Need some help on arrow placement!

[Just Lucky]

4 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Only way I’d push a wounded deer is if there was snow on the ground and I was carrying a gun.  (During firearms season)
 

For those that encourage pushing a wounded deer, what wound would make you decide to push it?

Increase heart rate to increase blood loss was the reason I did it. If the deer stops bleeding easier to loose the trail. I knew mine were not good hits. Ran one till he fell over dead. That was with a muzzle loader, took his back leg off.

 The other I was able to catch up to and put another arrow in it.  I had hit him downward through the front of shoulders, and out by the leg. Caught up to him looking down hill for me. I was above him on the hill at that time and was able to get another arrow in him.

[wolc123]

21 minutes ago, Just Lucky said:

Increase heart rate to increase blood loss was the reason I did it. If the deer stops bleeding easier to loose the trail. I knew mine were not good hits. Ran one till he fell over dead. That was with a muzzle loader, took his back leg off.

 The other I was able to catch up to and put another arrow in it.  I had hit him downward through the front of shoulders, and out by the leg. Caught up to him looking down hill for me. I was above him on the hill at that time and was able to get another arrow in him.

I only did it once, on my very first archery harvest, when I was in my early 20’s.  My shot was low and forward, and taken early in the morning.  My buddy (a few years younger than me) was hunting with me that day.   We got after that deer right away, more so because we were “young and dumb”, than it was the “proper” course of action.  
 

The blood trail wasn’t great, but we were always able to find a few more drops, and we kept going for miles.  By the late afternoon, we were on the edge of a hilltop meadow, in the next town.   I stayed at the last drop of blood, and my buddy circled around, looking for another.  
 

I was getting hungry and ready to pull the plug at that point.  I cut straight across the meadow, to where my buddy was, to tell him that. About halfway across, I stumbled across the wounded buck, laying down in the tall grass.  It’s head was up, but it was too weak to stand.  
 

My buddy couldn’t see the deer, but he saw me nock an arrow and aim in his general direction.  I put one thru it’s lungs, from about 10 yards away.  That gave it enough adrenalin to get up and bound off a few yards, before going down for good.  
 

My early morning arrow had passed thru its upper left front  leg, and the Wasp 125 3/blade fixed broadhead had stuck in the bone of its upper right front leg.  All of our pushing, had kept it bleeding.  I don’t know if we would have found that deer, if we had waited before pushing, but I will guess that we wouldn’t have.  
 

Most of the time, we were tracking thru mature hardwoods and dry leaves with very good lighting.  It’s almost like that buck knew that, when he headed up to that grassy meadow, where following that blood trail would have been nearly impossible.  
 

There’s only one reason why that buck ended up in my freezer, and that is because that is where JC wanted him to go.  It certainly had little to do with our tracking or my shooting skills.  

[First-light]

Hey Gang I'm back in. No luck tonight. I didn't even find a spec of blood. Had two people help me out. I'm going back in the morning and try again. Such a shame. I get the entry was high but it should of clipped lungs and he would of blew blood out nose and mouth?

[SWEDE]

Not really I expect you cut aorta to heart maybe not fully but it's filling up with blood no lung but just as good. Grid it out.  Get into hidy spots. 

[SWEDE]

My half mile buck had steady blood for yes half mile. Shot him again 12 hrs later in his 7th bed. Your shots high no lung but he's going down. This lower heart shot left blood your aorta shot will be all internal. My guess good luck.  Big 8?

[Lawdwaz]

13 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

I only did it once, on my very first archery harvest, when I was in my early 20’s.  My shot was low and forward, and taken early in the morning.  My buddy (a few years younger than me) was hunting with me that day.   We got after that deer right away, more so because we were “young and dumb”, than it was the “proper” course of action.  
 

The blood trail wasn’t great, but we were always able to find a few more drops, and we kept going for miles.  By the late afternoon, we were on the edge of a hilltop meadow, in the next town.   I stayed at the last drop of blood, and my buddy circled around, looking for another.  
 

I was getting hungry and ready to pull the plug at that point.  I cut straight across the meadow, to where my buddy was, to tell him that. About halfway across, I stumbled across the wounded buck, laying down in the tall grass.  It’s head was up, but it was too weak to stand.  
 

