to push through the media than a comparable head with bleeders in the rear.
Best Penetration: Iron Will S100
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Pros
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Excellent edge retention
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Durable
Cons
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Very expensive
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Users report light blood trails
Key Features
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Weight: 100, 125, 135, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250 grains
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.062″ Thick A2 Tool Steel Blades
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1 1/16 inch wide main blade
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Price: $140
The Iron Will S100 is a four-blade broadhead made from 0.062 inch A2 tool steel and is available in weights from 100 to 250 grains. It’s a broadhead that you can rely on to stay sharp in your quiver, and even after passing through an animal they usually just require some stropping to get them ready to hunt again. Part of keeping them sharp is applying a rust preventative like Axe Wax because A2 is a carbon steel.
The S100s performed well in all of our tests, and it’s a top broadhead to consider if you’re in the market for a premium head. I hunted with the Iron Will S series for whitetails in 2020. From my recurve bows in the low 40-pound range, I had 100 percent pass-throughs on three deer, and each head still looked new. That season I also shot one deer with an Iron Will Wide, with the same result. The difference between the standard and the wide was the blood trails. The deer shot with the standard consistently had light blood trails—albeit short ones—despite good hits. The Wide had a significantly better blood trail. Snyder has used Iron Will broadheads extensively and has had similar experiences.
The Iron Will was a standout in the push force test and it was the easiest to push through all the medias. If you’re shooting a low draw weight, a recurve bow, or want a broadhead that will stay sharp throughout the season, then the Iron Will S100s should be at the top of your list.
Best Single Bevel: Cutthroat S7
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Pros
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Durable
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Professional sharpening available
Cons
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Some users report light blood trails
Key Features
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Weight: 125, 150, 200, 250 grains
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S7 Steel
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1 1/8 inch wide
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Right or left bevel
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Measured wound channel: 1.1 inches
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Price: $115
Single bevel broadheads might be the latest craze, but RMS Gear has been making their Cutthroat heads for years. One recent update is that they’re now made from S7 tool steel. S7 is known as a durable, impact-resistant steel with a relatively low hardness, which makes it ideal for a tough and easy-to-sharpen broadhead. “They’re probably the most durable broadhead I’ve used, and I don’t know if I’ve ever ruined one,” Freel said. The cutthroats don’t come sharp out of the package, but RMS Gear will sharpen them for an additional charge.
In addition to being durable, Freel has had great success getting passthrough with his recurve. “I almost always get pass-throughs with the Cutthroat,” he said. “I shot through a bear’s scapula, and it was like it wasn’t even there.” Freel’s experience with pass throughs was also seen in its very low push force measurements.
2026 Mechanical Broadhead Test Protocol
Sharpness Test
Broadheads have to be sharp. Since most of us aren’t putting our mechanicals on a sharpening stone before hunting, they need to be sharp right out of the box. I used a BESS Sharpness Tester, which measures the amount of force it takes to cut a calibrated filament, to gauge sharpness. The lower the force required to make the cut, the sharper the broadhead. I took three measurements from each head to get an average.
Accuracy
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50 yards
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Three, 3-shot groups (two broadheads, one field point)
I shot three 3-shot groups per broadhead to get an average. The three arrows in each group were tipped with two broadheads and one field point. The goal of this test was to confirm the broadheads flew consistently and hit the same spot as a field point.
Wound Channel
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One shot per broadhead into ballistic gel
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Measured entry wound and examined wound channel
I shot the broadheads into a Clear Ballistics gel block with a thin piece of leather pulled tight across the front. I began this test with a bare gel block, and some heads weren’t opening properly. So I added the leather, which created enough resistance to open the heads on impact.
Durability
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PVC pipe
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One shot per broadhead
I used a PVC pipe as my proxy for bone because it’s consistent, has a curved shape, and has a similar toughness to a rib bone. This is a fairly gentle test, but I also think it’s a realistic one for the type of bone a mechanical is going to get through.
I originally intended to fill the pipe with spray foam, but that plan created more of a mess than realistic results.
I scored each broadhead based on its condition after the durability test.
