Planning on hunting whitetail bow season this year with a crossbow. Any tips on selecting bolts or specific broadheads? any assistance is appreciated. thanks.

I think you'll find as many fans of fixed blade as expandables broadhead wise.

myself I've had good luck with Slick Tricks 125 mags. I've also done well with cheap 125 gr. shockwave expandables.

as far as arrows that will depend on the C.B. you own.

all I own are Excalibur C.B.'s and get mine custom built from a local retired fella, carbon and aluminum.

just make sure you shoot/practice with your crossbow with the broadhead and arrow you are going to hunt with!

sadly ALOT of rifle hunters do not understand a CB needs tuned like any other bow. A 125 gr. fixed blade will not impact the same as the same arrow with 125 gr. field point.

Always practice with your hunting setup! It'll payoff when it counts!

about as dependable as you can get for $300.00 back a few years

With a crossbow, it practically doesn't matter, as long as you practice with your chosen combination.

I use carbon bolts and excalibur's 150 gr fixed heads, but that's just preference.  Aluminums would work just as well.  With velocities so high in modern crossbows, there's plenty of energy to use mechanicals, if that's your wish.

the only thing you really have to worry about with mechanicals is a hard quartering to or away shot.

sometimes you will get whats called deflection. what happens is that the inside blade will strike the deer and open first

causing the bolt to turn into the deer so, you might not get the vital hit your looking for. i had this happen twice with

n.a.p. spitfires, still killed the deer quickly because of massive blood loss. so now i`m a bit more careful on the angle

of the shot.

1. Make sure that the broadheads that you select meet your state's rules - minimum number of cutting edges, minimum cutting diameter and whether mechanicals are allowed.

2. Make sure that you get bolts that are the right length for your x-bow, and that the combined weight of the point, the shaft and vanes meets the minimum weight for your x-bow.  Too light of a bolt would be the same as dry firing your x-bow.

3. Don't forget rail lube in addition to string wax/conditioner.

I have been having great luck with carbon express bolts (they come with half moon and flat knocks) and after much trial and error I have settled on NAP spitfire mechanicals. they seem to be the only mechanical that can take hard quartering shots consistently and I have never heard of one failing to open (the other thing I like is that they show you "proof" that they opened by dinging the housing) I have used Montec fixed blades (they were OK, but quite field point accuracy) rage mechanicals (like the cut on contact, but dont like relying on orings) and the montec mechanicals (I just didnt like the small cutting diameter)

I have also heard great things about grim reapers, I may end up trying them sometieme but for now the NAP's and doing great.