My buddy couldn’t see the deer, but he saw me nock an arrow and aim in his general direction.  I put one thru it’s lungs, from about 10 yards away.  That gave it enough adrenalin to get up and bound off a few yards, before going down for good.  
 

My early morning arrow had passed thru its upper left front  leg, and the Wasp 125 3/blade fixed broadhead had stuck in the bone of its upper right front leg.  All of our pushing, had kept it bleeding.  I don’t know if we would have found that deer, if we had waited before pushing, but I will guess that we wouldn’t have.  
 

Most of the time, we were tracking thru mature hardwoods and dry leaves with very good lighting.  It’s almost like that buck knew that, when he headed up to that grassy meadow, where following that blood trail would have been nearly impossible.  
 

There’s only one reason why that buck ended up in my freezer, and that is because that is where JC wanted him to go.  It certainly had little to do with our tracking or my shooting skills.  

That's an outstanding example.........not really.  

Stick tight though, I'm sure some really good insight is still to come...........

 

[wolc123]

3 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

That's an outstanding example.........not really.  

Stick tight though, I'm sure some really good insight is still to come...........

 

I was wondering when you’d chime in:  I had a few beers, with a couple of folks you know/knew at the Parker House, the evening after that episode occurred.  The older one couple really put them down.  

[chrisw]

I'm typically not pushing a deer with a bow in my hands, the odds of follow up shots are low on a marginally hit deer. Rifle leg hits are another story. I'd rather wait until the next morning than chase a deer a mile with my bow in hand. Not to mention the OP's deer has a high entrance wound, chances of being able to follow a great distance is lower, and if it's a single lung he'll still have his wits about him enough to stay well in front of you...

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

[Lawdwaz]

20 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

I was wondering when you’d chime in:  I had a few beers, with a couple of folks you know/knew at the Parker House, the evening after that episode occurred.  The older one couple really put them down.  

LOL, the Parker House in Darien, long gone though?

Mr. W would call those "barley sandwiches" and could pound them.

[genesee_mohican]

You said "My shot: Slight quarter away, I was 20 feet off the ground, buck was 7-10 yards. Hit him high in shoulder. Found broken arrow. I got 7 inches of penetration. Bright Blood on arrow. "   based on that description and taking into consideration the angle and only 7 inches of penetration, I'd say it's very possible the broadhead could have stopped just above any vitals. But maybe not.

The tracking on a shot like that has to be done very carefully. Finding the spot where the shot took place and carefully looking for any over turned leaves and ground disturbance and tracks then on hands and knees to scour every leaf for a spec of blood or sign of the path the deer took.  Now that this option has passed, a careful grid search is next.  Good luck, hope you find him.

 

 

 

[First-light]

Getting way ahead of myself but lets just say I find the deer in the morning. What do you think about the meat? It's low 20's tonight ?

 

[wolc123]

6 minutes ago, First-light said:

Getting way ahead of myself but lets just say I find the deer in the morning. What do you think about the meat? It's low 20's tonight ?

 

All good except the tenderloins.

[First-light]

8 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

All good except the tenderloins.

Joke or why?

 

[wolc123]

1 minute ago, First-light said:

Joke or why?

 

Too close to the piss sack, lower intestine, and other guts to not pick up any “off” flavored after that much time. All of the outside meat should be fine though. 

[WWJD_Hunter]

2 hours ago, First-light said:

Hey Gang I'm back in. No luck tonight. I didn't even find a spec of blood. Had two people help me out. I'm going back in the morning and try again. Such a shame. I get the entry was high but it should of clipped lungs and he would of blew blood out nose and mouth?

Good luck tomorrow. I hope you find him . 

[First-light]

My neighbors and I all get along great. Had to go on one property but called before I went. Gave them the lowdown and I was good to go. They actually called tonight to give me suggestions on where to look. Good stuff. 

[First-light]

Headed out in a few. I have a planted pine area to check and a swampy bedding area also. The more and more I watch the shot in my mind it hit exactly where I said. I know I must of hit the opposite shoulder because it made a pretty good sound. The angle and distance just says I hit something vital. You guys are right high entrance hole and no exit makes for a tough time. I'll report back when finished, don't know when that will be. 

