Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Swacker broadheads

Anyone here using a Swacker broadhead? I tried the Rage 2 blade last year. i will try not to let this get into a Rage debate but I shot one deer with the Rage, a little high but not too high (still lung). I know this because my fletching stopped and didn't get a pass through. The arrow finally fell out about 30 yards away and that is where a faint blood trail started. No blood prior to that. The blood for about another 30 yards, then nothing...

OK, off the side track. I am looking at trying another mechanical and the guy at the local bow shop suggested Swacker mechanical. He said they were tough, good cutting width and there were no premature opening issues with faster bows. I was curious to see if anyone here had shot the Swacker broadheads and could give any feedback. Thanks in advance.

Heres my advice....leave the mechanicals at home and use fixed bladed broadheads...

Mechanicals can and will fail....a fixed blade wont provided it dont hit bone but that can be fixed by getting one with tougher blades.

Ever try Slicktricks?

30 years plus archery hunting. Many animals harvested with a bow Stay away from mechanicals!!! Don't fall for the hype and marketing. Get a magnus ( 2 blade) or snuffer ( 3blade). Cannot believe people still use mechanicals. What idiots!!

I have never had a 2 or 3 blade head in over 30 years fail. Mechanicals are POS's.

Or listen to the BS hype and listen to the TV and guys that have been archery hunting 2-3 years. They know better.

According to my dictionary. Schwacker-fancy way of spelling schitt. Any quality fixed blade broadhead that flies true is more than capable of killing any game animal if you put it in the right place. Do note the word quality. There are some out there that suck just as much as the mechanicals. I would be looking at Slick Trick, Muzzy, Thunderhead, Magnus. Leave the mechanical hype on the shelf.

My experience as well.

+1 no mechanicals. Call me old school, but you can get broadheads to fly like you field points. experiment with different shafts and fl etching configs. Don't get suckered into the speed trap.

I never understood the mechanical hype. I have seen way too many failures. Any quality COC head flies just as well and ZERO chance of failure.

Well you didn't ask me or any of us what we thought concerning the difference between mechanical's and fixed! You asked about our experience with Swackers? I have NO experience with the Swacker, I only shoot fixed (LOL)


Slick Tricks,

Randy

'Nuff said.

+1

I started hunting with NAP Spitfire broadheads in 1988 in Connecticut and a few years later here in RI when they allowed them. I campaigned for them with fish and game for 3 or 4 years. I've got a degree in wildlife management and am a certified wildlife biologist (also certified to teach science) with 23 years of bow hunting experience. I hunt with and recommend Spitfire heads. I've used them for most of my hunting career and won't shoot anything else. My best friend who has hunted on damage permits, to the tune of taking deer in double digits the last 20 plus years, uses Spitfire heads... and nothing else. I recommend them, and there are at least a dozen hunters at my club who use them on my say. I hunt with them and process my own meat. I cut up 20+ deer a year for friends and see what broadheads do to flesh and bone, again and again. I've never seen anything that would make me want to change broadheads. The fact is they fly like field points and a 100 grain head cuts an inch and a half hole.

We're going on the hunt of a lifetime in Kansas this October. 8 of us. Most lifetime hunters. A biologist (me), two State hunting and bowhunting safety instructors, and 5 other hunters. We all shoot Spitfire heads. It's the only modern broadhead (except maybe a zwickey eskimo) that hasn't changed in the last 20+ years. That's as good a track record as can be.

Rocket steelhead is the only mech head I can recommend. They work great and are tough little heads that penetrait very well.

That said, Montecs are what I have used for years, and what I will continue to use. They fly great and I got 30"+ of penetration on a 160lb doe last year with a 53lb bowtech tribute. I don't need anything more effective than that.

Ok, looks like the parade has been rained out.

Note to self, no one here has used a Swacker (Schwacker) broadhead and most people here say all mechanicals are POS even though I am guessing many have never used them.

I, too, have shot NAP Thunderheads for many years. I started with the 125g, then switched to 85g, trying to get more speed. I later went to 100g and have gone back to 125g. I have killed several deer with mechanicals so I didn't mean to get into the fixed vs. mechanical debate. (I am fairly certain that I asked for that type of input) I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with the Schwacker as the local bowshop said he had great results with fast bows and no premature opening with them.
I am going to have to go back and tell him he is an idiot and the deer that he has killed with them muct have actually drowned in the creek as the mechanical could not have killed them. especially a Rage!

