I am curious to know how you know whether or not your Mech. Open completely or not. If I hit a deer whether it is a pass through or not the blades will flop back l to an unknown position at time of impact. As in my case very happy where my deer have lied dead not more than 40 yrds away but all my deer have been relatively easy level shots. I wonder to myself if the shot was other than easy would my mech. Work they way I expect. I shoot currently the WASP Jackhammer SST. The blades can and do fall back into place somewhat leaving you wondering did they all open. So how do you know how well they worked?

If you recover your animal you should be able to measure a difference between the entry and exit holes in the hide if it is a pass through. As long as the entry/exit are different sized holes (some mechanicals will have a very big entry hole, others a very small one) you should know that your blades are working properly. On a non-pass through, you can only look at the entry hole. If you already have seen a few from your style of mechanicals, you should be able to estimate if it worked or not.

That's kind of what I was wondering if it would be the pattern on the animal left behind.

Those same questions that you are wondering is why after 7 years of using mechanicals with mixed results I'm going back to fixed blades. I don't want to have any questions about blades opening after the shot. RockyMountain Ti 100's or Muzzy 100 4 blade are my top choices right now.

Absolutely, I do not want that beautiful buck and have a Mech. failure. So I am going Slicks. After all they are having some wonderful feedback and are made in Arkansas. So keeping a local business going and getting a top quality products makes me a confident hunter. Not saying that I have lost a deer yet, BUT!!!!!!!

That's why I insist on using a mech b-head that WILL give me a FULL SIZE entry wound. The Rockets always have, probably why they are the number 1 mechs in the inductry? Time after time, full size entry and exit wounds and put down power that is second to none! Here's proof, this is the entry from a quartering away (as you can tell) hit with a Steelhead 100XP. That's dependability that you can count on!

Darn good camera too
Seriously though with some of the new fixed broadheads that have been proven to shoot just like field tips so why not fixed?

You know they worked when you recover your animal Most heads will fully open after a few inches of penetration. The only 100% sure way to know is to compare the exit wound(if you have one) to the size of the head.

I have heard people say that their mechanicals didn't work on deer they could not find. My qusetion is, if they didn't find their deer.....how do ya know? I have used Grim Reapors for 2 years and have not lost a deer. They open and cut a large hole everytime. I won't switch back to fixed blades anytime soon.

"I have heard people say that their mechanicals didn't work on deer they could not find. My qusetion is, if they didn't find their deer.....how do ya know? "

EXACTLY!!! It ticks me off when I hear folks say that! [:@] I mean, it's just kind of funny to me that we someone looses a deer with fixed blades than you'll hear all kinds of different excuses, BUT when they screw up and happen to have a mech b-head on the end of their arrow then boy they just "know" that it was the b-heads fault! I just really get tired of hearing it all the time! Bottom line: shoot the deer in the "kill zone",.... that's why they call it that! NO b-head is gonna make a bad shot good. That being said, if my shot is a little off the mark then I'll take the bigger cut of most mechs everytime?