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Shoulder shot with bow ?

36K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  Hunting Man 
#1 ·
I shot and hit a real nice tall and wide 6 pt this past weekend. I am almost 100% sure I hit the deer too far forward and in the shoulder. It was about a 31 yd shot. I am shooting a matthews Drenlin set at about 63-64 lb draw weight. I found my arrow and about 3 1/2 inches of the arrow was broke off in the deer. There was blood about another 3 inches up the arrow. No pass througjh. I gave the deer over 5 hrs before I went to look for him. When I went back out all we could find was a few small drops of blood. We walked the property out with no sign of the deer. Do you guys think the deer will survive that kind of hit? I passed an earlier shot on him bc it was a questionable shot to later hit him too far forward. I had a rage mechincal broadhead. ( 2 blade).
 
#2 ·
Honestly, I think you have a dead deer somewhere. How many acres are you hunting? If I were you I would go back there and search all day long until I found blood spots. Go to a hardware store and buy you some marking flags (those ones utility companies use to mark wires) and place a flag EVERY spot there is blood. Then after you absolutely cannot find anymore... step back and look at the direction the blood is going (by looking at the flags). Then if I was 100% sure that buck wasn't on MY property,,, whoever owns land in the direction that blood is pointing would get a VERY NICE and RESPECTFUL phone call from me, BEGGING to come and search around to find a downed buck. That's what I would do. DO NOT just give up,,, if you were using a rage and it broke off in the shoulder and there was blood 3 inches further up the arrow shaft that was broken off... I'd say you made a good enough hit. Now, was it a lethal hit... maybe not right away, but I guarantee you if you backed out like you said you did, he ran no more than 300yds and then layed down somewhere and bled out. REMEMBER, deer blend in to the surroundings EXCELLENTLY! SO keep combing your property and flag the heck out of it.

If I lived closer I'd come help ya man!
 
#3 ·
I agree w/ Tator I think it is a dead deer also
I have shot two deer using the rage & neither has gone more then 50 yards (with good hits) to add to Tator if you have blood on the broken arrow shaft then there is blood on the ground
also get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide & put it in a spray bottle spray the ground where you think the deer traveled if the peroxide bubbles you have blood
Good Luck
 
#4 ·
My bad experience last year was with using a Rage and had the same shoulder hit. Unfortunately, we saw the buck the next night feeding out in a corn field then walked right in front of my truck. My fear is you didn't get enough penetration and will not locate the buck. This doesn't mean that all the comments above should be discarded as they are the right thing to do as a hunter. This was the first time using the Rage and I made a poor hit however, if I had bee using the Muzzy MX3 like I have been for several years then I would have found my buck. I would really give your hunting property a good shearch and if there is water nearby look there. Good luck and hopefully you will locate him. If you hunt long enough a lost animal will happen, it's just life. We do our best and sometimes things just happen differently than we had hoped.
 
#7 ·
It seems to me that 6" of penetration is not great, but may be enough to kill that deer. Could you not follow the tracks?? Did the arrow hit high in the shoulder or low? Did you get any bubbles in the blood you did find? If you see any bubbles at all you can be fairly sure it is down. Find/Follow tracks.
 
#9 ·
I went out and followed where I knew he had ran. Could not find any more blood. I combed the property really good, no luck. I did not however check a pond that is close by. I will go out and check that pond soon after I get permission. I spoke with another guy who had a similiar hit already this fall and said the story was almost the same and they never found the deer and actually seen the deer 2 days later. I just hope the deer survived. Thanks for all of the responses.
 
#10 ·
I went out and followed where I knew he had ran. Could not find any more blood. I combed the property really good, no luck. I did not however check a pond that is close by. I will go out and check that pond soon after I get permission. I spoke with another guy who had a similiar hit already this fall and said the story was almost the same and they never found the deer and actually seen the deer 2 days later. I just hope the deer survived. Thanks for all of the responses.

this sounds weird,,, but make sure you check IN the pond too... sometimes when they are hit, they try to get that burn away by getting in something wet or cold. I've seen where deer have jumped into creeks (once they settled down) and ended up expiring there.

