Depending on the time of year, mule deer and white tail deer can be almost indistinguishable. But, if you watch them closely, there are some tell-tail differences.
Mule deer and whitetail similarities
Although there are some distinct differences, whitetail and mule deer do have some things in common.
Coloring
During the Summertime, mule deer are often more tannish-brown while whitetail tend to be more of a reddish brown color.
However, in Winter, both types tend to turn more grayish.
photography by Jeff Coldwell
photography by Matt Hartsky
Summertime colorings of mule deer (above left) vs. whitetail (above right).
photography by Jeff Coldwell
Photography by Matt Hartsky
The Fall and Winter colors of mule deer (left) vs. whitetail (right).
Whitetails are generally found in the middle and Eastern U.S., extending both North and South of the border. But, whitetail are remarkable at adapting, and thrive in all kinds of environments, from swamps to forests to grasslands.
Typically, mule deer like higher territory in the mountains and are found in the central and western parts of the US, Canada, and Mexico. However, the territories of the two breeds overlap greatly. Therefore, geography can’t be relied on as a great indicator of whether that deer you see off in the distance is a mule deer or a whitetail.
photography by Jeff Coldwell
photography by Jeff Coldwell
While the geographical areas in which mule deer and whitetail overlaps in many places, mule deer are more prevalent in the Western parts of the U.S. Whitetail deer are more concentrated in the Midwestern and Eastern parts of the U.S.
Size
Size is another characteristic where there is overlap between mule deer and whitetail. Size can vary depending on geographic location, available food sources and habitat.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, typical mule deer weights range from 130-280 pounds. However, In rare cases, very large mule deer can tip the scales at 450+ pounds.
Whitetail deer are generally smaller in average weight, averaging around 90-220 pounds, but those big bucks can, in rare cases, come in near 400 pounds.
With size varying so much based on diet, age, and location, it is impossible to tell a whitetail from a mule deer based on size alone. Even characteristics like hoofprints are not distinguishable between the two.
Now that we’ve covered some basic characteristics of whitetail and mule deer, let’s look at some differences between mule deer and whitetail that can help you distinguish between the two.
Facial markings
photography by Matt Hartsky
photography by Jeff Coldwell
As you can see in the pictures above, the mule deer (left) has a whiter snout and bridge of the nose, whereas the whitetail’s face (right) is overall more brown in color, with a white throat patch at the top of the neck.
If you look more closely at the face, whitetails have more solid-colored brown heads with white around the eyes and often a white patch under the jaw at the top of the neck. (Rare genetic mutations like piebaldism can affect the amount of white markings).
Mule deer (sometimes referred to as muleys) have a lighter top bridge of the nose, with a darker forehead above the eyes. These are the general colorings, but each individual deer is different and color can change with weather, age, and location. Because of this, you can’t rely on coloring alone to distinguish between the two.
Ears
photography by Jeff Coldwell
photography by Jeff Coldwell
The ears of a mule deer (left) have larger ears, relative to the size of their head than do whitetail (right).
With so many similarities between whitetail and mule deer, there are a few key differences to look for when peering at them through your scope or binoculars.
One is the ears.
True to their name, mule deer have larger ears relative to the size of their head. They are also often more pointed and angle slightly more to the sides than the whitetail deer.
It is tough to compare the angle of the ears as deer have a habit of always moving them. So, try to look at the size of the ears as one indication to identify mule deer from whitetails.
The mule deer’s (above left) hind quarters are mostly white, with a rope-like tail and black tip. The Whitetail (above right) has hindquarters that are mostly brown, with a tail that has a wide, white underside.
While the ears are one of the differentiating characteristics on the head of these animals, the other end of the animal has a great defining characteristic as well.
Mule deer have a white colored rump that is almost always visible. They have a skinny rope-like tail tail, often with a black tip.
Whitetail deer on the other hand, have a more brownish rump and outside of the tail when relaxed. If a whitetail is startled, however, that wide flap of a tail lifts showing a bright white underside as a “flag” to warn other deer of possible danger, thus the name “whitetail deer.”
Antlers
Whether you are hunting from the ground or from your treestand, if you can get a look at a deer’s antlers, you may be able to determine whether it is a mule deer and a whitetail.
Both breeds of male deer have large showy antlers (although they are shed once a year around mid to late winter).
