SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

OK - so I think I can post a picture properly so here goes my discussion on the slicktrick broadheads...

First let me say this - these things fly AWESOME - I'm shooting 3 inch groups at 50 yards - they fly like darts - which is why I fell in love with them - they do seem noisey in flight - I can hear a 'ffffffft' while in flight which I don't hear with Muzzy's or fieldpoints.

Just to reiterate - these things fly like darts - and I'm not hear to rip on anyone but I want your opinions & to let you know of a possible problem...

Here goes - I think that the short TIP and EXTREME angles of the blades cause deflections on quartering angles that really aren't that steep.

Here's my proof - I took a doe at about 9 yards quartering away - she dropped at 40 yards & I didn't think much of it. As she was haning on the snorting pole I noticed I couldn't see the enterance hole. I started poking around & found that the broadhead cut the hide, then slid forward under the hide over the guts/ribs for about 4 inches and past 3 ribs before the tip 'caught' and the arrow went through the deer, exiting the opposite front shoulder. A clean pass-thru but I found it intersting that the arrow appeared to 'slide' up the body a ways before 'entering'. I brushed it off.

The next morning I took a shot at a quartering young buck - and about fell over when I saw the fletch hanging out of his chest when he turned broadside & I could glass him (he was some 65 yards away so I coldn't shoot again). After tracking for hours & 3/4 of a mile with real good blood we lost him - couldn't track through the alfalfa field he entered - I was not only bummed but in awe - the arrow was 'hanging out of him' right in the X - I just couldn't figure out what went wrong.

Overnight I started developing a theory - I went out & looked at that doe hide again - I theorized that the arrow glanced off the hide & penetrated the hide but not the ribs, then slid up under the front shoulder & stopped inside of him w/o getting through the vitals. The next day I heard the T'wolves (yes timberwolves) cut lose & I figured they found him. When the ravens got to the scraps I headed out & found him about 1/4 mile from where I lost him - and there was the end of my arrow & broadhead too, I inspected what was left of him & sure enough my theory was correct. I drug out the carcass & started photo'ing it.

Here's the carcass with the hide 'down' you can see the hole to the far left, then the hide shaved (moving right) then a hole in the hide where it actually penetrated, then further right where it 'stopped' and wore a hole thru above & in front of the shoulder


The first (far left) hole in the hide is where the head hit FIRST, then it shaved & slid, hit again & penetrated the hide (not ribs) then slid.. Why? The blade hit the ribs & slid down & the tip didn't penetrate.

Next - the hide was detatched from the ribs - so by lifting the hide up I could see exactly what the arrow did - and one of the blades slid down the ribs & you could see it cutting each rib & bouncing down as it did - here's where the arrow laid (hide removed)



ok - so pull the arrow away & reveal the 'line' the arrow took - look closeley & you'll see the 'line' the blade left as it slid down the ribcage



OK - so that's that for the MN buck story.. - the next day I took a small buck broadside at 43 yards with a complete passthru RIGHT THRU the heart - (as I said - they fly like darts but I think they have deflection issues)

SO - now I'm hunting SD again...

I take a buck (see my other post) at about 10 yards quartering away - when he takes off he's favoring his right leg (enterance side) and I KNOW it was an X when I shot - and again - I about fall out of the stand when the arrow doesn't 'passthru'. I pray for quite a while & this time I recover the deer - but again - the enterance hole is a big question.

Well I get the hide off it - the deer was quartering away & when I shot the arrow fletch seemed to flip UP and dangle UP and BACK when I expected a pass thru. back to the story - I get the hide off & here's what it looks like



looks good right - X ring (close to it) but what's with the blood below & behind it I'm wondering... well I take the shoulder off (next pic) and the DARN head AGAIN didn't penetrate the ribs - but slid along the ribs under the shoulder



I must have hit an artery because there was MASSIVE blood loss after about 30 yards and he only went 50 total. You can see the massive blood clotting under the shoulder - I'm just glad I recovered this one!

OK - so what's the point? I think you guys should know to beware of quartering shots with this head. I shoot a Bowtech Patriot at 70# and shoot at 444 grain arrow at about 250fps so I have good KE - and as I stated - 3 inch groups at 50 yards - they fly like darts and do great broadside - but watch the quartering shots....

I ordered innerlock 4blade 105gr's when I got the hide off this deer.

(long & full of pictures - sorry...)

be careful on quartering shots & good luck!



Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Hmmm, very interesting.

Huntmup it appears you have documented your case well. I can see by the angle of the blades on the head that there could be issues with even mild angling shots.

Thanks for the heads up!

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Well, it would seem from your pictues( well documented I might add) that you are having some problems with the heads. I first want to thank you for taking the time to let us all know your findings, and to explain in full detail what happend. I have not taken any game with these heads, but they did pretty well in my tests. Keep in mind though I haven't done any deflection testing with fixed blade heads, but I think I will work something up with the heads I have and see what I find out. Yours is the first case I have heard of with this head and these kinds of defletions. It would be intresting to see if anyone else has has this problem. Thanks again for the information.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Excellent report. Thank you for posting it.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

another kudos on the report good job.

brian

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

thanks - and I'd like to help in some type of deflection testing but I don't know how to test for it...??? The reason I've stayed away from mech's is deflection - I was severly dissapointed with having the same issue on fixed blades.

Also - just to reiterate - these things fly like darts - I KNOW that I am as accurate with the b/h's as I am with my f/p's - I shot TONS of 3d's this year & I'm certain these things HIT where they are shot - they just don't appear to penetrate what they've shot. Of course - that being said - when comparing DIRECT BROADSIDE shots with my muzzy 3blade 100 gr's in a delta 3d deer vital - brand new side by side the slick tricks CONSISTANTLY out penetrated the muzzys - but on a 1/4ing shot I'd want the muzzy's back.

5shot - how can one safely test for these shots? I do have 1 doe tag left to fill & I was thinking after I get her down I could use the hide/ribs for testing...?? thoughts??

Thanks!



Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Thanks for the report/pics. huntmup. Like I said in your other thread, I use these heads and also love the accuracy of the flight of the things. I haven't had problems as severe as you are showing. Thay may be a factor of me beinging lucky or you being unlucky.

I have shot a total of 3 deer with these heads. 2 does and 1 buck. The first doe was a broadside shot with no problems, heart shot and watched her go down within 20 yards.

My buck was a a quartering shot. I aimed for the opposite shoulder and the arrow went in where it should have but deflected back the opposite way that you describe, hitting the liver. The deflection the opposite direction may have been caused by hitting a rib/bone and deflecting backwards. I don't recall that well cause it was last year and I was just happy to get a buck.

The doe I shot this year, I didn't hit the greatest. It was a quartering away shot and I hit her a bit farther back than I would have liked. It went throught the stomach and only 1 lung. The lung that I did hit, the head kind of went through the area betweent he 2 lobes of the lung. I initially thought I had a good hit on her and only gave her 15 minutes before tracking. Very good blood trail. Basicly 2 blood trails, 1 entry and 1 exit. When I bumped her from her bed, I couldn't believe that she was still alive. I basicly jogged after her after that, following the blood trail and jumped her from her bed several more times. The blood trail always was good. I let her bed down after deciding that she had bleed enuff and I could probably find her in the morning. I had to keep her bleeding otherwise I don't think I would have found her.

I like the heads but you've got me thinking. I think that I would like to see a point on them similar to the rocket steelhead to bust some bone and let the rest of the blades in.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I have only taken one deer, or shot, and it was with a slick trick. My shot was broadside and that deer didn't go more then 40-50 yards and died very quickly. I also bought slick tricks because they fly just like broadheads.

I will ask my buddy who turned me one to slick tricks. I know he has taken 3-4 deer this year using them and I'm not sure if he used them last year too. I can't say that I have heard him speak bad of the slick tricks after switching from muzzy's. He has taken 34 deer over the years so he's has a very good idea of how a broadhead usually performs in a quartering shot. I'll ask him tonight and post his thoughts.

I think one of the tough things about this observation is that the sample group is far to small to draw any real conclusions.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Huntmup, I think you are definatly on to something. I like the way you documented all of this and took pictures. It appears to me that your theory is right on target after looking at the pictures. It seems that someone else will probably have been having these problems too.

--------------------------------------------
Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Nice report. You did a good job of presenting your point!

Protect your hunting rights, "Spay or neuter a liberal."

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I love the way these things fly.

That being said, I got to say huntmup that your case is convincing...

I took a spud this weekend that I would have bet was a perfect "10" ring shot. Entry was right on the money - he was quartering away. Somehow the arrow altered course and exited further back than the entry. There was massive damage to the one lung that it hit (jellied).