 

[rob-c]

4 minutes ago, First-light said:

Headed out in a few. I have a planted pine area to check and a swampy bedding area also. The more and more I watch the shot in my mind it hit exactly where I said. I know I must of hit the opposite shoulder because it made a pretty good sound. The angle and distance just says I hit something vital. You guys are right high entrance hole and no exit makes for a tough time. I'll report back when finished, don't know when that will be. 

 

Fingers crossed …

[Versatile_Hunter]

11 minutes ago, First-light said:

Headed out in a few. I have a planted pine area to check and a swampy bedding area also. The more and more I watch the shot in my mind it hit exactly where I said. I know I must of hit the opposite shoulder because it made a pretty good sound. The angle and distance just says I hit something vital. You guys are right high entrance hole and no exit makes for a tough time. I'll report back when finished, don't know when that will be. 

 

Any dog tracking services around you? If you end up going that route you’ll want to avoid contaminating the track. 

[Lawdwaz]

24 hours later.....what is your plan if you find it?

 

[Dabills]

14 hours ago, First-light said:

Hey Gang I'm back in. No luck tonight. I didn't even find a spec of blood. Had two people help me out. I'm going back in the morning and try again. Such a shame. I get the entry was high but it should of clipped lungs and he would of blew blood out nose and mouth?

The deer I shot yesterday I double lunged and there was no blood at point of shot it was weird. It zipped right through I couldn’t find arrow either! Deer went about 40 yards and it looked like a massacre where it died. Similar shot angle to yours but I shot slightly lower, here is the exit wound:

[phade]

17 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Only way I’d push a wounded deer is if there was snow on the ground and I was carrying a gun.  (During firearms season)
 

For those that encourage pushing a wounded deer, what wound would make you decide to push it?

Shoulder hits where arrow is in or broken off in deer. Low hits on chest cavity. Those two primarily stick out.

Moog has one on the wall that is very vivid in my mind that pushing was the right call. Super low shot where I think he got one blade into the bottom of the heart and that deer was still alive several hours later and we covered quite a distance until we could put two stalks on him and get shots. He ran out of gas after being jumped from the first bed and allowed the second stall to be much more close.

Shoulders are the ones most people will push on IMO.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by phade

[phade]

18 hours ago, Enigma said:

Thats a dead deer. Kudos to you for backing out and letting him lay down and die. Smart move. He shouldn't be far. 

The last thing I would ever do is push a deer after a suspect bow shot. Been there. Done that. The people telling you otherwise have never trailed one too quick, watched it pop up and run to the next county. Never to be seen again. 

Gun shot deer are a different story. 

I cannot agree on that. In situations where you need to keep a wound from clotting and forcing more blood loss or hopefully damage from the BH inside as I previously noted. I am no expert but almost every expert on blood trailing will speak to those instances where that is the proper course. This isn’t talking about a liver or lung hit etc. it’s very specific but calls for an opposite decision from conventional wisdom. I’ve been on enough recoveries in my life to know better than to say you never push an arrow wounded deer in any situation. That’s just not an “always” scenario.
 

[Larry]

Hey, hate to say this but I don’t think that’s a dead deer. If your arrow placement on the target is accurate and the angle is to and with penetration of only 7ins or less. The arrow probably missed all the vitals and with bright red blood it looks like a mussel hit. Also, it looks like you may have hit the top of the shoulder. The ribs, backbone and shoulder all come to gather there. That’s not to say the arrow may not of caught the top of one lung but it looks too far forward.

[First-light]

2 hours ago, Larry said:

Hey, hate to say this but I don’t think that’s a dead deer. If your arrow placement on the target is accurate and the angle is to and with penetration of only 7ins or less. The arrow probably missed all the vitals and with bright red blood it looks like a mussel hit. Also, it looks like you may have hit the top of the shoulder. The ribs, backbone and shoulder all come to gather there. That’s not to say the arrow may not of caught the top of one lung but it looks too far forward.

At this point I agree.