Anyone catch the latest "Heartland Bowhunter" show? Shot placement question (pics)

Love this show!!!

Anyway, the last buck that was shot has me puzzled. It looks like the shooter nails this buck in the heart but the deer's reaction suggests otherwise. This buck was lightly sparring with another when the hunter shot. After he was shot, the buck takes several steps and stops and stands there a few moments. He then walks away and lies down. I did notice blood coming from its mouth while it was lying which suggests a lung shot. I swear it looks like it should have been a heart shot though or both (maybe?). While the deer was standing, I did not see one drop of blood pump out.

One of the bucks I shot in '08 was hit in about the same spot and had an identical reaction. At first, he didn't even react as if an arrow had passed through him. Then he staggered to his death moments later. I would ASSUME any deer shot in the heart would breakneck it out of dodge, right?

 

Hey finch,
Great thread. Last year a buddy of mine saw a wounded buck and to shorten his story he got an arrow in him. Once they got him home they realized it was a deer that had been hit by a car recently by someone we new. But when he opened him up they also notice a slug had been put right thru his scapula broke of bone and found bone and slug fragments in his heart. He shot that deer a week after gun season here in Illinois. I really think that deer in rut that have been fighting have so much adrenalin runnig through them that some injuries don't always effect them the way that we expect them too. They as we all know have the will to live the is absolutely amazing and can with stand some pretty harsh things.

 

Yeah, I've heard of deer that take an arrow and never even move. Like they didn't even know anything was going on. I've also seen a couple of shows where the same thing happens. I wonder if there is a location or something that you can put and have a better chance of missing nerves or something.

 

Looks like a Lung Heart combo shot to me. sans the blood out the mouth!

 

Amazing! Cool story!

Some people would probably not believe that story but I do. I'm sure weirder things have happened. Neat story.

Littlechief...that makes sense about the sharp pain and no noise. Just seems like the deer would still high tail it out of there.

The fellow that shot this buck must have followed his arrow because there were no second guessing that he had missed.

 

Good thread Finch...

I have always compared a broadhead to a razor blade. If you have ever cut your self with a razor blade, you know what I am talking about. A razor blade is so sharp, that when you cut yourself, you don't feel any pain. So you think "Oh maybe i didn't cut myself like I thought" and then the blood starts flowing and it's deeper than you thought!

An arrow blows through so fast and clean, that a lot of times I really don't think they deer notice it very much (especially when fighting, feeding, etc.)

I shot a buck several years ago munching on acorns just like stated above. The arrow ripped through him, he jumped, took a few steps and started eating again and then just fell over dead.

I am sure this buck just thought that the smaller buck he was sparring with caught him with a right hook!

 

The razor blade analogy makes perfect sense. Been there...done that! :D Keep up the great work on the show!

 

hey finch here is a pic of that buck. If you look close you can see the slug hole behind the left schoulder.

 

Yep, I see it. Crazy stuff. Nice buck too!

 

I shot my buck last year with the Spitfire Maxx in the exact same spot as the buck above, only it was about 2 inches to the left of that shot. Straight broadside and complete pass through. When we gutted the deer the arrow went perfectly right through the middle of the heart. Long story short he ran into some very high native grasses and there was virtually no blood. All the blood stayed in the chest cavity and it took us about 45 minutes to find him. I could not believe with that shot and that broadhead that there was no blood, except for a few small drops here and there.

I am completely blaming the broadhead!!!!!! just joking :D He did bolt right after the shot, but it was a very discouraging 45 minutes because I knew I had a good hit on him. Some times things just happen for a reason and you cannot explain why. Great info Finch!!!

 

I really think that if the deer does not run off hard that the blood just wont pump out of the wounds. Kind of like turning on your yard hose and letting it just run or putting your finger over the end and holding a littlle pressure on it.

 

I too have heart shot deer and had trouble finding blood. One was a big velvet deer a shot in North Dakota a few years back. he was quartered away and i made a perfect shot. The trouble with heart shooting them is they usually run full speed until they die mid-stride. This buck ran through cat tails full speed and left almost no blood. Fortunately I heard him crash, so we knew the area he was in!

 

I agree with your theory Mike. Funny thing is he was running almost full speed after the shot. He crashed about 75 yards away and it was like a runway where he went down. There was about a 4 foot by 10 foot path through head high grass where he went down. I'm sure we would have found him sooner, but it was about 10 pm.

 

Same thing happened with the last deer I took. I had hit both lungs and the heart and there was very little blood. When I opened her up it was all blood in the chest cavity.

 

Yeah, if there is some other noise going on I don't think the shot startles them so much and they don't really feel the arrow zip thru if it doesn't hit bone. I've had a few deer react like that. They take a couple of quick hops and look back to see what just happened. They stand there for a couple seconds and then they wobble and just tip over. It's a neat scene, I just wish I would have been filming my hunts when it happened to me.

As far as the blood, I think it has to do with the layer of fat under the skin. It can clog up a whole in a hurry.

 

About 20% of the time that I've shot deer they've had no reaction to the arrow going through them. Maybe a little flinch and then back to doing what they were doing until; plop! over they fall.

I was just about to let a second arrow fly the first time this happened to me on a buck feeding on apples below me. I was certain I put a good shot on him but he wasn't bleeding and acted just fine. He was bending down to get another apple, I was just about to release a second arrow and all of a sudden his legs go out from under him; dead!

The buck I shot in his bed at 2 yards last year tried to lift his head when he realized he was pinned to the hillside by the arrow shaft sticking 8" into the ground under him. He just rolled over and down the hill without even taking a breath.

I've seen moose take .300 Win. Mag. 180's through the chest without even flinching. I kept telling my friend to shoot again and was disgusted that he had missed 3x's at 50 yards! Then the moose breathed and steam came shooting out both sides of his chest and he went down.

My brown bear bit at the arrow as it came out his off side. When he couldn't find what stung him he shook it off turned and walked back the way he had come until 70 yards later he piled up stepping over a log. The shot bullseyed his heart cutting all 4 chambers, caught a corner of his liver and both lungs; he hardly even reacted to it.

I never cease to be amazed at the things I see in nature and this type stuff is some of the most amazing.

I think Hunsucker's right about the razor analogy.

 

I think every deer I've ever shot in the heart ran like hell for 60 yards, then stopped, then fell over dead.

One of the first bucks I ever shot was feeding on acorns at the edge of a field. I shot him, he flinched, looked around, and went back to eating. I could see the blood pouring out of his side. About 20 seconds later he turned in a circle, laid down with his head up, then slowly laid his head down, as if he was taking a nap. The most peaceful death a deer could have. In the 80's we didn't have fast bows and fancy heads so it's not like the arrow went thru so fast he didn't notice.

 

Maybe this is just me but I dont think that you will get a lot of blood from a heart shot. In order for something to bleed, the blood has to be pumped out. If you shoot the heart one of two things will happen. 1. You cause the heart to stop pumping and the deer is able to continue only on the oxygen that has already reached the vital areas. 2. Have you ever seen a hydraulic pump that has a hole in it. There really isnt enough pressure to push the fluid through the lines. Im pretty sure the same effect happens with the heart.

Either way, there is no new blood reaching the brain. The deer will only be able to survive on the oxygen that has already made it to brain. I know for the human, if you cut the circulation off from the brain, you will go unconscious any where from 5 to 15 seconds. This would explain the short death run the deer takes before it goes unconscious.