I think that you may be correct however regarding the angle of the blade & the shortness of the point. I think that if they lengthened the tip/point by at least 3/4 of an inch, it would greatly aid in spot-on penetration.

Hate to see a half skinned deer running by with an arrow hanging out of it because the angle of the attack was too steep for the angle on the blade.

Come to think of it - I bet that there is some type of calculation that could be made with regards to proper angle of attack vs. blade sweep angle.

Any mathematicians out there that want to tackle this??


&quot;It's not the kill, it's the adventure and challenge! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>&quot;

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

After my shot on the buck, I contacted the inventor of these heads and suggested making the angle of the blades less steep, because of the deflection issue. He replied that the main reason for the steep angle was for maximum cutting surface and to keep the overall length of the head short for good flight, which I can understand.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Me again. I sent the link to this thread for oldhootowl to review. He replied back to me and said I could post for him since he hasn't been able to find his password.

&quot;Thanks Eric, somebody else gave me a heads up earlier. I can't find a password or whatever to post right now so I gave the guy a readers digest version to post if he wants, and I emailed 5 shot. Suffice it to say this is the only deflection complaint I have received, and I don't believe there is a problem on a good angled shot. Any head will travel down the ribs if that is the direction of the arrow upon contact, and the deer doesn't have to move much on a quartering shot for that to happen with any head. There are good quartering shots and risky quartering shots with any head, and even on a good quartering shot a deer can easily move enough for it to become an extreme quartering shot with a grazing angle. Fred Bear once shot a doe at close range on camera and while he was aiming for one side he hit the other side. And the eye can not get close to telling if the deer moved just before the arrow hit or after. I believe if people were having a real problem I would have heard about it by now from more than one person. I have only heard of 2 guys losing animals with my heads total, this being one of them. If shops were seeing a problem they would be hollering at me, you can bet on that, but they are praising my heads. I have seen pictures where Muzzies traveled down the ribs but if that is the line of the shot at impact of course that would be where it goes, that isn't &quot;deflection&quot;. Of course now everybody who shot and missed will have a tendency to latch on to the &quot;deflection&quot; excuse. The only arrow guaranteed to kill regardless is a poison arrow. I don't know if I will find the password and post anyway but feel free to also post this if you like.

THANKS GARY&quot;

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I wanted to give Gary a heads up on this but with me travelling for work & others clammering for the pictures I couldn't get it all done - I hope he doesn't take offense to what I've written & as I stated - I've never seen a fixed blade hit as accurate as these - but I've also never seen one 'slide' like this either. I haven't taken 100's of deer but what I've done this year is no differnt than what I've done in the past - and this is the first time I've had any 'slide' issues - and it happened on 3 of 4 shots. The 1 it didn't was perfectly broadside (as posted earlier), taken at 43 yards, through the heart - yes they fly darn straight!!!!

I'm glad to see dialogue on the subject - and I'm afraid I don't know what flight characteristics will change by changing the angle of the blades or length of the tip.

These things fly like darts but I just won't use them anymore.



Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Huntmup, The deflection tests I will use are the same as those I did in my early tests with mechanical heads. I used oil soaked 3D targets, thin 1/4&quot; luan board, and this time I will use a fresh deer hide I just happen to have. I can do the test safely as I have around 20 acres to play around on, and no one to get in the way. I will have to agree with Gary, He has sent me heads for testing, and I found the to be excellent heads. I check my records and yours is the first negitive report on the slick tricks. I would feel confident using them myslef, but I will do the tests and compare the results. I will say up front though that I did not find defletction to be a problem with most mechanical heads in my tests, provided the bow was tuned well, and the angle was what one that should be taken on game. I have seen a lot of people take angled shots that were way to steep! I am not saying thats what happend with you, but with tuned equipment and proper shot choices most heads do well.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

It certainly appears that you did get enough deflection to be a problem, and the short length of the heads may be a factor. I have 3 that I didn't use because I couldn't get them sharp enough to satisfy me. FWIW, I don't aim to hit the &quot; X ring&quot; on a quartering away shot, but try to hit farther back and angle the arrow through the center of the vitals. This year's doe was hit in the last few ribs (slicing through 3 of them) and exited in front of the off side leg. This was with a Muzzy. If I had hit this deer in the place where you would get a good score on a 3D target, I would have only gotten one lung. Just my opinion.

Avoid the inevitable until it is absolutely unavoidable!

