Well all I can say is wow. I've been hunting a piece of public ground that get hammered all year only 2 or 3 deer taken all year due to the pressure. Each sit i've learned more today was like clock work the pinch point i was hunting sees movement after 9 before 11. Well 9:20 i see a doe running from a buck. 9:30 a doe walks down the trail and gives me a 15 yard shot broadside. Perfect setup to bad she ducked the string just enough to take the arrow between the spine and the vitals. Complete pass through great blood on the arrow and decent blood trail. well six hours later the blood trail dries up after much worry I can rest assured the tough girl will see another day. Today I was remined of the huge amount of respect we was bowhunters have for are so called prey (more like our mt everests)
As far as I'm concerned you cant put an arrow between the spine and the vitals, I always thought the lungs filled their chest cavity to the top. Lung and heart blood are considered "great" blood, when you say great do you mean a great amount? How long did you wait before trailing?
Not having seen the shot, blood or arrow it doesn't sound like a shot through non-vitals. You sure you didn't single lung her? They can go great distances, especially if pushed, or even survive on a single lung hit. It's been argued that it is impossible to shoot below the spine withouot getting lung, which I tend to believe, but if it were above the spine and through the straps it sounds like a lot more blood then should be for that shot. Again, I'm not second guessing your shot or what you seen, just hate to see you give up too soon. Either way, hopefully she is still alive.
no such thing as between the spine and vitals.... myth and heresay. i would prob start making circles
thats what i was thinking but i waited 2 hours to take up tracking was pretty sure it was a slam dunk. I'm positive it was below the spine. As far as the arrow it was covered in blood with nice amount of meat stuck in the gooves of the mechanical btw i was using a nap spitfire maxx huge holes in past experences. I just have no clue how a single lung could 1 clot after 300 yards the blood i was finding was like jello you could touch it without it sticking to your finger. But it was bright red and had half dollar size drops in the beginning at the end of the trail it was specks. no clue but i'm sure she stopped bleeding over 1.5 hours of grid searching for next blood from the last blood.
Well the good thing is its going to be cool tonight and I'm hunting the same spot tommorow so after the morning sit its right back to last blood but i just can't stress the amount of time i spent at last blood it was easy to find up until then
ditto .. it sounds like you flesh wounded her ... but it's hard to tell without seeing the blood and arrow oh yea, there is no void .... if it went under the spine ...you got lung, assuming you were lined up righ ..
well after really looking at the facts i think that I may have gotten the straps. Heres the arrow I don't have any pics of the blood trail. But after watching John Mullers doe video i did see one spec of blood past the area i shot her. I just passed it off for someone else's deer but I've never seen anyone else back there 1.5 mile hike. So my question is tommorow morning should I start at last blood where i spent a long time looking or go to the new blood spot and investigate there? I know the doe's bed in the area the deer was heading and the new spec is heading that way the blood trail also j hooked right back towards the impact spot. Just about 300 yards west of the area.
They are certainly amazing animals, deserving of our deepest respect ! Well, I feel for you, losing a deer but am happy that you know she will live.
It is possible to put it under the spine and not kill the deer, especially broadside. The arrow can cut the top edge of the lungs without being fatal. I've punched a buck through the top of the chest, under the spine before with a great blood trail to follow that I thought was going to be short. I got up on a ridge to glass for him in the snow and there he is mounting a doe 1/2 hour after I hit him. He had clotted up and the two of them ran off together for the next mountain without leaving another speck of blood in their trail.
If i were you i would look for a near by water source, deer will tend to head for water when wounded as for last blood you need to mark it and then start walking trails, i would look for a while on the trails then if no blood is found to give you a sense of direction i would start a grid to try and locate her that way. if you had good blood shes gotta be dead they copuld clott up very easily and still make it a long ways.
Yes sir. I hit a bear last year at 17 yards from a treestand just under the spine. He was quartering away and it entered behind the shoulder and exited in front of the other shoulder through the chest. It was all on video and I watched it like 30 times and decided to wait until morning. Great blood for 200 yards and then sparse for 250 more. Found one bed and then nothing. I would have sworn it was dead.....until I got it on trail cam this year.
I don,t know about not being able to shoot one between lungs and spine. Here,s a deer that lived over being shot there. I watched her the day after this photo and she seemed to be fine. I have been told by a few ranch managers that have had a lot of deer shot there and live. The yellow circle shows the exit looks like it broke the ribs and the healed up.
Hound, your doe is a hit above the spinal cord. Meat and bone are up there, no lungs. Your arrow likely never touched a rib. My friend Deb shot a deer that had a wound very much like on Saturday. While technically, it can be a 'spine' hit becaus the spinous processes are likely to have been hit.... it's still very much above what most refer to as the 'spine' and most definitely above the lungs. However, there are still a ton of folks who mistakenly believe it's a below the spine hit. (this is a pet peeve of mine. ) There are several inches of deer between the top of it's back and where the bottom edge of it's vertebral column lies. If you shoot right below the main vertebral body (the thick part of the vertebra), you'll hit lungs. (or at least one lung) The descending aorta also lies right under the vertebral body so a hit that just skims the top of the lungs will likely hit the aorta. A deer won't stay upright long with that shot.
Agreed with everything you said. This is also a pet peeve of mine that I have to explain every year. The pics of the doe that was posted.....that shot was above the spine. Kodiak, I have a hard time believing that any deer that takes a shot through the lungs and be mounting a deer a half hour later. I just don't see it.
Dan ..... my brother hit a buck yesterday EXACTLY like you just described .... had decent blood for 200 yards then it was sparse ... they backed out ... called deer search .... they came late this morning ... the dog followed the trail for 500 yards ... the deer never bed down ... the trackers say that buck will definitely live ... and they had lung blood .... so I believe it Also, the guys told us a story of a deer with one lung, the other collapsed ... the deer was shot with the bow the PREVIOUS bow season .... killed during gun season the next year ...
WRONG, transect that spot to spot, and look at the next deer you butcher and you'll kick yourself for posting this in the first place. That deer was undoubtedly shot ABOVE the spine all the way.....