Whitetail males have one main “trunk” or beam on their antlers with the tines all coming from that main stem.
photography by Matt Hartsky
photography by Matt Hartsky
Whitetail deer antlers (above) are constructed of one main beam, from which the tines protrude.
Mule deer, however, have a main trunk that branches in two before forking into tines. Because of this, the mule deer’s antlers often look taller and more upright compared to the forward “hug” of a white tail’s rack.
photography by Terry Hansen
photography by Jeff Coldwell
Mule Deer have antlers that “fork,” as in the pictures above.
The difference in antler structure between whitetails and mule deer is something a trained eye can pick up. However, some individual antlers can be too small or even grow oddly, so make sure to look for other characteristics too.
The way these two types of deer typically run can be a clear distinguishing characteristic of whitetail and mule deer.
When fleeing, a whitetail has a typical run or gallop, similar in style to a horse. They may bound over fences or obstacles, but in general they have a quick, fluid motion.
Mule deer on the other hand, often flee with a stodgy hopping motion called stotting. All four hooves contact and push off the ground at once like springs, bouncing across the terrain again and again until slowing to a trot.
Photography by Keith Reisenauer
Photography by Keith Tyler
A mule deer’s run is called “stotting,” which is more of a hopping motion on all fours. A whitetail deer has more of galloping motion to its run.
Conclusion
When it comes to gun hunting especially, one of the main lessons for firearms is to be sure of your target.
So, make sure that when you are trying to identify a mule deer versus a whitetail, that you compare multiple characteristics.
There are many similarities, and even the distinguishing traits can vary based on age, location, nutrition, and time of year. One can easily be mistaken for the other. Even some of the sounds these deer make can be similar.
So, be sure you know the differences – some subtle and some more pronounced – so you can easily tell the difference between the two.
The first indicator of a broadhead’s strength is the quality of the steel itself.
What kind of steel is it?
To simply say something is all steel is nice, but there is a wide range of steel types, so the quality of the steel is important.
Rockwell Hardness
The second indicator of broadhead strength is Rockwell hardness.
How is the broadhead hardened and to and to what degree is it hardened?
To increase sales, some broadhead manufacturers will state that the head has been hardened to “x” degree of Rockwell hardness. But, if it’s the wrong kind of steel to handle that hardness, it’s just going to fracture and even edge chatter and shatter upon impact, which a lot of heads do.
So, this makes Rockwell hardness important, but also how the hardness is handled by the material.
I did some in-depth testing on the Holy Trinity, as well as the rest of the Bishop line of heads… Keep reading!
Steel Composition
The third indicator of broadhead toughness is the composition of the steel.
In other words, how is the steel put together?
For example, is the broadhead made from multiple pieces of steel that are welded together? A lot of broadhead manufacturers do that.
Is the head made up of multiple pieces that are held together by a set screw or two? Many companies go that route.
It could be a single piece head that’s metal injection-molded (MIM). Or, it could a single piece that’s CNC machined, which is by far the toughest. In that case, it would be machined out of a single chunk of bar steel.
Geometric Design
The fourth measure of toughness for a broadhead is geometric design.
How stout is the head? How thick are the blades? How supported is the tip of the head?
All these components of geometric design make a difference in the strength of the head.
Talk about thick! Look at the geometric design of the Holy Trinity head!
Why Bishop Holy Trinity Could Be The World’s Toughest Broadhead
So, knowing the four factors covered above in determining a broadhead’s toughness, here’s why I thought the Bishop Holy Trinity could be the toughest broadhead on earth.
Steel Quality of Bishop Holy Trinity
The first reason I say it could be the world’s toughest broadhead is, first, they used a proprietary S7 tool steel.
S7 tool steel is one of the toughest steels there is. It’s incredibly tough. And this one particularly, the tool steel that Bishop uses, has a Charpy resistance impact in the 90’s (Charpy V-notch testing is a way to resist the impact of something to that steel).
To put that in perspective, it’s more than four times more resistant to impact than stainless steel.
Rockwell Hardness of the Holy Trinity
The steel of the Bishop Holy Trinity is then brought to a Rockwell hardness of 58, which is pretty amazing.
They can do that because of the type of steel that it is.
Steel Composition of the Bishop Holy Trinity
Then, the Holy Trinity head is CNC-machined, which is by far the strongest way a head can be designed. It’s very expensive to do that, especially out of that quality of S7 tool steel.
It’s really expensive but it’s also really tough.
