Let's talk liver shot deer

[elk yinzer]

That's the entry cut, right?

Crazy, I'd have thought you'd have demolished the lung on that side even with a pretty strong quarter.

I'd have thought @redsquirrel would have got at least one lung too, even with the lower hit.

It's helpful to see this.

Yep, that was entry. I don't have a photo of the exit but it was back and lower obviously. Not too extreme, though it was just a slight quarter-too.

I was amazed she lived so long. I've had a few very, very similar hits that didn't go 20.

 

[krub6b]

That's the entry cut, right?

Crazy, I'd have thought you'd have demolished the lung on that side even with a pretty strong quarter.

I'd have thought @redsquirrel would have got at least one lung too, even with the lower hit.

It's helpful to see this.

the entry on @redsquirrel looks way to far forward for a pure liver hit to my eyes too, I wonder how much a deer's diaphragm pushes the liver back as the lungs fully expand versus when they are exhaling?

 

[30-06guy]

I think that the hit on @redsquirrel buck looks closer to the shoulder than it really is because the deer is on its side and the leg is settled back. If it were alive and standing upright the leg would be further forward to support his weight on his bone structure.

My experience with liver hits are that the higher up on the liver to where it hangs below the spine the quicker it kills them. I'm not going to say that there are more blood vessels up higher but they seem to be bigger and more arterial where the blood enters and leaves. I think they just bleed out faster when the damage is done there.

 

[slonstdy]

I'll ask you this: besides less sleep and having to rush off to work, what did waiting the extra time hurt?

Nothing to do with sleep or work that's for sure, lol. When I went to get the fillets they had the odor of guts/body cavity because they were marinating in there too long. I've had shots that have punctured the stomach on steep quartering angles that I was able to recover the deer quickly and save the fillets.

Without knowing any terrain features, wind direction and it's relation to you, your buggy, the deer, the plot, etc., or any other of about 50 important variables...

It's entirely possible she moved at sound or sight of your buggy and expired immediately after you passed by. Or moved to spot of death immediately, laid down, and died minutes or hours later. Or a coyote bumped her there. Or she wanted water. Or she felt good enough to follow one of her herd mates. Or any other of a million reasons.

She took off north up the hillside. I passed by on the quad going east to west between the food plot and the hillside she ran up. I would think she would have continued moving away from the plot/quad noise. If she had taken a couple of more steps towards the food plot before she expired the trail cam would have captured her movement. With the cam placement on the opposite side of the plot facing the hill she ran up I would have pics of her mates if they returned. If she was thirsty then she would have to cross the plot to get to the stream. I agree we'll never know what made her do a 180 and come back down the hill.


Here's a couple of pics for reference of the entry hole and the damage to the liver. Broadhead was a 125gr Kudu Point sharpened to a mirror finish