(Photo courtesy of G5)
August 09, 2025
By Colton Heward
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After four excruciating hours of baking in the hot August sun, the velvet-clad mule deer stood from his bed, unaware of my presence tucked behind a sage brush 43 yards above him. The countless hours of summer prep came down to this singular moment. I was confident in my shooting abilities at that distance, and I knew the broadhead fastened on the end of my arrow was lethal. With a deep exhale I settled my pin and sent an arrow down range, zipping through the buck and burying into the dirt behind. At the shot, the buck jumped into the bottom of the grassy draw, stopped, and intently looked back trying to figure out what had startled him, eyes and ears on full alert. Within seconds, his legs wobbled and the buck fell. In my opinion, he never even knew an Easton Axis arrow tipped with a razor-sharp G5 Deadmeat V2 broadhead had pierced both lungs and clipped the top of his heart.
As a hunter, initiating a quick and merciful death of our quarry is precisely what we practice, prepare and strive for. Yes, there are many variables that are outside of our control, especially when bowhunting, but the use of a reliable and deadly broadhead is one of the few variables well within our control.
Broadhead selection for a bowhunter is often an irrational decision based on current marketing ploys sprinkled with second-hand experience. When I first started bowhunting 20 years ago, I was no different, wading through broadheads until I found one that flew well and killed quickly. That was G5’s T3 3-blade mechanical broadhead. Were they perfect? No. They had a slight rattle that was a minor annoyance, and the metal spider clips used to keep the blades from deploying early were a tad finicky. But they flew straight, and after watching a handful of mule deer die in short order after spilling impressive blood trails over the course of several years, my confidence in the T3 was high.
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Fast forward 20 years and the T3 broadhead has evolved from the T3 to the Deadmeat and now the Deadmeat V2. The basics of the 3-blade mechanical head from G5 have remained the same but engineers improved upon each rendition, addressing hunters’ grievances and fine tuning the broadheads function and lethality. However, the one constant that has remained throughout is that it has continued to add meat to my freezer year in and year out with 100% reliability, accounting for dozens of quick, ethical kills from Africa to Alaska and all over the West over the past two decades.
Stick With What Works (Photo submitted by the author) Is it the ideal broadhead for every situation? Probably not. But for deer-sized game, I have yet to see or shoot a broadhead that can match its shootability and terminal performance, earning itself my tested tough stamp of approval for two decades and counting.
Colton Heward
Managing Editor
Colton Heward comes from a multi-generational line of hunters and conservationists entrenched in the rich hunting heritage of the West. Growing up in Northern Utah, plentiful hunting opportunities lit a fire inside him that burns with more fervor with every passing season. For more than a decade, Heward spent his falls guiding mule deer, elk, pronghorn and moose hunters before taking on his current role as Managing Editor of Petersen's Hunting. Outside of guiding, his passion for hunting and the outdoors has taken him to the remote corners of the world from Alaska to Africa in search of adventure and provided some of his most cherished memories.
Prior to working for Petersen's Hunting, Heward was a freelance outdoor journalist with regular contributions to many Outdoor Sportsman Group publications, as well as several other major hunting media outlets. Preserving our revered hunting tradition through education and conservation is of the utmost importance to him in his role at Petersen's Hunting.
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