Like they say...schitt happens. Mechanicals performing flawlessly is the exception not the norm. Tried several with pathetic results. I've even had a couple fixed blade heads fail(both due to shotty workmanship and design). But a quality fixed blade head that flies straight is a much higher percentage shot than ANY mechanical. Guess you better break out the umbrella

Thats fine!
It seems your mind is made up anyway so go ahead and get those Schwackers....and one day when a failure happens..and it will, come back to us and tell us.

And before you get antsied up about me using mechanicals...I have used them in the past and have had 1 I repeat 1 failure and it was on a giant 130+ inch Coues deer in AZ. the broadhead was a Puckets Bloodtrailer (about 12 yrs ago) I too was sold on the "mechanical will fly true like a fieldpoint" gimmik.

I hunt with about 10 other guys on occasion and we share many many results so I do infact have a bunch of mechanical experience.....wanna know something? in our group the mechanical vs fixed blade is a common talked about subject and in our case most of our lost/unrecovered deer have been shot with mechanicals and very few with fixed blades.

I'm talking 15 years of 10 or more guys results every year is compared and we ALL but one have gone back to fixed blades....and the guy who hasnt usually loses 2-3 deer a year...and the rest of us guys are getting sick of it!

But like I said you go and buy those Schwackers cause I'm sure they fly like field points (heres something...a properly tuned bow can shoot a fixed blade broadhead just like a field point too) and if when it fails....come back and tell us about it.

A Haa! A Puckett's Bloodtrailer! That's the mechanical that gave all to follow a bad name. My last name is Puckett!

I got to a wild boar outfit in N.C. and before they let you hunt, they make you watch a video. In it, they say not to use mechanical broadheads, and they show a broken one... a Puckett's Bloodtrailer. What a dog that thin was.

Just an aluminum POS........with itty bitty tiny blades.

I have to say....probably the ultimate worst ever mechanical.....

Few people here ( or anywhere) are on the mechanical bandwagon, outside of paid manufacturers spokesmen and the TV adds.

Get a package of slick tricks and put your efforts into something more important then the consideration of a mechanical. There may be a time in the future when they work consistently and become dependable. That day is looming and may actually be here now with one design or another. However I ( most of us) are not willing to be the guinea pigs to test the performance for the manufacturers. Especially not on our hard earned game and maybe the only shot you get in a whole season.

I like the idea of the mechanical, I just don't like the idea of a new "better" prototype from every manufacturer every six months. It's about as bad a new Microsoft Software constantly fixing the problems of the previous versions.

The Barnes X bullet was a dismal failure for consistency when it came out. I hated when my hunters used them more then any bullet made. They went thru a decade of revisions and new designs until finally creating the greatest hunting bullet available today. I use them exclusively now.

So I'm not anti Mechanical in theory,..... I'm anti mechanical doing the constant research trying to find which one actually works on my dime. The dust will settle eventually and people will see the cream rise to the top. Right now, nothing works with the consistency of a fixed blade..........not yet!

You are correct here, the Puckett was without a doubt the worst ever and also one of the first tries at a mechanical head, I would not base My opinion of mechanical broadheads on this, I have taken at least 20 whitetails over the past 8 or 10 seasons using the Wasp 75gr Jackhammer mechanical with zero lost deer, I did loose a nice buck last year in Ohio using a G5 Stryker, it can happen with any head, it has more to do with shot placement than anything..............Hillbilly.

That was sort of my point. I came on this site to ask if anyone had any experience with Schwacker broadheads. You, and a few others, decided to take it to a "all mechanicals suck" debate. Funny thing is, you had one failure (you didn't mention what the failure was... ie: bad shot placement, hit bone, missed deer, openned too early, etc.) and it was "about" 12 years ago. Then yuo proceed to say that all mechanical broadheads are junk and unreliable based on your vast contolled experiment of one thin "aluminum" that most people have never used or even heard of.

What if I said "I only use braided line while fishing now because I used monofilament one time, about 12 years ago and it broke when I was trying to land a fish. All Mono is junk and should be outlawed because some fish, somewhere is swimming around with a hook still in it's lip." "not only that, I fish with several guys who tried monofilament and said they had better success with braided line, too. One guy I fish with still uses Mono and we don't like him because he still loses a fish or two every year and we are getting tired of it! "

By the way, my mind isn't made up. I was just looking for someone with experience with that particulat broadhead because a local archer said he had good luck with it but I thought I would ask for a few more testimonials. I sort of thought that is what this website was all about.

