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Barbed Broadheads Illegal In Some States

October 1, 2010
By Todd Ratermann

Barbed broadheads are illegal to use for big game in many states, yet those illegal broadheads are often still available for sale within those states, or easily purchased on-line by hunters not familiar with what a barbed broadhead actually is, or whether it is even legal to hunt with in their state. Keep in mind that regulations change regularly and it is up to you to know specific regulation for your state. This is just a guideline based on my personal conversations with every states game department during October 5th & 6th of 2010.

The purpose of the regulation is to protect animals hit by marginal shots. If the broadhead is barbed it makes it harder for the animal to either pull it out with it's teeth, for the broadhead to work itself out, or to remove it by rubbing against a tree or brush.

Lets first define what a barbed broadheads actually is since there seems to be a lot of confusion among archery hunters about this. A barbed broadhead is generally defined as a broadhead where the trailing edge of the broadhead is less than a 90° from the arrow shaft. Take a look at the following image from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation.

I think we can all se the difference here. However, there are exceptions to this rule. General speaking, this rule is firm and easily understandable in the case of fixed blade broadheads. However, in the case of expandable broadheads it gets a little more complicated. An expandable broadhead can surpass the 90° angle limit if the broadhead does NOT lock into that position. In other words, if the broadheads blades will fold back to an angle of 90° or more from the arrow shaft  when opposite pressure is applied you should be good to go in most barbed law states. If the blades do NOT pivot back they are considered barbed and are illegal.

Listed below are some of the states where barbed broadheads are illegal.

Now let me give you some specific broadheads that I know are considered barbed and are therefore illegal in states where there are regulations against the use of barbed broadheads. This is not a complete list, this is only the ones I know that have been considered illegal by many game wardens. If you know of other broadheads deemed barbed, please let me know.

  1. NAP Bloodrunner 2 blades
  2. Rage 3 blade  (2 blades ARE legal)
  3. Reign Broadheads
  4. Tru-fire Switchblades (they now have a non-barbed version of the switchblades but be certain of which one you are shooting)
  5. G5 T3 broadhead
  6. G5 Tekan II
  7. Simmons Original Interceptor
  8.  
  9.  

 


 

 
 
 
keywords: rage broadheads illegal, Tekan broad heads illegal, barbed, mechanical broad heads,

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