So my buddy and I were hunting about 100yds apart trying to cover a travel corridor that we had been waiting for the right wind. The farm is about 3 hours away, so we only hunt it in spurts of several days in a row. On the last afternoon, as i pull my bow up at a little after 3, i hear that all too familiar "SHWACK" come from my buddies direction. As i look up, i see the big 10 that we've been specifically hunting for come running by with an arrow sticking out of him. Honestly, the angle looked good, but the penetration looked terrible, but the deer did crash through some brush, and the arrow could have pulled out for all i knew. Hey trotted off stopping periodically, and didnt look overly injured to me, but as i observed him over a distance through the grass towards a particularly thick clearcut over a distance of abot 200 yds, the angle looked good, and he was doing the tail flick as ive observed is a sign of a fatal hit in the past. After deliberation, we decided, it was best to wait two hours before we went to look. The logic to us was easy. We couldnt come back in the morning, and we were worried that finding blood in the dark in the clear cut could be nearly impossible from past experience. Needless to say, we tracked the deer over 700 yards according to the gps, until about 930 before the blood just vanished(Side note : my buddy said the deer was slightly quartering away, about 25yds. This lead me to believe me the shot may have gone over the vitas on a downward angle through the no zone between the spine and the body cavity and missed the vitals, lodging in the opposite shoulder, accounting for the lack of penetration. So either the deer was dead from the shot being perfect, or not. This was my thought process ) What would you have done differently in my position?
I see it's your first post so welcome to the site. I know we never plan on anything like this happening when we hunt but it happens a ton. Not being able to go look for an animal shot on an evening hunt can be a problem because many times the recovery takes place the next day. There's probably not much you could have done differently at the time but I would have done all I could to be back out there the next day. Check out this thread on the "void" you're talking about. I'm now convinced the void doesn't exist. http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?39964-quot-The-Void-quot
Other than leaving him over night (which does not seem like an option) I would say you did everything you could. Maybe a little high and forwards?
So what Im looking at here is obviously a diagram of the body cavity. So are you suggesting that its impossible for the deer to be hit and not have damaged something vital? I haven't read the article yet, but I will after I send this response. I realize the deer is tough. I just want some peace of mind I guess. Haha its like being broken up with by your girlfriend and lacking any sort of closure as to why. I guess I just feel like all the work that went in to the cameras and the glassing and the scouting just evaporated. My friend that I took feels even worse obviously, but its not his place to hunt. He was just a guest. I realize it can happen to anyone, I just want to think that I did everything I could do. Its a big one. The kind you wait for a long time in VA. Its a symbol of the hard work and I don't have anything to show for it. Thanks for the welcome. Its good to be able to find a group of knowledgeable guys willing to give positive insight.
The diagram simply shows that it's impossible to go above the lungs and under the spine. If you hit under the spine, you WILL hit the lungs unless you're forward or rear of the lungs. I feel most of these shots people find are above the spine, especially forward where the spine sweeps down and especially from an elevated stand. Now, there was study done on a doe hunt on what I believe I remember to be Fire Island in NY where they autopsied all doe brought off the island and found scare tissue on more than one does lungs where it appeared that a broadhead went through... yes deer are tough, yes deer are vigilant and I am convinced that there are deer shot through the upper lobes of the lungs and can live... if we don't deflate the lungs, or hemorrhage them enough to death, they will live. What I believe happens is that these shots are simply single lung hits missing most of the forward lung and deer are pushed too early or they live... I wish you luck on seeing this particular buck again, I hope you do, please report if that's the case. I question the only possible spot that could be deteremined as a nonlethal shot under the spine would be behind the lungs, under the spine, forward of the liver even though all these organs push against one another, plus the diaphram... is it possible to send an arrow there and not kill the animal? I believe so but less likely from elevated positions, less likely from angles... it'd be 1 in mil shots and simply put, a bad shot.
Only thing I can think of is don't go in the evening without a plan to return the following morning if necessary. That has to be factored into your thinking or you'll rationalize yourself into thinking you should rush the tracking job. If you see a deer still standing/trotting after several hundred yards, IMO he needs at least an eight hour wait. Also why can't you blood trail at night? Many hunters find it easier with a good light? I am thinking you guys weren't fully prepared to find a deer after it was hit. That is one of the two biggest parts of bowhunting. #1 Shooting accurately at the right spot and angle... and #2 Finding your deer when it is hit. Everyone loves great blood but the reality is those shots don't happen every time.
