Broadhead Performance Overview

Choosing a broadhead is a tradeoff between several factors. In this article we look at three: how much drag the broadhead adds, how tightly it groups, and how loud the arrow is in flight.

For the prior round of broadhead testing, see the 2025 Broadheads and Aerodynamic Drag.

All three of these are external ballistics measures: what the broadhead does between the bow and the target. We aren't looking at terminal ballistics (penetration, wound channel, blade integrity on impact, etc.) at all. For a lot of hunters, terminal performance matters more than anything we measure here, so don't read this as the whole story on broadhead choice.

Every broadhead in this article was shot from the same standard-speed rig: 28″ draw length, 70# draw weight, ~450gr arrows, ~290 fps out of a Hoyt AX3 33. Each tip was mounted on the same arrow build (only the head changed) and shot in 6-arrow groups from a tuned bow at 70 yards. A Gold Tip 100gr field point on the same arrow build is included as a baseline reference so every broadhead can be read against the field-point floor.

Each build was measured on three axes:

• Aerodynamic Drag: calculated drag constant from synced chronograph readings at 0.5, 30, and 60 yards. More drag means more drop, more wind drift, and a steeper divergence from the field-point flight path you sighted in with. Lower is better.
• Group Tightness: mean radius and group size (extreme spread) from a 2x 6-arrow groups (n=12) at 70 yards, fired out of a tuned bow. Mean radius is the more statistically honest metric; group size is the easier one to picture. Lower is better.
• Broadhead Noise: overall peak loudness in flight, weighted two ways (A-weighting for humans, deer-weighting for whitetails). A 10dB increase is roughly a doubling of perceived loudness. Lower is better.

For full details on the test methods, group capture, and analysis processes, check out the Methods page.

Hover over the dots in any plot to see the build configuration and results details.

We lead with group size plots because they are intuitive and relatable, but statistically speaking, mean radius is the better metric to compare.

For any plots referencing group sizes, mean radius, etc., you can click on the dots to see the group photos annotated with mean radius and 95% confidence intervals.

The chart below is the one to start with. Each dot is one broadhead build, with mean radius on X, drag constant on Y, and deer-weighted loudness as color. Bottom-left and yellow is the corner you want.

If you only check out one chart on this page, make it this one.

The chart below shows the drag constant for every broadhead build in the test, with 95% confidence intervals. The Gold Tip 100gr field point is included as a same-arrow baseline.

Higher drag means more drop and more wind drift, and it widens the gap between where your broadhead lands and where your field point lands at distance.

The first plot below is group size (extreme spread) from the 6-arrow group at 70 yards. The second is mean radius from the same group.

Both are lower-is-better, both have 95% confidence intervals, and both are computed from the same shots. Click any dot to open the annotated group photo.

Two listeners care how loud your arrow is in flight: you, and the deer. They don't hear the same things, so we weight the same peak SPL recording two ways.

A-weighting reflects what your ears are most sensitive to (mostly mid-range frequencies). Deer-weighting reflects what whitetails are most sensitive to (more weight on the higher frequencies a spinning broadhead is loudest at). A 10dB increase is roughly a doubling of perceived loudness.

The deer chart is first, since that's the listener you actually care about in the field. The human chart is right behind it for context.

Overall peak loudness is the headline number, but it can hide a lot. Two builds can share the same A-weighted SPL while being loud at different frequencies, and a deer won't hear them the same way.

The plot below is the deeper-dive view: pick any subset of builds and overlay their full 1/3-octave SPL spectra. Switch the weighting between Z (raw), A (human), and Deer to see how each listener experiences the same signal.

A few alternative views of the same data. A fit line is drawn on each scatter.

No broadhead wins on every axis. Picking one is a judgement call about which tradeoffs you're willing to live with.

The big-picture chart at the top is the easiest place to spot builds that hold up across drag, group tightness, and noise. The per-axis charts give you the per-build numbers and confidence intervals when you're narrowing down a short list.

A few caveats:

• This article covers external ballistics only. Terminal ballistics (penetration, wound channel, blade integrity on impact) are not measured. For many hunters, those questions are more important than drag, group tightness, or noise.
• All broadhead testing was done on the standard-speed rig (~290 fps) on one type of arrow shaft, out of a tuned bow. Builds that look great here may shift on a faster setup, a different arrow, or out of a poorly tuned bow.
• Group analysis with this many arrows is not statistically robust. Grain of salt.