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Joe I'm with you on the X-ring comment - it was intended more 'virtual' than physical (as it relates to a 3d target) The X ring (to me on a deer that is) is where I think the perfect passthru double lung & heart if I can get it shot is - not at all the actual X ring on a 3d target.

If you look at my SD buck pictures from my other post the blood loss looks a lot further back than it does in this post with the hide off - I.E. he wasn't quartering at a steep angle AT ALL.

Also of note (that I forgot to mention) was that when I shot that buck the arrow hit the deer with a huge CRACK - high pitched like slapping hands together - not the 'thwuummpp' like when I stuck the passthru at 43 yards - I thin it whacked a rib immediately & caused the commotion.

Take it for what it's worth guys - I was a big advocate until this & I still say they fly more accurately than anything else I've seen - I just won't hunt with them.



Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Gotta tell you hunt, I'm bummin.

Man I love the way these things fly.

I am impressed however that the owner & developer will take the time to respond on a board like this.

Hope that he can get a longer point developed for these blades so that upon impact the point is anchored & the blades have no choice but to follow.



&quot;It's not the kill, it's the adventure and challenge! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>&quot;

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

To Huntmup and the rest.
You are no longer the ONLY person who had this problem.
I too had almost the exact same thing happen.
My deer (8 pointer) was quartering away at 31 yards (I guessed 30...not too bad...seeing I was up about 20 feet, my pin was right on). I shot, and watched the arrow hit the deer. My first reaction was elation! It looked to be aperfect shot...but an instant later, I could still see more than 3/4 of the arrow!!! We trailed that deer for 2 days!!! Lots of blood, but he kept going. At first, I though: maybe he turned just as the arrow hit him...dumb luck. Now I'm not so sure.
As for expandibles, I shot my deer last year, it WAS broadside, but on the shot it jumped, and tuned quartering TO! The deer was at a rather sharp angle...more than a perfect quarter. The arrow went in just behind the front shoulder (Hit a touch high) and exited the deer at the very back edge of the far lung. 6 seconds, and 40 yards...it was down.
I think I will be going back to my expandibles (Shockwave...VERY long head when open, and an ENTRANCE wound you could stick 5 finger tips into). I just will NOT go through that blood trailing nightmare again if there is ANYTHING I can do about it.
BTW, They DO fly PERFECTLY. My shot at 31 yards was right on the pin! I SHOULD have an 8 point rack on the wall....not guilt in my gut.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Hello, I don't much post on these, some of them don't want you to unless you pony up some loot. Up to now I only had one guy tell me my heads didn't fly like fieldtips, and now a guy tells me my head &quot;deflects&quot;. Guess what- its the same guy! I found Shanes experience to be the exception to the rule and I hadn't deleted it from earlier. I will share a bit of the email with you. &quot;I put the SlickTricks on & they hit low & right at 4:30 about 2.5 inches. Flat and straight out to 40, but 2.5 off at 20.&quot; By the way, you read that correctly, it is quoted perfectly. As far as the first doe kill, &quot;I think they have better penetration than the Muzzys & they did the job this week. I filled one of my doe tags on Tuesday morning & the head did its job quite well. My shot was just a bit less than perfect but the head only made for a 50 yard chase. I took her 1/4'ing away at a steep angle & should have been just a bit more forward- maybe 3 inches. The head entered just in front of the hind 1/4 (nicked the front edge of the ham) and came out just behind the front shoulder taking rib bone on the way out. Total passthrough & the arrow was buried in the dirt 10 inches too.&quot; He closes with &quot;Have a good one & keep making the good heads!&quot; I will let everybody that email speak for itself, and I have sent it to 5shot so he can verify it. Sometines your imagination just gets the better of you. The last buck pic puzzles me also. Like Joe PA I see a big hole right behind the shoulder, not where the shot should be on a quartering animal. I don't see any sign of any deflection, no marks at all behind the wound. Frankly if I hit there and recovered the deer and saw the damage the head made I would have been a happy camper. And sure enough, like I said earlier through Eric, somebody who made a bad shot and saw this post now claims to have lost the animal because of &quot;deflection&quot;. Oh well, one thing you learn on these sites is that you aren't singled out, every head there is has somebody disappointed somehow somewhere. Thats just how it is, and my 2 cents, Thanks Gary

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Thanks for the input Gary & you bet, I did write that about my first harvest with the head, and I also posted it here - then things started *happening* and I waited to see if it was me or? Then it happened again, then it happened again - I took FOREVER to gather as much information as possible and to be as non-biased as possible, in an attempt to present the FACTS of what happened to ME.