Geometric Design of Holy Trinity
Super thick blades! And, the extra support structure give the Holy Trinity a triangular wedge-like feature in between the blades!
Fourthly, the geometric design of the Holy Trinity (the 200-grain specifically) is that it has a really short geometric design.
The Holy Trinity’s geometric design is shorter than others on the market like VPA.
VPA are great heads. But, the Holy Tryiniy is just a shorter, stouter design. So, it’s going to fly a little bit better than most other heads like that because it has a lot of surface area and it’s going to hold up better to impact because of that stouter design.
But, then the blades on this head specifically are 0.070 inch thick which is a really thick blade, one of the thickest on the market.
And then the 200 grain, unlike the 125 grain model, has an extra support that’s kind of like a blade in and of itself. It’s like a triangular wedge-type blade that is really thick.
Here’s a look from the rear of the Holy Trinity. Notice the thickness of those bladesas well as the triangular support in between.
For the thickness of the Trinity, it’s the sharpest it can get. It’s brought to an edge that’s going to cut through bone really well if something doesn’t get caught by the primary leading blades. It’s not a 6-blade head, but it’s almost like a 6-blade because it has the extra pieces in there that will make it more resistant to coming out of an animal as well.
So with everything about this, the type of steel, the hardness, the CNC machining, and the geometric design, this head certainly has the potential to be the “world’s toughest broadhead.”
I do a lot of research on broadheads. I don’t know anything that’s going to come even close to it except Bishop’s 41L40, their Bridgeport head that’s the same. It’s just a little bit lesser tier type of tool steel, but still way above most other tool steels that other heads on the market have.
Because of the blade angle, you can easily sharpen two blades at a time by laying the Holy Trinity down flat on the sharpening surface.
This head was straight out of the package and it was sticky sharp, which for a 0.070 inch thick blade, it’s as sharp as it can get.
You can sharpen the Holy Trinity just by laying them flat on a file or a diamond sharpener which is really nice.
You don’t have to sharpen every blade individually and you don’t have to worry about the angle. You just lay it flat and it sharpens two at a time so you just rotate it. So, as long as you do it evenly, it’s a super easy process to sharpen
Holy Trinity Toughness Testing
So, let’s see how the Bishop Holy Trinity did against some really tough stuff.
Steel Plate Test
I shot the Holy Trinity head straight into the 16-gauge steel plate. Now, 16-gauge is pretty thick, and it’s much thicker than a steel drum. I wanted to see how the tip and blades would hold up and if it penetrates through.
In a previous test, I used 22-gauge steel. Then, I found some 16-gauge, and man, it took a chunk out of it. You can see that it made a pretty nice hole. And, the head stayed in incredible shape. It’s virtually unscathed. The blades went in about halfway. As you can see, the tip and the edges themselves are in incredible shape.
Porcelain Tile Test
I’d heard shooting at porcelain tiles was a good way to test a broadheads toughness…
The next test of the Bishop 200-grain Holy Trinity was shooting it at porcelain tile. So, I stacked up 5 tiles and taped them together, so that they made one chunk of porcelain tile.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had heard that it’s a good way to test head toughness. Let’s see what happened.
Well, I guess I should have used a lot more tile. I’m sure it would have gone through more, but it deflected off the end of the Rinehart and it buried into the Rinehart beyond the head.The tip got a little bit blunted to the side. The blades were scraped up somewhat, but still in good shape.
Cinder Block Test
The next test I did with the Bishop 200-grain Holy Trinity was the cinder block test.
After going through the cinder block, the head is in really the same condition it was after going through the tiles. Thet tip is a little less sharp than it was at the beginning, as are the blades. But, structurally, it’s in great shape. I put a file to it and it was be right back to normal.
The Verdict Is In on the Holy Trinity 200-Grain broadhead
So, the Bishop Holy Trinity is definitely incredibly tough.
The Bishop broadheads have all been phenomenal in every test I have put them through. Quite simply, they are in a class by themselves in terms of toughness and durability.
I would say the Holy Trinity 200-grain specifically is their toughest one because of its extra beefiness and the way they’ve added those extra ridges to strengthen it. Also, because this one is 0.070 inch thick. But, with that being said, all of the Bishop Holy Trinities are extremely strong.
I typically shoot the 125-grain but this one is going to get a little more blood. With the 1 and 1/8-inch cutting diameter of those extra 3 big wedge blades, they’re going to do some serious damage, and will hold up to anything the animal world throws its way.
