Just curious.......... Out of the less than ideal shots you have made on deer, how many of those shots were too far back, as compared to too far forward? Please vote accordingly.
Too far back, three years ago when I took my first doe with my bow. Was "afraid" of hitting the leg bone. Rookie mistake...wont make it again.
The two animals that I have lost have been split... one was back, the other was forward. I voted for back because that was entirely my fault, just a poor shot. The other bad shot was due to a poor choice, shot at a doe with a yearling behind her on the trail that ran in front of her and ended up taking the arrow in the brisket.
The only deer I've lost was hit square in the shoulder. My worst kill shot was my IL buck on film. Just a touch back and low, caught liver. Video is on the site here. I lost a bear this year, hit too high. I watched the video over and over. It looked to be about 4-6" high, so I waited overnight. It actually came out in front of the far shoulder. 12 hours after the shot, I lost the blood and all sign 400 yards from the bait. Last blood was in a bed. Absolutely no idea how that bear lived, but have no reason to believe he died. Gave him plenty of time. Strangest thing I have ever seen.
Thanks for the input so far guys. I'm not really looking for recovered/not recovered........I'm looking for any less than ideal shot no matter the outcome. Do you tend to shoot too far forward, or too far back when it's a less than perfect shot? Thanks! ~Matt
I've wounded one animal In 24 years of bow hunting. It was this years buck and I'm not so sure It was a bad shot after seeing this buck at 30 yards last Friday. Shot looked to be high but should've still hit a lung from what I could see the other day. I could see where the arrow hit from the messed up hair. My guess from what I saw the other day Is my broadhead didn't penetrate the shoulder blade at all. I guess I won't know unless I get this buck this year. On other deer and bear If I missed my spot It was always back In the guts or liver. I treated them right and recovered everyone.
Those are the only three poor shots that I have made. Then again, I haven't loosed an arrow at a deer this year! I think I know the reasoning behind this thread Matt and my guess is you are going to find most guys shoot too far back. Mostly overcompensating when trying not to hit the shoulder. Honestly, my less than ideal shots tend to be a little high. I get so jacked up when I'm going to shoot an animal, that I sometimes rush the shot and don't settle the pin down far enough.
Most bad shots have been too far back, but I have hit 1 shoulder with only an inch or so of penetration.
Lots of good input so far guys............ I guess my thoughts behind this thread......is that it always seem in my own experiences that most poorly hit deer are hit further back than intended. Based on the anatomy of a deer, I would also assume that most deer hit too far forward, are more likely to live if not recovered. Thinking about what's in front of a deers vitals, you're either hitting major arteries/veins (typically dead in less than 100 yards), shoulder blade (which I don't care what anyone says, most setups aren't penetrating the ridge in a shoulder blade any way you look at it), or you have a muscle wound that bleeds like a stuck pig but you never find the animal, because they clot up and live to see another day eventually. Knowing this, if your shooting a setup with the KE needed, most poor shots are too far back, and that a deer hit in the guts/etc are most likely going to die, why wouldn't someone go for the largest cutting diameter head (fixed or not) that they can get to fly with their setup? This way your most common poor shots, end up cutting as much as possible and killing that animal as fast as possible. I guess I can see by guys like Shultzy with Trad equipment wouldn't, or guys with short DL's and/or low poundage wouldn't, but guys that are pushing 70+lbs of KE (most of us)......why not? Rage or not, I don't see why guys are still shooting 1" cutting diameter heads out of these high KE setups. I shot a doe this year that was almost completely a gut shot. First poor shot in a while on a deer. I did manage to clip a small piece of the liver (I'm talking about less than 1/2" cut on the edge of a lobe). That deer died within 75ish yards of where I shot her, close enough for me to hear the death moan, and the entrance/exit holes were big enough for me to trail her as she bled through both sides like a stuck pig. Just my ramblings on a late Wed evening.......I'll step off the soapbox now. :D
Interesting thought. Perhaps even correct to a point.. or another way of view. I suppose it is ALL in the way you (the hunter) look at what a broadhead is and what its job is to accomplish. It appears RJ.. you look at it from a 'what if' standpoint. As in... what if I make a bad shot.. I'm going to want to have the biggest cutting diameter I can have. I don't look at my broadhead this way.. I'm sure others don't either. My broadhead is to perform flawlessly with it's accuracy.. for myself.. shot placement is ONLY what I am interested in. No 'what ifs' for me. A smaller... compact broadhead allows for better and more accurate flight... simply put.. because its more forgiving when I am less than perfect (which is often). Of course.. any mech broadhead is going to be small in flight... but I still have never seen 1 more consistently accurate than its fixed cousin. And that's what I want first.. no 'what ifs'. The only time I make a bad shot.. is when I have poor shot placement. Then.. of course we have the entrance... greater surface area causes more friction.. thus less penetration.. despite what the laws of KE are.. someone needs to explain them to ma nature. A pass thru for me is nearly 100% of the time. I see your point RJ.. and its an extremely valid one.. I just don't select my head by the 'what if'? I go by the 'when it hits where I aim... is it going through'? Just 2 different approaches to selecting a head. Oh... and the more interesting comparison for this thread would be... how far do your deer go once hit.. on average?
Usualy leathal, but when im off my mark its usually to far back. I lost a dandy in 05 but was square in the shoulder
I tend to miss back as well. I think the biggest reason for this is lack of concentration on my part and not picking a spot. If I am "shooting at the deer" my pin will tend to drift towards center mast, which is too far back. I think it is a little subconscious though as well. I know that if I hit it a little far back, like the liver, that I will recover the deer. I also know that if I hit the leg I will not. I agree with your theory RJ. That is the exact reason that I switched broadheads. I practice as much as I can, but I am no Robin Hood with my bow. I know that I have and will make mistakes. I do what I can to minimize them, but in the end I like as much help as I can get. Plus, as a colorblind person, I need as short of a tracking job as I can get. If it isn't going to be real short, then the big cutting diameter broadheads I use leave a blood trail that even I can follow for the most part.
Between the 2 choices given, back. But in reality for me is high. I have spine shot more deer than I'd ever care to.
You shoot a Deer too far back it is a dead deer and it's up to you to find it. If you shoot too far forward and don't hit lungs, heart, or an artery then chances for survival are excellent. I always hold tight on the shoulder! I ain't Skeered!! Dan
The only one I've lost was dead on back and forth but was through the chest too high, "no man's land". He was walking toward me when I ranged him and I failed to compensate for the closed distance. No vote from me on this one.
...of all the deer I have ever lost, 1 was a high hit, all the rest were back. So far, (this is gonna bite me) I have never hit a deer in the shoulder.