Try the flag thing!
 
#11 ·
If the arrow did go in 6" could be a high single lung hit no blood trail. If the buck was pushed at all after the hit he could go a really long ways looking for either water or security before expiring. I hope you locate him quickly. If you do find him dead great caution must be made about consuming any meat. Personally, I would tag him out and discard the meat just to be on the safe side, unless you find him very warm and not bloated. Sorry for the graphics, just a cautionary note on meat safety.
 
G
#14 ·
high shoulder hit

I drilled a buck from high up at 13yrds. Caught him on a downward angle high on the shoulder and a little back - the arrow stuck in him. The arrow broke off 6-8 inches up and there was blood for another 3". That kind of penetration had to have hit the chest cavity and a lung - right?

One good splatter of blood on a bush and a drop or two just past that - THEN NOTHING. 4 people looking thoroughly. I was shocked.
 
#15 ·
I did the same thing two years ago in PA a bit more broadside but hit the shoulder blade center and tracked that buck for several hours. Saw him the next night feeding in a cut corn field with a limp. Didn't get any reports of him being shot in gun season. My guess he didn't make it. It happens if you bow hunt long enough.
 
#16 ·
Most butchers will tell you when they process deer they are always on the lookout for broadheads in the meat.
It happens to most of us at some point so I guess it's not too uncommon to find one now and then when butchering..
 
#17 ·
So true Bruce We butcher our own & we are ALWAYS looking for them
I know one butcher that got sliced pretty bad on one not pleasent to find the hard way
 
#18 ·
Yes check water holes etc. when a deer his hit and bleeding it causes them to dehydrate from hemmorageing and they will head to water. Could be he bleed out on the inside. sometimes they or hard to find.I got one last season and I walked my it within 10ft several times,and was standing within 8ft of it when my buddy says there it is look left and down. it went down at the edge of some bushs and no belly white showing. could only see it from an angle. Have you seen any buzzards flying around?
 
G
#19 · (Edited)
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#20 ·
Buddy of mine shot a buck in the shoulder with a muzzy, got about the same penetration and it killed the buck.

I would go to the last spot of blood and start doing circles, 10 yards, then 20, then 30.

Take as many people as you can, if you can get a dog, beagles are good.

good luck, possible he survived
 
#21 ·
from my passed experience your buck is probably dead somewhere. if your broadhead stayed inside the deer at 6 inches it is likely that the blade will cut everything inside as the animal is in movement. if you used carbon arrows now thats a toxic material probably wont survive to that.
however if the animal can leek the place around your hit then there is a small change but still i doubt it.
deer are amazing animals you can not always tell what they are going to act they always surprise you.
 
#22 ·
The field reports and actual experience with my group, discard the Rage 3 blades and use the 2 blade if you want to use the Rage line. I prefer the Muzzy MX3 in 100 gr. 5 deer shot this year all recovered and all pass throughs. Patience for the correct ethical shot is something that all hunters must adopt. You cannot simply take a bad shot and hope for the best. Even when presented with a broadside or 1/4ering away bad things can sometimes happen. If the best shot isn't presented then simply pass and hunt another day. This is mostly for archers. Quartering towards you is a bad shot, can you kill with it yes but many times you will loose the deer because of no exit wound. I like the full broadside shot, a couple inches behind the shoulder from a ladder stand. This is a high/low double lung shot in which the deer expires very quickly leaving a quality blood trail. I agree with the general statement that: most broad head designs will dispatch a deer when shot through the vitals. I do question statements that archers make like: dropped the deer in it's tracks. In my 40+ years of hunting, that only happens when a spine shot takes place. I've used over 15 broad heads over the years and yet have one that drops them in their tracks.
 
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