Further testing of Bishop’s other broadhead offerings
I did some further tests on the other models of 3-blade, 1 and 1/8 inch broadheads that Bishop Archery makes.
As we have discussed above, they originally introduced the Bishop Archery S7 Tool Steel.
The Bishop broadheads lineup from left to right: The Pipeline, Bridgeport and the Holy Trinity.
Bishop Bridgeport Broadheads
And then they came out with the second line they called their Bridgeport Line. It has the same exact specs of the original Holy Trinity. It’s a 125-grain head.
They both fly exactly the same. But, the Bridgeport model is made out of 41L40 tool steel, which is actually the second most impact-resistant steel of any broadhead on the market today.
Bishop’s third line of broadheads is the Pipeline series. This series is made out of a really unique stainless steel that they came up with. I was looking forward to testing this head out.
It’s supposedly stronger and more impact-resistant than any other stainless steel on the market; even more than S30V and any other stainless steel broadhead out there.
There’s a significant difference in price between these heads. The Pipeline is more competitive with most other 3-blade heads on the market.
But, then the Bridgeport is a step up, and more expensive. The Bishop and the S7 are more expensive than that.
So, let’s see how all three heads performed in these tests.
The tests
In the following tests, there is a Rinehart target behind all of the mediums. That’s what’s stopping the impact.
1/2″ Plywood Test
I wanted to know how the edges held up, and all of them held up extremely well. They all still bit into my fingernail. I really couldn’t tell any difference in the three after this first test.
.22-Gauge Steel Plate Test
Next, I shot them through a .22-gauge steel plate.
I next shot the heads through a .22-gauge steel plate.All three of the Bishop heads held up really well against the steel plate. And, I hadn’t touched them up after the half inch plywood, but they all help up really well and still bit into my nail.
Timeout For Some Comparison Testing
Just for comparison sake, I decided to shoot a couple of other popular broadheads through the same mediums (wood and steel plate). I tested an Allen broadhead from Wal-Mart and the Muzzy Trocar broadhead.
Here is the 125-grain Allen head after shooting it through 1/2″ plywood. The tips are in good shape, but the blades got pretty jacked up.I guess that’s what you get for a $6 pack of broadheads.The 125-grain Muzzy Trocar held up really well and most of the blades could still shave a nail. There are some nicks in the blades. The tip is still in close to perfect condition. Overall, they held up relatively well.So, after shooting the Muzzy Trocar through the 22-gauge metal plate, this is what I ended up with. The tip is actually in good shape. The blades, not so much. I don’t know if you can see it, but they are marred beyond re-sharpening. All three of them are really dinged up. Also, the washer at the base that’s part of the broadhead is broken as well in one place. So, not bad. It made it through, but it’s not usable. I could replace the blades, but I would need a new washer at the bottom.The Allen broadhead did not fare so well in the steel plate test. The tip is actually broken off and each of the blades broke off. You get what you pay for here. (To see how all three of those Bishop heads came through this test pretty much unmarred is pretty impressive).
Cinder Block Test
Next I tested the heads by shooting them into a cinder block. First, I shot the Holy Trinity, then the Bridgeport, then the Pipeline. I also shot the Muzzy Trocar.
That was a really interesting test into the center block. The Muzzy bounced off and it had the most significant damage by far. The tip was completely broken off. But the Bishop heads are another story. The Bishop, the Bridgeport, and the Pipeline Holy Trinities all performed extremely well. And none of these heads were resharpened in between shots. And honestly, there’s just very little difference between any of them.
The Grand Finale | 1/8″ Steel Flat bar test
So as the finale to these tests, I shot the Bridgeport and the Pipeline into a 1/8-inch steel flat bar. ( I had tested the S7 in a previous test, so I did not include it here).
The steel flat bar took a beating.Check out this flat bar! I was amazed at the force of impact even with these relatively light arrows, that they would put such a dent in this 1/8 inch flat bar. But, then both of them penetrated actually all the way through. Quite impressive. They left a nice little triangular hole in that which other heads have not been able to do.The Pipeline and the Bridgeport after the steel flat bar test.These heads have gone through like the half inch plywood and then the 22-gauge metal plate and then into center block, and now they’ve gone smacked up into a 1/8 inch flat bar of steel. And they have held up extremely well.
