Slick Trick Viper Trick?
Equipment
Never have tried these heads- shot the standards & magnums off & on.
I like the looks of these heads- wondering who all has shot them, & which vane they've found does a good job steering these.
Love the Iron Will heads, but I can't help but experimenting. Plus having a lesser expensive head isn't going to be a bad deal either haha!
Only thing I’ve taken with them is WT. Most deer didn’t even react when hit.
I have shot a lot of animals with them. I killed my brown bear with one this spring. I am shooting four TAC vanes right now and they control them well. I have never had a problem with them flying well.
Definitely my BH of choice. I used the Standards and Magnums before VTs
I've used them for years and had great results with elk and deer. If I were to have any issues with them is the blood trails I've had on them have not been overwhelming, BUT they fly straight and are a devastating head. In all honesty, I've used a lost of cut on contact two blades with bleaders and they don't bleed like a solid fixed three blade.
I've killed with the mags, standards, and razor tricks but never the vipers. I put one on last night to shoot and check my tune. Flew great at 40 yards using 4-fletch Q2i X-II 2.1" vanes.
Great broadhead! I've also shot standards and these and prefer these. I too have had multiple deer shot with them that simply did not know they were shot, they just continue on their business and tip over in front of you. I also ran one the entire length of a mature doe after she turned at the shot resulting in a quick kill. I put one through the shoulder of a buck a few years ago with no problems and one through the shoulder of a black bear this past spring. I am convinced that if I would of shot any of these with and expandable the outcome would of been different.
Assuming I’m able to walk by the time deer season rolls around I’m going to give these a shot this year, save the Iron Will heads for the big time hunts I think
Sharp & fly well. The blades are definitely softer than some of the more premium heads. I would expect some edge roll if you hit much bone.
The Viper 125 is my favorite, although nothing wrong with the Magnum either. I've killed elk, deer, ibex, black bear, mountain lion, javelina, pronghorn...never any issue or complaint.
They fly great, and penetrate very well. I shot them with 4 inch vanes, blazers, whatever. They are small heads, my experience has been they leave small holes. I shot my last of the bunch I had last year and I'm done with them. Although last years elk did bleed decent. Not one, but every elk I have shot ( I think I've arrowed 4 with them) with them acted very strange after the shot, like standing around like the hit didn't do anything. I actually shot two of the elk twice, as they ran maybe 5yds and just stood there, and I wasn't waiting around to see what was up. They do penetrate much better than the standards, and the magnums, and fly even better, I'm just not crazy about my after the shot experiences with them.
I have shot them for years. Any decent vane should steer them. Fly as good as iron will for much less cost and don't make nearly as much noise as the IW vented blades. Great penetration and normally have pass throughs on big game
I've had a few experiences like Cazador where animals don't react to being hit. But they are dead on their feet and just don't know it yet. Sometimes they just stand there and keel over. I feel this is a benefit, rather than sprinting off wildly to be blood trailed. I don't know why, but the Vipers often zip right thru and the animal doesn't seem to notice.
I shot them for three or four years. Really good broadheads. I shot Bohning Heat vanes and AAE Max Stealths with them; both steered them well.
“Slick Trick Viper Trick?“
Yes 100%. Have shot several animals with them and great success. Shooting iron wills this year because I won a 6 pack last year but Slicks are my go to BH for the last 10 years
Ive used VT for years. Killed WT and a ton of critters in S. Africa.
They are super sharp out of the box. However, they are not the strongest head available. They tend to fold up when hitting a hard surface...
There an excellent flying head.
I like the shape & dimensions of the VT, excited to give em a try. Going to order a couple packs, hope to be up & walking by the time season rolls around!
I use them with good success too. I pull the bleeder blades and just use it as a 2 blade for my son shooting 41lbs and just poked out the other side on a WT buck and bear.
Good head. Flies well. Penetrates well. Small fixed so expect small holes and often not a lot of blood.
Great proven head, especially for lower poundage hunters
The viper trick is one of my favorite broadheads. I have killed quite a few elk, deer and lions with them. They fly well and if you do your part and put the arrow in the right spot they kill fast. I use flex fletch 418 and those stabilize them well. Thanks and good luck Rob m
Ok, based on the opinions of knowledgeable hunters here, I bought a four pack Viper Tricks. I screwed one on and it flew good, right with the field points. I plan to try them on elk and moose soon.
But then I noticed a gap between the washer and the blades! The shoulder on the ferrule is not fully machined to the shank. I kinda remember some talk of a manufacturer defect in the past. Is that true?
