Episode 596: Two Year Study Puts the Mechanical vs Fixed Blade Debate to Bed, African Tick Bite Fever and Custom AR-10 Builds With Tactical Skeleton

What this episode covers

Every bowhunter has their preferred broadhead. Taking that into account, don’t switch if you’re getting great results with your current set up. However, if you’ve been left scratching your head or are interested in longtime outdoor writer Will Brantley’s 2 year study on the effectiveness of fixed blades vs mechanical broadheads then you’ll want to hear this discussion. We take a look at the parameters by which Will outlined his research (which included shooting about $4,000.00 worth of various models of each style broadhead) and how he gauged important categories like: sharpness, penetration, longevity and others. Also, the fact that Will was shooting into actual flesh and bone for the study makes it singular compared to other broadhead performance studies I’ve come across in the past. (shooting both styles of broadheads through beef ribs proved to be a great resource for the study)   Then I spend some time visiting with my friend and custom AR-10 gun maker Omar Hegazy of Tactical Skeleton. Omar recently joined me on a South African safari for the ages. We discuss his first trip to the dark continent and also an unfortunate parasitic infection he brought home with him in the form of African Tick Bite Fever. Despite the ER trip and subsequent intravenous antibiotics, Omar is already looking forward to his next trip to South Africa. (redness and inflammation are signs that you might have picked up something nasty from a tick, plan to seek medical treatment if it worsens) Then we spend a segment talking about Omar’s true passion – building custom AR-10 rifles. We dive into the history of his company Tactical Skeleton and what options are available in the way of high end AR-10 style rifles and packages.