Final Thoughts
I am really impressed with what these Bishop broadheads have done. I’m also a bit surprised.
I’m especially surprised with the stainless steel Pipeline. Bishop thought they had something really good in that new steel they’ve been able to create and sure enough, it proved out.
Now, it’s really important to understand a couple of things here.
First, you might be asking, “why does any of this matter? Why are you shooting heads into steel, teak wood and concrete, stuff like that? What’s the point? It’s not an animal.
Well, that’s true. But, consider this. The Allen head that was destroyed… Is that, or another head like it what you want shooting into an animal?
Failure is not an option
Personally, I want a broadhead that I trust is not going to fail no matter what. And so, especially when I’m hunting a big animal like an elk or a moose, or a big hog or hunting in Africa on a trip I’ve invested time and money into, I don’t want a broadhead that’s going to dull or break in half, or lose a blade.
Will it work when it matters?
Secondly, you could take a head out of the box or packaging and have it shave hair like even that Allen did and like the Muzzy Trocar did and that’s awesome. But, it’s not how sharp it is as soon as it impacts the animal that matters, but how sharp it is as it goes through the animal that matters; how sharp it is when it comes out of the animal?
Some people say, “Oh, I don’t care if my broadhead gets destroyed, as long as it kills the animal.” Well, eventually, you’re going to have an animal that doesn’t die because the broadhead was destroyed. And, when your blades are getting all nicked up, they are not cutting tissue effectively all the way through.
So, you want a head that’s not just sharp upon impact, but that’s sharp all the way through that impact, through the tough hide, through the muscle and all the different forms of tissue; the tendons, the ligaments, the cartilage, and even through bone.
You want one that is going to keep penetrating extremely well all the way through, especially if it’s a big animal where depth of penetration makes a significant difference.
Bishops are worth it
So, that’s how these Bishop heads show and prove their worth. They are able to take the toughest that there is and do extremely well through it.
I still shoot a lot of different types of broadheads based on the need I have and the conditions, as well as what animals I’m going after. But what you have here is the best deal, hardened in the strongest way and you have them CNC machined in the Holy Trinity as well as their two blade heads.
And then, you have the geometric design that makes these heads extremely strong. And, they do all that also in a really short design in the Holy Trinity, which allows them to fly really well.
I hope this helps you to understand broadheads and understand these three lines of Bishops a little bit better.
Tooth of the Arrow broadheads have been around for while, but I was intrigued and finally got my hands one so I could test it.
Now, Tooth of the Arrow is certainly a cool name for a broadhead, but the company also has a great perk. They are so confident that you’ll like their broadheads, that they advertise that you can get a free sample.
Now that’s guaranteed satisfaction!
Tooth of the Arrow is so sure you’ll like their broadheads that they’ll give you a free sample. Wow!
Tooth Of The Arrow Broadheads | An Overview
The Tooth of the Arrow broadhead is a 4-blade head that is similar to a Slick Trick head.
Each of the blades are exactly the same cutting diameter, so it’s a true 4-blade head. It’s a little bit bigger than a Slick Trick Magnum. But, rather than being 1 and 1/8-inch cutting diameter like the Slick Trick Magnum, this is 1 and 3/16 cutting diameter. So, it makes a little bit wider hole.
For the testing, I shot 450-grain Bishop mammoth arrows, using my Bowtech SR6 which is a 27 inches and 72 pounds.
What makes this head unique is that this is machined out of a single chunk of high-carbon steel. So, there are no blades to be replaced. It’s just one solid chunk.
So, as a negative, you can’t just replace the blades and put in new sharp ones. As a positive way, it’s a pretty stout, strong design. And, with it being such high-carbon steel, it’s not too difficult to sharpen. So, it’s intriguing to see this.
The Tooth of the Arrow XL is a 4-blade head that is machined out of a single chunk of high carbon steel.
I’ve spun these heads and they spin very true. They also fly well for me. I’ve not tested them at super long ranges but they do – well, I think through well-tuned bow, they should fly well at longer ranges.
I’d heard really good things about the smaller, standard head.
But, I’ll start off by testing the XL, which intrigued me the most because I just like to make a big hole if I can! I was excited to see how it performed.
So let’s see how the Tooth of the Arrow XL did. (Further down I’ll do a head-to-head battle between the XL and the original, so check that out as well!
