I've been using mechanical broadheads for deer hunting with good success, but when I had the chance to go on my first spring bear hunt, I knew it was time to look at a different broadhead option.

My outfitter suggested fixed-blade heads, so the search was on. After talking with Cabela's Archery Product Manager Dave Krueger, I decided to give the Magnus Stingers a try. I'd heard great things about these broadheads from a friend of mine who had switched to them a year earlier, so I was confident the Stinger would be a good choice.

The advantages of a mechanical broadhead include its ability to fly like a field point, requiring less tuning and tweaking of a bow's setup. And while I can't say from my field-test alone that the Magnus Stinger acts just like a mechanical head for everyone, I can say that true to what my buddy told me, I made no changes to my bow, sights or arrows switching to the Magnus Stinger - for me they flew just like my field points. You may not have the same results, but I was impressed. In fact, I was elated the first time I shot the Stingers. Using one head for practicing prior to my bear hunt, I shot one arrow with a field point, and the next with the Stinger, getting the same point of impact, arrow flight and performance from one arrow to the next.

I shot the 100-grain, four-blade model (double-edged bleeder blades make up the four-blade configuration). Main blades and bleeder blades can be replaced, and the main blades can be sharpened. I really like the compact, cut-on-impact design of these heads. For this hunt I used Cabela's Outfitter Series BuffTuff carbon arrows, which are heavier than standard carbon offerings to help increase kinetic energy. Four-blade Stingers are available in 85, 100, and 125-grain models. There is also a two-blade offering in both 100 and 125 grain.

During the first evening of my Quebec hunt, a decent bear came to the bait site, and after several visits in and out of the dense forest, presented a good broadside shot at 21 yards. Settling the 20-yard pin tight behind the shoulder, I released. Just as in practice, the arrow flew exactly to the spot where I aimed, and the Stinger did its job. As the bear spun and disappeared into the woods, I could see the arrow stuck in the bait stump - a complete pass through. The head and bleeder blade were perfectly intact when I recovered the arrow in the stump. We recovered the bear less than 15 steps from the treestand.

This was my first hunt with the Magnus Stinger, but it will not be the last. Based on performance and virtually non-existent tuning or tweaking to the bow, arrows, rest or sights, I have to say the Magnus Stinger is one of the best broadheads I've ever used.

A born and bred Cornhusker, Mark Nelsen has spent most of his life outdoors. Forsaking his urban upbringing, Nelsen spent much of his youth on farms and ranches of relatives and friends, exploring pheasant coverts and probing the depths of bass and panfish ponds. From an early age, he knew he wanted to talk and write about the outdoors for a living. Nelsen has worked in television, radio and print journalism and is currently the Internet Communications Manager for Cabela's. He's an avid bowhunter, black-powder hunter, bird hunter and fly caster.

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