Swhacker Broadhead

Gunpowder

Senior Member
My 13 yr old grandson shoots 100gr Swhacker heads from a 51 lb PSE bow. He shot a spike at about 20 yds in the shoulder this past Sunday evening. Arrow penetrated about 2" , the deer ran and the arrow fell out. He recovered the arrow and broad head and the arrow was broken right at the head. He killed anther spike that evening at 30 yds with a behind the shoulder shot - arrow past clean through. What went wrong with the first deer that was shot in the shoulder?
 

downwind

Member
That shoulder can be a tough thing to pass through if you don't have enough power behind it. Even if you do have enough it's still hard. I shot a doe at 10yards this year in the shoulder and did get good penetration but never recovered her. I'm shooting at 70lbs.
 

rjcruiser

Senior Member
He hit the bone. Nothing to do with the head...everything to do with shot placement. Was a little forward and a little high with that first shot.
 

spydermon

Senior Member
Imo, no head made will go through the knuckle part of the shoulder and it takes a very hard hitting arrow to go through the shoulder blade.
His hit was apparently forward in the bone/knuckle area and resulted in no penetration.
 

downwind

Member
I did kill one this year and hit her high in the shoulder and it did penetrate and got both lungs and almost completely passed through. It was a 40yrd shot with a swacker. I just got lucky!
 

morganco.killa08

Senior Member
using mechanical broadheads. no matter what they wont get much penetration. I shot and lost my biggest bow buck this season due to mechanical broadheads. MUZZY TROCAR for me from now on out! haven't lost one yet with them.
 

mizzippi jb

Welcome back.
Was it really due to a mechanical broadhead?
 

Jim Boyd

Senior Member
MorganCo-

We shot two 200+ lb in Illinois last month with expandables and got full pass throughs on both.

I am back at archery after a fairly long hiatus but one thing has not changed....shot placement is still key!
 

morganco.killa08

Senior Member
yes shot placement is key. but can you honestly trust that the mechanicals will work every time? I have tried several mechanicals(rage, swhacker and axe to name a few) I have yet to have an easy blood trail with them. muzzy or any cut on contact broadhead works every time. you can hit shoulder or any big bone and still get better results.
 

mizzippi jb

Welcome back.
Well I've shot 3 deer over 260 in the Midwest and a good many nice bucks here in ga. With mechanical heads. I'm pleased with my results as long as I make a vital shot
 

rjcruiser

Senior Member
yes shot placement is key. but can you honestly trust that the mechanicals will work every time? I have tried several mechanicals(rage, swhacker and axe to name a few) I have yet to have an easy blood trail with them. muzzy or any cut on contact broadhead works every time. you can hit shoulder or any big bone and still get better results.

You should have just stopped your post after the first sentence. After that...it is just nonsense.
 

morganco.killa08

Senior Member
peoples opinions and peoples actual experiences are different. just stating what I have experienced. maybe your mechanical's work perfectly every time!
 

jt12

Senior Member
peoples opinions and peoples actual experiences are different. just stating what I have experienced. maybe your mechanical's work perfectly every time!

Maybe you haven't shot enough mechanical to know for sure. One thing I know for sure is that a 2 inch hole in a whitetails vitals will definitely produce more blood than a 1 1/8 will.
 

bowbuck

Senior Member
I dont know ya but would tell you to your face that if you have put a two blade rage through one in the vitals and have not had a good blood trail you should see an eye doctor immediately. There is no telling what your missing in life.

No deer on the planet can hold a two inch cut mechanical where it counts. For that matter they did not hold flint rocks all that well either. I have shot deer with rages and lost them. Totally my fault. I hit one dead center shoulder and got no penetration to speak of. I shot under one and nicked her with one blade. I shot a p&y contender last year that I am unsure of where I hit but didnt find. He went over a mile bleeding but never bedded. The only thing I am sure of after exhaustive tracking jobs is that I did not hit them where it counts. Cause if I had I would be dragging.
 

Ihunt

Senior Member
What people have a hard time admitting is it is very seldom the broadheads fault whether its a mechanical or a COC. The difference is with a COC you cant say it was broadhead failure. With a mechanical you can say it all you want when in reality it was probably you.
 

Kris87

Senior Member
What people have a hard time admitting is it is very seldom the broadheads fault whether its a mechanical or a COC. The difference is with a COC you cant say it was broadhead failure. With a mechanical you can say it all you want when in reality it was probably you.

I have no idea how many deer I've shot with a bow, but its a lot. I have only ever had one broadhead failure that I know of, but the deer still died and died fast. It happened on a Killzone, and although I don't know what happened to it because I couldn't find the arrow, the deer had a 2" entry hole and a quarter sized exit. I could only suspect the blades broke, or the little screw broke. Not sure. But thats one case out of a bunch.
 

jbogg

Senior Member
I have shot expandables exclusively for 20 years. Shooting 70 lbs most shots were complete pass throughs unless I hit shoulder. The only broad head I have had to break was a Schwacker. Shot a big doe at 5 yds quartering away. Clipped top of heart & lodged in far shoulder. When I field dressed her I found the broad head broken in two where the threads connect with the ferrule.
 

BowanaLee

Senior Member
My 13 yr old grandson shoots 100gr Swhacker heads from a 51 lb PSE bow. He shot a spike at about 20 yds in the shoulder this past Sunday evening. Arrow penetrated about 2" , the deer ran and the arrow fell out. He recovered the arrow and broad head and the arrow was broken right at the head. He killed anther spike that evening at 30 yds with a behind the shoulder shot - arrow past clean through. What went wrong with the first deer that was shot in the shoulder?

I've shot several deer where it appeared that happened when it actually did not. I could post a hunt but the mods will delete it. Its the 2011 funky racked buck hunt on my youtube page. It appears the arrow just falls right out. It actually hit perfect and broke in opposite shoulder right at the head. Very little blood on the shaft. It was a innerloc mechanical but a swhacker will mess up a deer too.
 
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Hunter454

Senior Member
The only penetration problem I've ever had with an expandable was an 8 point shot right in the shoulder, it eventually fell out with basically no blood trail, as stated above it was completely my fault not the broadhead
 
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