I shot it into my broadhead box where I’ve got four layers of MDF and they’re half inch each, and two of those layers have a rubber foam layer in front to simulate hide and a little bit of soft tissue there in the beginning and the end.
Penetration wise, the XL did just about like most of the heads I’ve tested. It went well into the second layer of MDF. So, it went through that initial rubber foam mat and then through the first layer and then it almost buried the blades all the way into the second layer. You can see it protruding out, bulging out the backend there. It didn’t actually breakthrough the blade but it pushed the board out there just quite a bit.OK, it’s 1 and 3/16 this way, 1 and 3/16 this way. So it’s a total of 2.75 inches of tissue being cut. Comparitavely, the QAD Exodus has a total tissue cut of 1.875. So, with the 3 blades of an Exodus and 1 and 1/4 inch cut, it’s 1.875 total tissue being cut, whereas, with the Tooth of the Arrow here in their XL model, it’s 2.75. So, it penetrated just about as well the Exodus, and better than the other heads that I’ve tested so far and yet the total cut is about an inch more than most of those heads. So that’s pretty remarkable.If we examine the head after it went through the wood, it held up extremely well. The blades are in great shape. They are still remarkably sharp. They bite into my nail. It doesn’t look like they were dulled at all. Now, I should add as well that because it’s 4 blades and two blades covers a diameter of 1 and 3/16 inches, that means the total tissue being cut is 2.75 inches. If you see here in the hole that it made, you look and go,
Angled Shot Penetration
Next, I shot it at a 1/2-inch MDF board at a 45-degrree angle to see how it would do through that.
Here is the head sticking out just as it went into the Rinehart target behind it. It protruded that far, which is very similar to the SIK F4 that I tested a while ago. You can see that in a video. However again, this has about almost 1 inch more cut than the SIK F4. So to penetrate that well, again, is pretty impressive and the blades are extremely sharp. There’s no nicks. Looking really good.
Durability Testing
I shot the Tooth Of The Arrow head into a 22-gauge steel plate to see how it would fare.
Look at the hole that this thing made. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with that. It’s like a giant square was cut out of the steel. I’ve never seen anything like this.What a hole!The blades still look pristine. They are in very, very good shape. There are no nicks. They still cut into my thumbnail. Really good. Impressive.
Cinder Block Test
The cinder block is the final test that I do with the fixed-blade heads. I don’t do this test or the steel plate test typically with the mechanical heads, but when you’re using a fixed head, you’re typically doing so because you really want to have some structural integrity and blade strength that’s above and beyond what a mechanical can do.
So, I just like to test the limits. Not many heads hold together after hitting the cinder block. A lot of them take chunks out, but then just kind of bend or fall apart. Very few heads hold together. There have only been a few that have made it. Let’s see how the Tooth of the Arrow did.
Here’s the chunk that it took out of the cinder block. A finger goes right into it. And then if you look at the head itself, it did remarkably well, completely holding together. The nose got covered in concrete and got a bit nicked up there from the concrete. But, I would say that it’s amongst the top few in terms of structural integrity that I’ve tested. It’s right up there with the QAD Exodus and the Muzzy Trocar and the Trophy Taker A-TAC. I think the only ones that may have done better are the Bishop Archery and the Iron Will.
Man, for the price, the Tooth Of The Arrow XL is one impressive head. I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised. I give it an A+ in all categories.
Comparing the Tooth of the Arrow Original to the XL [Broadhead Battle!]
I wanted to compare the Tooth of the Arrow Original vs the XL version.
Now, I’ve done this in some other instances, like with the Magnus, where I tested the Stinger compared Black Hornet. And in this case, I tested the two models of Tooth of the Arrow broadheads.
The Tooth of the Arrow broadheads are 100% made in the USA.
I tested these heads for long distance flight (I was able to pop a balloon at 80 yards) and I’m going to test them for edge sharpness and retention, for penetration, and for durability.
Let’s see which one prevails!
On the right is the Tooth Of The Arrow Original, and on the left is the XL. These are the 125-grain models of these heads. The Original is 1-inch, while the XL is 1-3/16 inches. They are machined from a solid bar of 11L41 steel, so a high carbon steel. They’re brought to a Rockwell hardness of 45. As you can see, they are plated with a black oxide to cut down on glare in the field.With the Tooth of the Arrow Original, more than 85% of the weight is kept within the diameter of the arrow shaft. That’s going to really help in long range flight and spinning. With the XL head, more than 80% of the weight is kept within the diameter of the arrow shaft.