5: Broadhead is ready to be reused. 4: Minor damage to blades, but they need replacing. 3: Head can be reused, but blades must be replaced. 2: Significant damage to the head. 1: Low confidence in the broadhead’s reliability.
Noise
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Broadhead shot at camera with shotgun mic Subjective noise scores given based on recordings
I shot each broadhead at a target 50 yards away. Next to the target was a camera with a shotgun mic that recorded the sound each broadhead made in flight. I listened to the recordings and gave each broadhead a score from 1 to 5, with 5 being silent and 1 being loud.
How I Tested Broadheads (2023 Test Protocol)
Accuracy
I shot two 40-yard groups with three of the same model broadhead. Both groups were measured with a caliper and the group average is displayed in the test results. All the heads selected as one of the best broadheads for deer had the same impact point as my field points at 40 yards.
Bow and Arrows
A 60-pound Mathews Traverse shooting 250 spine Black Eagle Rampage arrows fletched with three TAC Driver 2.75 in a helical configuration were used for the testing. The setup was bare shaft tuned prior to the accuracy test. The setup shot about 260 fps.
Wound Channel
Each broadhead was shot into a 10 percent clear ballistics gel block. The resulting wound channel was then measured with calipers and is displayed in the test results.
Push Force
Push Force is the closest thing to quantifying broadhead penetration. To do that, a digital force gauge that’s held in a test stand is used to push broadheads through different media. The force gauge measures the amount of force in pounds. The lower the poundage required to push the broadhead through, the better. In the push force test, three types of media were used: doormat, closed cell foam, and faux leather. Each media is meant to test different aspects of the broadhead and the cumulative of all three tests are displayed in the key features.
Sharpness
Sharpness was measured on an Edge-On-Up Industrial Edge Tester, which uses a fixture that holds the Double X+ media. The fixture is placed on a scale which measures the amount of force needed to cut the media in grams. The threshold for calling a broadhead sharp or not sharp was 400 grams.
Deflection
A ballistic gel block was placed at a 75-degree angle to simulate an extreme quartering shot. An aiming point was placed on the block and two high-speed cameras recorded each impact. This test was to see if a head impacted the aiming point but did not enter the gel at that point. All the heads that made the final cut passed this test.
In the Field
To give a well-rounded picture of broadhead performance, I talked to two other bowhunters who kill a lot of animals with archery equipment. Aron Snyder has tested most of the heads in our test and has killed a variety of species with them. Tyler Freel hunts with a recurve bow and has used the Cutthroat broadheads on black bear, grizzly, and caribou.
How to Choose a Broadhead for Deer
The Setup
You have to think of your bow, arrow, and broadhead as a system that works together. Each part of the system must compliment the others. For example, a wide cutting mechanical paired with a low draw weight bow and an improperly spined arrow is going to lead to poor results.
Everything is a trade off in gear selection. The Iron Will S100 penetrates better than any head, but it has a relatively small wound channel. The SEVR 2.0 is accurate and cuts a big hole, but you need to be shooting enough energy to get it to pass through.
Fixed Blade vs. Mechanical Broadheads
This debate is as old as the invention of mechanical heads. I’ll make it simple. If you’re shooting a compound bow over 50 pounds, an arrow weight around 450 grains, and you are not confident in your tuning ability, shoot one of the quality mechanicals on the best broadheads for deer list. If you’re under 50 pounds or shooting a recurve, shoot a fixed head. If you can tune a bow and are shooting over 50 pounds, you can shoot whatever makes you happy.
FAQs
Q: Are mechanical broadheads more accurate?
Mechanical broadheads are more accurate than fixed blade heads if your bow isn’t tuned. At extended ranges they will have less drag and wind drift than fixed heads.
Q: Are broadheads more accurate than field points?
Broadheads are not more accurate than field points.
Q: Should I use fixed or mechanical broadheads for deer?
The broadhead style you choose depends on your bow and arrow setup. A fixed blade is more durable, better penetrating, and longer lasting than a mechanical. But, mechanicals are easier to shoot accurately and have large cutting diameters.
Final Thoughts
No test will replicate every deer hunting scenario, but I hope this test provides you with enough data that you can make an educated decision on what broadhead is best for you. Ultimately, the best broadhead for deer hunting is the one that shoots the best from your setup.
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