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Shot Placement Thoughts/Broadhead Failure?

Hunter260

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2019
Messages
1,585
Location
Ash Flat, AR
Shot this deer, and as you can tell by the pic, didn’t recover in time to take the meat. I’m just confused by the shot honestly. I was on the ground and felt like I drilled the deer. It’s right in that vital V just above the elbow.
5428B482-EE9C-4406-8B82-2FE809BD5333.jpeg
It’s what this deer did after the shot that was so confusing. I knew I hit the deer good and watched her run about 60 yards while stumbling in the front end like it was going down. The deer disappeared and I’m 90% sure it crashed about 80 yards away. I waited about 30 minutes and walked to look for my arrow, since no deer were in the field. I never found the arrow. I waited another 20 minutes and started to look in the shot area for blood. There absolutely was no blood. Not at the shot or the specific trail the deer left on.

I waited about 20 more minutes and decided I’d sneak in the direction the deer left in, hoping to find blood or sign. About 75 yards away it was bedded in the middle of the field and I walked to within 10 yards with my head down looking for blood before I saw it there looking at me. Once it ran off blowing I knew something was wrong. There was no blood on the side of the deer and in the bed only the tiniest few drops of blood.

I went home really confused, I thought I must have hit guts or something. I went back the next day and buzzards were circling already, just 12 or so hours after the shot. The deer was dead about 200 yards away from the bed, maybe 300 yards from the hit.

What do you think of this shot? I think I’m maybe 2 inches low but a deer can easily move 2 inches or more from when the bow goes off to impact. I will say I was shooting a cut on contact 4 blade which was hunting sharp, but not the scalpel sharp I would prefer.
My buddy held tight in the vital v on another buck and hit just a couple inches too far forward. That shot was outside of the body cavity and non fatal we believe.

I think going forward, I’ll shoot a couple inches back and not worry about holding so low. I’ll not be shooting a broadhead that is scary scary sharp either.
 
that shoulder could have been in a much different position at the shot

to really know, you'd have to autopsy the deer

by the way, i think the vital v stuff is making people lose deer

do what everyone did before a newb respiratory therapist plopped on the scene as an attention junkie (ranch fairy).....and just center the lungs, leaving plenty of room away from the bone and the greatest margin of error for the vitals
 
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that shoulder could have been in a much different position at the shot

to really know, you'd have to autopsy the deer

by the way, i think the vital v stuff is making people lose deer

do what everyone did before a newb respiratory therapist plopped on the scene as an attention junkie.....and just center the lungs, leaving plenty of room away from the bone and the greatest margin of error for the vitals
Yea I’m kinda done with him. I’ll admit, I got into it and I built some 700 grain arrows, and I passed through everything I shot. BUT I’ve passed through everything I’ve hit with my 550 grain arrows provided i shoot them with a razor sharp 2 blade head.
 
where was the exit at? it still isn't complete knowledge, but will help, since the shoulder could've been far enough forward to be nearly a brisket hit
Exited about the same place, maybe a little higher since I was on the ground and shot uphill.
 
What kinda Broadheads?
Are you positive it's the deer you shot?
Did you open her up? Autopsy?
 
What kinda Broadheads?
Are you positive it's the deer you shot?
Did you open her up? Autopsy?
They’re Rocky Mountain Advantage broadheads, I’m sure it’s a fine head but I’ve never hit anything with one before and didn’t find this one so idk how it held up.

1,000,000% the same deer. Dead right where this one ran too and was the right age with a hole in it where I thought it would be.

And No, I didn’t. Normally would have but didn’t have much time. I knew it was kind of pointless to go look because it was hot today and the meat would be gone but I like to know, for closure I guess.
 
If you didn't find the arrow & there wasn't much blood it makes me wonder if the
arrow was lodged in the hole & kept it from flowing out. Just a little fat around the
arrow would hold everything in if the arrow is stuck in the holes.
 