I've never said they didn't fly awesome - and I always said they didn't quite impact on with my f/p's - but after a slight tune and a slight move of the sight they DID impact TOGETHER consistantly - even out to 50 yards.

The comments on 'only this guy can't make them hit with his f/p's' is a bit shakey IMHO. I shoot TONS of arrows and I can tell when something is off by one inch - I know when it's me and when it's not me, and I can be honest with myself. The heads didn't quite hit with the f/p's but I don't care - they grouped AWESOME and were darts out to 50 yards.

Also - after re-reading the e-mail I had sent to you & thinking about it some more - I'd sure like to have that 1'st carcass back & inspect it for a slide too - it entered further back & came out further ahead than I would have expected - but heck yes it did the job. (Again - presenting facts & being honest with myself)

Ya'all can take this thread for what it's worth & make up your own minds but I guarnatee you NONE of those shots were bad - either in distance or degree of quartering angle or in placement. The small buck I took with a pass-thru was the only one that was questionable & at times I'm still surprised I took the shot but I went into a sub-concious shooter mode & everything was absolutely perfect and with the target completely broadside I had no doubt of my capabilities so I touched it off - again - a very straight & true flying head took out his heart.



Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I just re-read the post & had to post again regarding the sliding on the skinned deer - its tough to tell because of the redness of the blood but if you look at the bottom of the blood on the left side there are 2 'flaps' - that's actually the enterance hole & the arrow slid 'up' the picture basically to the top of the picture.

Yes it's behind the front shoulder because it wan't that steep - and the arrow slid behind the shoulder, then back & down to create the other trauma below & behind the enterance hole.

Stealth_Force it sounds as though we had similar experinces.

Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I'm glad Gary is responding. I've talked to him on the phone (as I know many of you have), and his knowledge impressed me. The Slick Trick head flies awesome. As good or better than field point flight. I started shooting them this year, and quickly realized, without making any adjustments from field point use, that I better start shooting a five-spot target. I ruined several arrows at all distances from them smacking each other.

That, to me, means everything. Accuracy is king, and I feel very confident with these heads in my quiver. I know that if I do my part, the head will find it's mark. I've only taken one deer with them, a 175-lb. Missouri buck. I hit it twice, because I spined it with my first shot. I did not estimate distance properly. The deer dropped at that shot, and the second shot took him through the shoulder. Both of the Slick Tricks were driven down into the Beman shaft, and broke. However, with one shot being through the spine, and the second through heavy shoulder, I'm not sure that wasn't acceptable. The deer died seconds after the number two arrow.

I'll admit that the blades aren't as sharp as I'd like, but I think this is due in large part to the blade thickness. I like the thickness of the blades, so I'm willing to touch the heads up slightly. I simply used a fine stone, and after about 5 strokes per side, I can shave my arm hair. Works for me.



MOCraig

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Sounds like this Gary guy is really taking it personally and trying to discredit a person who had a bad experience with his product.

I have never used them but from looking at the sttep blade angle in the pictures I have no trouble at all believing that theses broadheads would have problems on quartering shots. Sounds like the design has several things going for it but it obviously has some flaws too.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

huntmup, thanks for the info. Very thorough and food for thought. I hear what you are saying and have heard the heads' designer's reply. I think it will be interesting to see what the results of 5shot's tests will be.

I must admit that when I saw the pics and read the info the first thing that came to mind was a very steep quartering away angle, but I was not there so it's impossible to say.

5shot if I may make a request for your test, please try the deflection test at differing rates of angle. That is, going from slightly quartering away and increasing the angle to severely quartering away. My thinking on this is you may be able to establish a point at which a deflection occurs and then inform hunters that if they want to use these heads to avoid shots at this angle. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Sounds like Gary is taking it kind of personal to me. I see no sense in trying to discredit the mans honest opinion. He is obviously not here to slam the Slick Tricks and his post was well thought out and well researched. I think I will stick with my Thunderheads and my Montecs.

