shot a doe this morning 1/4ing away shot at 10 yards , that i thought was a perfect shot. but now i dont know. after i made the shot i instantly looked to see if my arrow was sticking in the deer as i have seen before.. i didnt see it.. so figured a through and through... heres what happened next. Saw the deer book it tail down, about 30 yrds with no sign of stopping. waited just a couple mins and recovered my arrow, laying 10 yards from where it made impact.. first half covered in thick bright red blood. second half had droplets all the way to the flights. waited 25 mins and began tracking, tracked the deer for close to 100 yds.. lightest blood pattern ive ever seen, but consistant, clusters of droplets every 3-4 feet, and intermittantly on both sides of where the deer had been, so im really thinking a through and through.. but such light blood has me concerned., (in retrospect, thinking maybe my shot was an inch or two low of the heart, or maybe to far forward given the 1/4ing angle, i dont think it clipped the shoulder at all, as that make a desctinctive sound and it didnt sound like bone) but this is only a guess at this point. After tracking 100 yds, and only light splatter and no beedding down , i opted to back out and come to work, ill go back tonight. sound fatal? the very light blood patches have me concerned.
An inch or two low of the heart is pretty much a miss. So if you hit there that is non-fatal. But usually that shot also has fat on the arrow (I have been there). Remember these tips. Of course this is not always true, notice the use of "often", but it's a good indication. This is from North American Whitetail but I have learned this to be pretty much true with over 30 years of hunting. -A wounded deer often keeps its tail down when running off. -A deer that sustained a mortal hit in the front of its body often kicks its hind legs at impact. -A deer hit farther back often hunches up at impact.
Were you elevated for the shot. 10yards from elevated qtring away you need to be aiming back and high from where you normally would for a broadside shot. If you think you were low, than you probably didn't hit anything vital. So hopefully if you don't find her she will live.
That is a tricky one. Without seeing how hard the deer was quartering away my guess would be that it was a glancing blow off of the shoulder. I know that is a stretch but I'm just guessing without being there to see it.
This is more for my benefit. Wouldn't you want to aim back and "low" instead of "high"? Gravity has much less of an effect on the arrow that close if you are very high up tending to make your shot higher on impact. I lived that scenario a few times when I first started bow hunting.
i was elevated it was a 30% quartering angle, from my right to left., i shot to the left , arrow was found 10 yards right of where the shot was taken, where the doe ran. i know i should have aimed a bit back and higher than i did, i had some morning brain this AM. ( my bow is sighted in for elevated shots).. now that i think about it i shot right at my 25 yr pin,, so at 10 yards i bet i was right in the wheel house, or above.. i was aimed about 4 in up on the body.. so i prob went in 5 in up. my rage broadhead only had a bit of hair on the blades, and a ton of bright red blood on the entire front half of the arrow.. but only droplets on the last 6-8 inches.. the bood trail , definately seemed like it was a through and through with blood on the left and right of where the deer was walking. (although minor as previously stated).. im wonding if it went in behind the shoulder and out the breast, ive had a shoulder shot before and this wasnt that, no bone sound on impact, and the arrow was out in 10 yards. what does the bright red thick blood mean? ever see a heart/ lung shot with super light blood trail (maybe while the chest is filling up?)
The gravity difference is going to be minimal at 10 yards so you would still aim back and higher IMO.
Sounds like a dead deer to me. Maybe something is plugging the wound and only allowing minimal ground blood.
At 10 yards Im aiming dead on and it is hitting dead on. I dont make things too difficult when the pressure is on. I aim and release exactly where I want it to go.
Exactly. Well, unless you are shook up and rush the shot like I did opening morning this year in Kentucky. Then you miss at 10 yards, like I did.
If angle is from high to ground on shot you need to shoot for exit hole...otherwise you hit entrance side low that arrow is most likely not even making to opposite side...it's gonna most likely exit underneath the deer instead of opposite side.
I just always shoot for exit hole in mind, whether they're 10 yards or 30 yards...I'm aiming at a spot based on the exit hole spot.
My bad I thought it said thick dark red blood, which usually is either muscle or liver, in this case would of course be muscle. bright red blood should be heart or lungs, but on a pass through shot I would expect my arrow to be soaked from broadhead to nock if that were the case.
Of coarse everyones dark / bright could also be different. Guess it was the thick part I focused on. Heart / lung blood is typically not what I would call thick if it is fresh, especially lung blood more of a pink and frothy IMO The deer in my sig was shot low last year, only catching one lung. Arrow was soaked and good blood the first 20-30 yds (Bright bubbly blood / lung)then only occasional droplets for the next 1/2 mi(dark and sporadic / muscle). Took a second shot to put him down.
yeah picture of the arrow was one the first page. although that pic is about 1.5 hrs after the shot so the blood is kinda dry. yeah it definately seems bright red, and thick, even 10 minutes after the shot..not pink and frothy.( i didnt see the need to wait to collect it as i could tell the deer was well out of sight/sound) The whole through and through thing has me super confused.. cuz only droplets on the flights.. but the blood pattern on hte tracking trail seemed on both sides, its just weird to me if its not a through and through that the arrow would fall out after 10 yards on a 10 yard shot. even if it hit bone it would have been buried with such a close shot, and it didnt sound like a bone shot. and then i was thinking maybe my shot was horrible and just glanced a shoulder like others thought.. but theres no way ide have bright red blood solid from broadhead for the next 16 inches with a shot like that.. guess well just find out when i go look after work in a couple hours now.. hopefully i dont find it and the meat is spoiled, but theres no sun and mid 50s today, so heres hoping.. ide hate to waste a good deer..
