I draw at 70lbs and most shots I take are inside of 30 yards. With this in mind, I find most of my shots are clean pass-throughs. What's interesting is that, even on double lung shots, I find my recoveries are often longer than I would expect. My last dear was 2x lung and caught the heart a bit, but the doe still ran about 120 yards before collapsing. My friend draws at 40lbs and, at roughly the same distance, he won't get many pass-throughs. He had a single lung shot the other day, but the doe only went about 10 yards before stopping, rocking, and falling. My theory is that, because the arrow was lodged in her, it was more painful to continue running and therefore she stopped in her tracks immediately. With this in mind, is it possible that a clean pass-through, in some circumstances, is worse than having the arrow stick in the deer or embed in the opposite shoulder?
Not in my opinion. A clean pass through is the goal. You may want to consider the sharpness of your broadhead blades. It makes a huge difference.
It goes w/o saying but shot location is the most important factor. I've had it work both ways though. Great shot, pass-thru, run a long way, marginal shot, drop in 30 yds.
Seen it both ways. I have a friend who theorizes that the closer to the heart the more it adrenalizes the dear resulting in a longer recovery. No idea if it holds any merit. He kills a lot of animals and he has pretty much seen it all so I have no reason to argue with him.
With all things being equal (broadhead design, size, sharpness) there is no reason a pass through will result in a longer tracking job. The pain theory holds no water either, the more stimulus a deer has (pain, fear) the farther it is likely to run. When a deer drops very quickly (not counting leg or spinal injuries) it is almost always because a major artery has been cut and the deer's blood pressure drops quickly. The sudden hypotension causes that wobble and drop we often see. The deer is literally passing out. Make sure you have fresh, sharp blades always and pick your spot and don't worry about it.
I nicked the heart of the doe I shot October 1st this year and punched both lungs....heart slice was maybe 2/3 inch deep and the doe made it over 100 yards still...to me 100 yards or more is easy for them to cover on pure adrenaline no matter how good the shot is. I want pass throughs though period...I want the best blood trail to follow (if needed) and two holes is better than one.
Yes... My goal would still be a clean pass through with good shot placement. If the shot was ever a little off, I'd want a full pass through. No different than humans, some deer are just tougher than others. Some deer run til they're dead on their feet, some deer lay down and die.
Not all. Deer are tough animals and can endure quite a lot. With that said, I'll take a pass through every single time. Several things result from a pass through that aid in the tracking process. One, you have the opportunity to inspect your arrow to determine the hit. Secondly, you now introduce two holes, usually a high entry hole and a low exit hole (if shot from a treestand). That low hole typically pumps the blood out, making tracking much easier. If I do my part and make the shot I want, I don't care if the deer goes 50 yards or 500 yards. Double lung/heart is still dead no matter how far they go. I've seen deer double lunged that basically were running into the ground from the moment they were shot and didn't make it 50 yards, while others will run 100 before expiring. Focus on making well placed shots and don't worry about how far they go afterwards. The blood trail because of that well placed shot will lead you right to them. Besides, the best walk in the woods is the one that leads to a downed deer.
If the blood stops flowing to the brain, game over. Medics and ER staff can stick a finger in a gunshot wound and the blood pressure jumps righ up some times. Passthru=more open exits for blood. Best target:heart, then lungs. Find your target then aim small miss small. Looongdraw ##---------->
A pass through is the goal every time. I would rather have 2 holes in the deer and recover my arrow where I shot it and look at the matter on the bh/shaft. Plus your arrow isn't as likely to break when it isn't sticking in the side of a deer barreling through the woods
Don't over think it. 2 holes to bleed from OR 1 plugged (with arrow) hole. Every deer I've shot through the lungs the deer hit the ground in about 7 seconds. Some stand there and some run as fast as they can for 7 seconds (150 yards?).
I personally think hitting the vitals is the most important and the key to a good shot. Pass-throughs are nice because as mentioned you have a better chance of having a easy blood trail to follow and to recover your arrow, but I'm personally way more critical about recovering the animal I shot more so than my arrow. If you hit vitals like the lungs or heart, pass-through or not, that deer is dead. If the arrow is inside the animal all that arrow is doing is cutting more every time that deer moves, internal bleeding is going to do the job regardless of how much blood you have on the ground.
No.Like others said, this is what you want. I too agree shot placement is key. Deer are resilient creatures. Some fall right away and some can push themselves to keep going.
I can only speak from my experience. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. This year I killed two deer, one buck, and a doe. The buck I shot at 32 yards, clean pass through, got some lung and the heart, he ran 30 yards and fell over. On Christmas eve, I shot a doe at 55 yards, got a clean pass through, she ran about 20 yards and expired. On the flip side, last year I shot a doe at 25 yards, she was slightly quartered away. While I did hit her lungs, I didn't get a pass through, as my arrow stopped on her shoulder on the way out, she rain about 150 yards before she crashed. But I don't think that has to do with the passthrough. My shot placement on the buck and the doe I shot this year was great, and I think that's why they expired so quickly. So I'm in agreement on shot placement, that seems to matter far more than a pass through. Although thinking about it logically, I imagine bleeding out of two holes would result in a faster death, but I could be wrong on that. I'm not a biologist.
