Thanks for this suggestion
I'm now using a machete + SG+HSG as my standard loadout. I'm not good enough to flinch the scrake every time, out of 20 tries, I'll not take damage maybe 5 times, get hit once for ~50HPs about 14, and die maybe once, which is good enough odds for starting with.
Hitting him with the machete also keeps his head box where it should be, I found that if I didn't bother I still took the same amount of damage, but I couldn't find his headbox, so missed with my HSG and then died.
Prochetes ftw!