I tested the Tooth of the Arrow broadheads for out-of-the-box sharpness. The purpose is to see if they can still cut paper after a stroke of a carbon arrow shaft. Because both the Original and the XL have the same blades, I only tested one of the heads.
The Tooth of the Arrow broadhead was able to cut paper still after 5 strokes of the arrow.
Penetration comparison
I tested the Tooth of the Arrow Original and the XL for penetration. My medium was ballistic gel that was fronted with a rubber mad and 1/2″ MDF board.
The XL penetrated 8 inches. Tooth of the Arrow Original penetrated 9 inches.
Durability comparison
I shot both heads into a 22-gauge steel plate 5 times to test the durability. Check out the holes these heads made in the steel plate!
The holes themselves are really what sets the Tooth of the Arrow apart. OK. Here you can see the holes from the XL. OK. They are just bit squares. They are not just like four crosses or two crosses, four little slits. They are true squares!Here is the Original, the 1 inch. So the 1 inch, the 1 3/16 inch, and you can see even with that, it’s just a nice chunk of a hole. There are very heads that are able to punch a chunk out like that. The Exodus does it in a triangular shape. And as you can see here, the Tooth of the Arrow does it extremely well in a 4-blade shape. So that’s going to be a really difficult hole to close up in an animal.
You can only see on one of the XL blades a little bit of cosmetic marking. I don’t even know if you can pick that up in the picture below. It’s very hard to see.
These heads have extremely impressive durability. Some of the very best that I’ve tested.
Here are the heads after they’ve gone through the 22-gauge steel plate 5 times. And as you can see, they look brand new. As a matter of fact, it’s hard to tell that these were even shot at all, let alone shot through the steel plate as well as in the penetration test through the MDF. Really impressive durability and edge retention through that really hard medium.
Now, I have heard some reports of people shooting them and hitting them into a big heavy bone and one of the blades bending or shearing off. That can happen with any broadhead.
There are all kinds of crazy things that can happen in the field as you hit heavy bone at different angles. But through the steel plate as you can see in the picture below, they faired extremely well.
Cinder Block Test
Let’s look at these heads and see how they did after being shot into the cinder block.
The cinder block didn’t fare too well!Here’s the Tooth of the Arrow after going into that center block and busting it apart. It’s just in incredible shape. It spins perfectly true. The tip is still super pointy and didn’t bend over at all. The blades are in great shape. They only got a just a little bit nicked up on the top of each blade, but they could be sharpened again.I spent about 5 minutes touching these blades up just to show how easy it is to do it. And I understand they have a sharpener that you can purchase on their website. I don’t have one of those. But, honestly, I do really well with just a little sharpener. This is the thing that I use. It fits in there perfectly.This sharpener is from a Spyderco, but you can use any brand. This is like a little file. I just sharpen the blades individually, about 10 strokes on each blade. And, then on the tip, I just use the same thing but I just use it flat ways to cover both blades at once. I don’t know if you’re supposed to do that but it sure worked well for me.And this head, it’s now like shaving nail. I mean it’s just like it was. The tip was super sharp. And this is right after going into that concrete block.
Conclusion
So, what do you think of this broadhead battle, the Original versus the XL?
In terms of penetration, the Original penetrated much more deeply. But, in terms of hole size, man, the XL really ruled in that department, though both of them really made a nice square hole in the mediums that I shot them through.
In terms of which one is the winner, really, it’s a toss-up. I have to call it a tie. I hate to do that. But, this really is a draw. It just depends on your personal setup and what you’re hunting.
If you’re going after a really big animal where penetration is the most important thing then man, the Original is the way to go. If you have a lighter setup and you’re concerned about your penetration, then the Original is the way to go.
If you are going after a really long range shot like a pronghorn or something like that that you’re going beyond 60 yards, then the Original is the way to go.
But, if you are going for a shot under 60 yards and you really want to make a nice big hole and you have the kinetic energy to drive it through, (and honestly, it really doesn’t take that much kinetic energy to drive it through), then man, the XL is the way to go. For whitetail and hog shots under 50, 60 yards, I would definitely choose this one.
What I think is the best combination is to have a few of both in your quiver. If a shot is going to be longer, then you pull out the original. If the shot is going to be shorter, use the XL. And that way, you’re ready for any situation, and honestly, any animal as well.
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