In short, if you wanted to increase your post count, you could have just easily posted the word... NO!

OK numbnuts.....I guess you missed this part.

I hunt with about 10 other guys on occasion and we share many many results so I do infact have a bunch of mechanical experience.....wanna know something? in our group the mechanical vs fixed blade is a common talked about subject and in our case most of our lost/unrecovered deer have been shot with mechanicals and very few with fixed blades.

I'm talking 15 years of 10 or more guys results every year is compared and we ALL but one have gone back to fixed blades....and the guy who hasnt usually loses 2-3 deer a year...and the rest of us guys are getting sick of it! mad That last sentence.......it wasnt just 1 mechanical we all tested....it was just about EVERY one ever come up with.

So YES...I have been there and have done that!!!
Unlike others I base my thoughts/choices on actual experience....BUT like I said "do whatever floats your boat!"

If you would quit reading and start doing maybe YOU too will be able to come up with YOUR OWN conclusions....not noone elses.








Then again....maybe not.

Kid, if you looking for sympathy you're in the wrong place. Round here, we live off of real world results. Not something put together in a studio or on a computer with some fancy graphics program. There are those of us that have been around the block a time or two and have made some mistakes and have learned from them. Our goal is to keep others from making those same mistakes. We dont pull punches and we aint pollitically correct. So if you got your pantys in a wad cause what you were told wasnt what you wanted to hear, I feel for ya. But go ahead and do your own thing. And when that cracker or swacker or whatever its called fails, do come back and tell us about it. We'll be waitin for ya

I am having problems with my slick tricks...........they only cut a hole the size of a shotgun slug, 1 1/8 inch to be exact.

*Grin*

Muzzy's for me. Lots of deer and rodents, 5 turkeys and 2 elk....no problems so far. 20 yrs ??? Had one deer get away, but it wasn't a broadhead problem . I'd prolly squirrel hunt with mechanicals, maybe do some kitty management around the house

If I want to get some venison, damn sure won't be with a mech tip.

Shiloh Ranch in Oklahoma, a hog hunting spot that I frequent, prohibits mechanicals, with the exception of that NAP head that just spreads out the blades on contact. One fellow recently said he had one that would blow clean through a hog. Well, they had a good boar on the rack, so he tried....2" of penetration or so. The 3 blade fixed head flew through and disappeared.

You owe it to the animal to use a good, sharp fixed head broadhead for a quick kill, and not to follow the advertising hype on the TV shows.

I fell into the "mechanical hype"...fly like a field tip BS and had to trail a deer that was hit Perfectly, just behind the shoulder..quartering away...I've seen deer drop within 15 to 20 yrds. from the same shot with my fixed blades. What I found when I finally retrieved this animal was that on entry one of the blades had busted off and the the other was bent. This was the 1st and last animal I ever shot with a Mech Broadhead!!! I shoot the "G2 Montec 100g", resharpen them every year...deadly!
Mechanicals are for people who dont take the time to "tune" their Bow's to shoot a Fixed blade....my Montec's shoot like field points, the Key?...Practice, Practice Practice...then go into the woods!

All good and valid points. All I was saying earlier is that I asked about one specific broadhead and asked if anyone had any experience with it. I never said I didn't have any experience with any mechanical or fixed. Quite the contrary. I have experience with both. I just have limited experience with mechanicals and none with the schwacker machanical. That is the question I asked.
Tom calls me numbnuts because I pointed out that he hijacked this thread and he should have never replied. I asked for specific experience with one brand of broadhead. If soemone can find where I asked it mechanicals were a good choice, I will say I am wrong.
I am 99% certain that I am going to use the 125g Thunderheads anyways. Again, I was just asking about one specific broadhead because I know the issues with mechanicals. Some of you guys are just goobers!

By the way, if anyone is actually using a schwacker broadhead, besides Hank Parker, and would like to give me some feedback on it, feel free to do so. Otherwise, this thread can slowly go away.

I called you numbnuts because you assumed I have only have used/experience with 1 mechanical broadhead.

Thats all.

Now if your going to use the Thunderheads, those are a decent broadhead.

Well, at least I have chosen a "decent" broadhead in the past. I must have been able to feel my nads back when I bought them.