Protect your hunting rights, &quot;Spay or neuter a liberal.&quot;

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

NOTE: For those that feel huntmup and I had fluke experiances, I WILL say this. In MY tests (No quartering test was done) The slick trick heads were AWESOME! I have some tests for simulating bone, and the slick tricks beat Muzzy tips. Also a quick easy way to test a heads durability, is to shoot a coconut. The Slick Tricks won that test going away. They are pretty much as accurate as field pooints (I wouldn't say BETTER than FP...let's be real here) and after using the SAME head on coconuts, AND my simulated shoulder blade the head STILL looked new after a change of blades.
If your NOT worried about these heads deflecting...BUY them!!! I have not tested a better head!
I will also say that it COULD be some odd coincidence that huntmup and I had...maybe the animals DID spin JUST as the arrow hit them...only slo-mo replay can tell us for sure.
But for me (let me repeat...for <u>ME</u>) the stories are just TOO similar. I knew the shot was perfect, and was in dis-belief when I saw the result. Again, it COULD be the animal turning...who knows. But for now...I am going to use a different head...one that performed VERY well on a quartering shot. I am not going to &quot;test&quot; heads on deer or any other living animal. <u>I</u> simply do not have the confidence in these heads. that is the ONLY reason I am not shooting them until I see some credible, realistic tests on quartering shots with these AND OTHER heads.
I wish Slick Trick the best, and I am VERY confident they will gets GREAT results from lots of people....just not me for now.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I can see why Gary would take it a bit personal. Kind of like someone telling you that they think your kid is ugly. Even it is true you're going to take offense to it.

The thing is alot can happen from when you release the arrow and when it (hopefully) hits the deer. Any and all heads will have failures at some point and time. From my experience with these heads, I like them and will continue to use them.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

huntmup,

On the second to last picture, on the right side at the neck there is this bloodied spot. Is that from the broadhead?

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Stealth Force...I am the one who posted that I felt the Slick Trick flew as well, or better, than my field points. I was being real.

Maybe it's in my imagination, but the Slick Trick-tipped arrows almost seemed to me to fly more consistently, as if the broadhead helped guide the arrow. It may indeed be in my mind, but that's what I think.

MOCraig

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

buckfevr - that blood you see at the base of the neck is actually the clotting from under the shoulder - the last picture with the shoulder removed shows the massive blood loss, clotting and general trauma - don't know what artery or ? got cut but it bled bigtime - but it wasn't the arrow INSIDE the ribs. There was no blood for about 30 or so yards but the last 20 or so was POURING!!!(my theory is that it had to bleed 'up' to the enterance hole before spewing onto the ground)

As for Gary taking it personally I wouldn't expect anything different - he's got pride in ownership and I applaude him discussing it on the board. I wish I would have talked to him directly about it prior posting, and I'm not taking anything personally, and my experience isn't an indictment of him as I also agree he's a super nice guy. I know my shot was an X - ALL THREE OF THEM in question, and I am at peace with the decision I made. I can't however, knowing what I've experienced, go into the woods and risk this happening again - I owe it to the game I'm chasing and I felt I owed it to you guys to let you know what happened to me.

After thinking about this for the last several hours I'd again like to reiterate - on the 2nd doe I took - she was close & not 1/4ing much - and the head slid past 3 ribs before penetrating & coming out the opposite side through the scapula. If you think of where it entered and where it exited you can imagine the angle and it's not very steep - if you can agree that the angle isn't very steep (i.e steep enough to slide but not 'out of the norm' for hunting) then why would it slide past 3 ribs before penetrating & passing through?

I too wish the best for Gary & Slick Tricks's & also agree that if you only take broadside shots you owe it to yourself to shoot these things. I don't know if they are better than f/p's though - I shoot 53-57X 300's with fieldpoints on my hunting rig - the slicktricks scored within 53-57X range so I'd say they were neither better or worse, but as consistant.





Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

huntingbry, I plan on doing just that for the tests I will start with a slight quartering shot, and progress to the point at wich the maximum angle that could still be considerd &quot;ethical&quot; for the shot. I will shoot a muzzy side by side for comparison. Just for the record, I can make any head deflect if I want, but the point of the tests is to honestly see at what point the heads begin to &quot;skip&quot;. It will probably be Saterday afternoon before I get to them. After I get them done I will post the results, whatever they may be.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

5shot -

Do you need more heads?

I seem to remember you saying you've done this before - which heads gave you problems then (if any)?

Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

huntmup,

What I'm trying to get at in that picture is where the head wound up. If I'm seeing that correctly the broadhead slid along the ribs under the shoulder, basically in between the ribs and the shoulder. Were you able to tell where the head stopped?

Now I'm not disputing that you're a good shot and that the shots you took were reasonable. But is there any chance that the deer moved on you?