First off, hate that for you, man. Wounding one/late recovery is a feeling no one wants, but most of us have experienced. As for the shot, I think you simply hit probably 4” too low for the ground hunting angle and 6-8” too low for a tree stand angle (and maybe 2” forward, but not bad). I’m guessing you just clipped the bottom of her heart (or nearby major vessels/arteries) but missed the lungs, and the poor blood trail was due to her muscles covering the entry and exit hole. If you’d gotten the lungs, even a single lung, I’d expect to see some blow-out blood from her nose. For the future, I suggest focusing less on the “vital V” and more on the midpoint. Trace up the middle or back of the deer’s front leg, depending on whether it’s forward or back, and aim for 1/3 to 1/2 way up the body, and you’ll be fine. Best of luck the rest of the season!
 
I would have thought she was dead like you did. I don't think anyone else would have thought different. Maybe an extra .5 hour and she would have been dead in that bed? Hate to agree with @ImThere, but seems a big ol flapper would have probably downed her sooner in that instance.
Looking at it again, I would bet that cartalige/bone skin all in the shoulder moved back and plugged the hole. Was her leg forward when you shot possibly? I bet you wish you had a video replay. See what really happened. I know I thought that before as well.
 
I would have thought she was dead like you did. I don't think anyone else would have thought different. Maybe an extra .5 hour and she would have been dead in that bed? Hate to agree with @ImThere, but seems a big ol flapper would have probably downed her sooner in that instance.
Looking at it again, I would bet that cartalige/bone skin all in the shoulder moved back and plugged the hole. Was her leg forward when you shot possibly? I bet you wish you had a video replay. See what really happened. I know I thought that before as well.

Dang dude should I take that personally? Lol

Does everyone hate expandable broadheads? Instances like this one would think a larger cut would have helped.


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Dang dude should I take that personally? Lol

Does everyone hate expandable broadheads? Instances like this one would think a larger cut would have helped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

if it hit the shoulder, then most arrow setups with a mechanical would have had issues with penetration, especially getting a pass through

if he was using a big mechanical, then he would've needed to aim differently

i've killed plenty of deer with mechanicals, but i always stayed back from the shoulder on purpose
 
427450BA-D0B8-42E9-A438-47F092A37D19.jpeg
Just for curiosities sake, here’s a rough approximation of the bones (not including ribs) present in the front limb. I didn’t hit any bones, and was within the vital V (although on the low side of it)
 
View attachment 54588
Just for curiosities sake, here’s a rough approximation of the bones (not including ribs) present in the front limb. I didn’t hit any bones, and was within the vital V (although on the low side of it)

you've got everything shifted up, look at the bend in the leg under the deer

that's the 'elbow', below that is double bone 'forearm' and above it is humerus....you basically have it drawn as a gimpy t rex with forearms sticking out of its chest cavity....the head of the humerus is pretty close to your entry hole

the humerus does not extend up into the cavity like you have shown, and as a result your shoulder is too high

the shoulder is higher than many think, especially with certain leg angles, but not as high as you are showing
 
if it hit the shoulder, then most arrow setups with a mechanical would have had issues with penetration, especially getting a pass through

if he was using a big mechanical, then he would've needed to aim differently

i've killed plenty of deer with mechanicals, but i always stayed back from the shoulder on purpose

I agree with you.
Yes. But who aims for shoulders? Most guys don’t shoot a heavy enough arrow that a COC head would penetrate good and surly not pass through with any head.
I don’t feel the need to try to pin a deer down. A good double lung with a sharp blade will put them down within sight most times.
Agreed. He needed to put the arrow up and away anyways though? I don’t think he hit the deer that low and tight to the elbow on purpose.

And I think we all agree 9 out of 10 times that’s a dead deer. We’re just trying to guesstimate on this instance.


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I've unfortunately lost enough on shots similar to those to switch up my aiming point. When I'm on the ground I just aim for the double lung and forget the heart they and they won't go far. I feel like a double lung has less margin for error and is a much bigger target.
 
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