For now, I’m going to machine that shoulder off, but sure don’t expect to have to do that every time (if) I buy new ones.
My slick trip standards have the same gap. It has always bothered me because there is no way you are going to get the full strength of the whole system with a gap like that. Some will say make sure the bevel on the washer is facing the broadhead, this makes sense but I have the gap no matter which way the washer faces.
That said, I have killed a mule deer and an elk with these exact broadheads.
The gap is not a manufacturing defect. Slick Trick made a design change and the gap is the way they are made now.
Some have moved on from them, myself included. Many continue to use them and I haven’t seen anyone report a problem with performance.
Jerhro, there is not a hope they could ever convince me that that gap is engineered! And if it was, the engineer should be fired just before the guy that approved it and put it into production.
I have many years of precision machining and understanding how parts should fit for best results and this is garbage. I’ve had a Slick Trick or two in my quiver for years and this is the first time I’ve seen this.
I won’t be buying anymore.
You’ll get no argument from me, Ambush. There has been Bowsiters that contacted Slick Trick CS and each time were told that’s how they’re making them and it doesn’t diminish performance.
As a “pre-gap” VT user, I did not like the change, and moved on. I see the gap as a built in weakness.
I haven’t opened a fresh pack of the standards for awhile which I usually shot I have a dozen hanging on the hook in my archery room but I had this happen once and reported it to them and they sent new ones out I couldn’t get them to spin if everything don’t seat right, they are not the company they once were too many other good heads to mess around with shit… I killed a pile of animals with them but never did get a great blood trail however wasn’t necessary cuz the majority died in sight
Oh man… I had no idea. I’m a pre gap user as well and didn’t realize they changed machine specs. Odd… guess I don’t get out much or just been using the same heads for years now.
I'm not doubting you at all Jethro on what you.ve been told.
I looked at the broadhead very carefully today, from a machining and engineering viewpoint. If the step that is there is intentional, then I'd guess the idea is that the fit does not have to be as exact with regards to matching the back of the blade to the back of the ferrule shoulder.
Anyway, not a hope I'd shoot that broadhead as is. And not a hope I'll buy them again. Like was said, too many great broadheads out there to mess with substandard ones. It seems inevitable that a great product will get bought up and turned into a mass produced, inferior product for the sake of making a few pennies more for a couple years.
Deer, elk, hogs, coyote all dead with both pre and post gap viper tricks. They fly straight and kill stuff. What else is a broadhead supposed to do? I'm not a die-hard fanboy. When I see a failure to fly straight or kill stuff I'll switch.
So has anyone one ever had one fail because of the gap? Have them ready to go to Colorado, but have an hour to switch them out for Exodus. They also fly perfectly from my setup.
I have never had one fail. Granted I have only killed 2 animals with these particular broadheads. The gap is just..odd.
The “Gap” is just to allow for sloppy machining tolerances, which translates to lower cost per unit. Same price to the consumer though :(
They fly great, they penetrate great, and they have the durability and sharpness I expect from slick trick. However, I did not get the holes I wanted nor blood trails, so I went back to standards. There’s nothing *wrong* with them per se.
I have heard of people making Frankenstein versions where they take a grizz truck blade and replace the bleeder with that. I imagine that would cause some gnarly damage, but also not fly as well as a regular viper or standard
I’ve been critical of them, still am. Fly great, penetrate great, but the just don’t put red on the ground.
I have a quiver full of bastard children, I just shot my last vipertrick. Left it with the carcass. Drop, here, drop there, but didn’t get an exit. Good luck.
Caz, might be that 30yr old bow.
We have pre 64 Winchesters.
Now “Pre gap VT’s” :>)))
It’s all I’ve used for the last 10 years or so. I would agree above that the blood trails aren’t always that impressive but sometimes they can be. I’m also colorblind so even if it is good I can’t see it lol.
Blown through a ton of deer and elk with them and I’ve got no complaints, I’ll continue to use them even with the machining defect. Even with that I broke an elk pelvis with it so it’s still ok.
Killed a ton of stuff with the Viper-Tric. Also shoot them out of my Arrow-Gun at 400+ FPS and same POI as F-Points. you will not be disappointed...
In my experience they’re one of the best flying fix blades out there in terms of accuracy and grouping with field points. I’ve used them to kill elk and deer both. They don’t make a huge hole, but they’re darn accurate, and if they’re put in the right spot, they kill quick. I have both of my teenage girls shooting them on their setups as they just fly awesome.