I just want to share with you, last week I had a buck come into a scrape like in your case real close no more than twelve yards. He's slightly quartering away as he comes in. I've set up the scrape five feet past the tree so that I can draw. His head goes behind the tree and I draw. As his head gets past the tree he looks up at me, just for a second or two and he continues on to put his nose in the scrape. I put the pin on the x and let fly. I knew he jumped the string but I just thought he dropped a little and moved forward.

When I find him the arrow is sticking out with only 10 inches of penetration. I'm shooting a Mathjews FX bottomed out with the minimax 100 grain naildriver 7595 goldtips getting around 263-264. When I field dress him I've only got liver and near lung. I was bummed.

Two days later when I'm processing him I say to my dad what the hell happened to the ham? We find that the broadhead had gone through the ham, and the only reason that it didn't pass through is because one of the blades caught the leg bone. By the time I found him the arrow had backed out a good bit, confusing the issue.

Anyways, the deer was quartering away at twelve yards, by the time the shot got there the deer had dropped and spun quartering towards me. The shot got near lung took out the liver and went through the opposite ham, but not penetrating the far hide.

He dropped and spun and I didn't see it. These animals can move awfully fast and also you're looking at where you are shooting, so you're not going to catch that intial movement.

I think you did a great job of documenting your findings and while your interpretation of what happened certainly seems reasonable, the more I look at it, I'm just not sure about the conclusions.

Definitely interesting though and congratulations on the buck.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

Huntmup, I have a few heads laying around, I even have some sharp blades, LOL. We all need to keep in mind all the &quot;odd&quot; things that happen when shooting at game. Sometimes what you think you see isn't always so. I know several times I have made great hits, but they looked &quot;bad&quot;. I wait a long time before trailing, and bam, there the deer is 50 yards from the shot. Other times I have made &quot;great&quot; hits, only to learn that they were not. Their are just so many things that can happen in the deer woods to alter our judgement and perception. Heck I wonder how I manage to keep things straight some times!!!

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I have to agree with 5shot and Buckfevr. I have seen some strange things where everthing was perfect on the shot. Unfortunately, nobody told the deer that and the arrow ended up somewhere it was not supposed to be. Last year I took a doe at 8 yards. She was broadside and stopped. I settled my 20 yard pin slightly low on her chest and I was perfectly settled because I had been watching this deer for over 20 minutes. I squeezed of the shot and it hit her back and in the spine. That is a full 1 1/2 feet high and 2 feet back from where I was aiming. She was able to move that far that fast. I am convinced that if she had not been so close I would have missed her completely. That's why we go out there and hunt these suckers, because you never know. If these things didn't happen we would have just as much fun shooting 3D targets.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I fully concurr with all you guys that things happen - but - and again this is my experience - it has happend 3 times THIS year and has NEVER happened before. That again may be coincidence - and maybe lucky past years & unlucky this year but this is what I've experienced.

So what's different this year?

1) I'm shooting about 100% better than in any year past
2) I've got a faster, quieter bow, more KE, more accurate
3) I'm shooting a different head - because it's does not decrease my accuracy - again these thing fly AWESOME!!!

buckfevr - yes the head slid between the shoulder and ribs and then stopped at the base of the neck - it eventually slid back out a bit but the deer expired with the arrow in it still. And again - I don't know what artery or ? got cut but it bled like a pig!!!!





Aim small miss small

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

again, that is MY reason for not using this head for now. This is the FIRST time this happened to me, first time using the head on game, and then find someone who had the SAME problem....3 times!
Just TOO much for me to chalk up to dumb luck.
It MIGHT be coincidence, but can you really blame me for NOT gambling?

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

I talked to my buddy who also uses slick tricks and he has seen no such problems. He has taken 34 deer and used Muzzy's up until this year.

It is his opinion that it was more likely due to hunter error in taking a shot at a deer at too steep an angle.

And on a side note:

Regardless of the thing you are trying to study, you need to have 100 times the date we have been presented to make any kind of valid conclusion. Say 100 guys here use Slick Tricks and have taken 1.5 deer per person were talking 150 shots and 2 deflections. But if there have only been 10 quartering shots and 2 deflections THEN we have a problem.

RE: SlickTrick Broadhead failure? (pics & long)
 

huntmup,

See that is the paradox regarding this discussion. If these results were just chance and it is not deflection, it speaks volumes for the lethality of this head, on marginal shots. I am really looking forward to 5shot's findings in his deflection testing.