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High hit input

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203ntyp

203ntyp

PMA Member
Hit my target buck at 4:05 last afternoon, looked a little high so I backed out. The shot was 35 yards broadside with a Grim Reaper broadhead. The hit sounded good with that loud thud, he took off like a rocket with head low and into a real thick area. I did see blood at the entry point when it hit but found no sign of blood, hair or my shaft in the field where he was standing. I spent 3 hours this morning looking, crawling and covering about 15 acres of woods and brush to no avail.

I'm really bummed to say the least. This is about where the shaft entered, blue dot. Any insight would be appreciated.
Shot placement2025.jpg
 
Wonder if you got just below the spine and just above lungs, or maybe barely clipped the top of lungs, which don't tend to drain blood out the entry/exit for a while unless they are blowing it out their nose. ?
 
If you got below the spine, he's dead, if you didn't, he'll likely survive. That's exactly where a lot of bucks who "duck" the shot are hit. I lost a few to that hit years back which caused me to start aiming low on any alert deer as well as a strict 30 yd limit.
 
hillrunner said:
If you got below the spine, he's dead, if you didn't, he'll likely survive. That's exactly where a lot of bucks who "duck" the shot are hit. I lost a few to that hit years back which caused me to start aiming low on any alert deer as well as a strict 30 yd limit.
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Agreed. ^^ But...you would only need to be an inch'ish higher to then be above the spine IMO, in which case, I'd say that there is a 90% chance of survival. IMO, you are right on the line, so it is hard to be certain. Double check me on this...but if you were actually below the spine there I think you likely hit the MAJOR blood vessel that goes to the legs and if so, I have watched them die faster than a traditional heart shot.

That you searched and didn't find it AND didn't see/hear it go down AND didn't find A LOT of blood suggests to me that you were above the spine. Again, just opinion. Good luck.
 
Depending on how high you were in the tree, even at 35 yards, the arrow SHOULD be angled down. Weird things can happen tho when an arrow deflects off bone and they can take turns that don’t make sense. Do you have a feel for what type of penetration you got or things got blurry fast?

High lungs he’s dead, but can take a while for him to “fill up” and then leave blood on the ground. Single lung can be a doozy and they can live longer than seems possible.

If you hit the aortic artery under the spine, you’d know it immediately. Lots of blood under lots of pressure.

I’m one of the guys that would really like to believe there’s no such thing as “no man’s land” but in 47 years of bow hunting I’ve seen more than a couple take an arrow in that area and you’d bet a dollar they are graveyard dead…only to get them on camera 2 weeks later.

The highs & lows of being a bowhunter.

Best of luck & hope you recover him.
 
Daver said:
That you searched and didn't find it AND didn't see/hear it go down AND didn't find A LOT of blood suggests to me that you were above the spine. Again, just opinion.
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I'm positive it was just under the spine, perhaps an inch below the spine and maybe an inch above the lungs? Just not certain. I just walked another 3 hours along a creek bottom and high weeds and cattails, nothing.

I just got back a half hour ago from my last exploration, my wife took the dog out a few minutes later. She comes up to the house and said, "guess what I just seen", a big buck! I had asked her several times not to walk down there during the rut but a lot of good that did! I showed her the pic of the one I'm looking for and she said yes but she doesn't know what a big buck is!!!

I'm still leaning towards the no-zone for now. I asked several neighbors to keep an eye out, if found I'll tag it.
 
203ntyp said:
I'm positive it was just under the spine, perhaps an inch below the spine and maybe an inch above the lungs? Just not certain. I just walked another 3 hours along a creek bottom and high weeds and cattails, nothing.

I just got back a half hour ago from my last exploration, my wife took the dog out a few minutes later. She comes up to the house and said, "guess what I just seen", a big buck! I had asked her several times not to walk down there during the rut but a lot of good that did! I showed her the pic of the one I'm looking for and she said yes but she doesn't know what a big buck is!!!

I'm still leaning towards the no-zone for now. I asked several neighbors to keep an eye out, if found I'll tag it.
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One conversation amongst deer hunters that is often a little contentious is the presence, or not, of a "no man's zone". It is often referred to as an area "above the lungs and below the spine". However, that really isn't anatomically possible. The actual top of the lungs are very tight to the underside of the spinal column. Now then, there IS a zone that when hit rarely produces a dead deer and that is ABOVE the actual spine, and also above the lungs, but below the very top of the deer's back.

So...if it was below the spine, it was in the lungs. But it could below the horizontal top of the deer's back AND also above the spine and then not in the lungs. A "high" hit that doesn't produce a kill is almost always this scenario.
 
203ntyp said:
I just got back a half hour ago from my last exploration, my wife took the dog out a few minutes later. She comes up to the house and said, "guess what I just seen", a big buck! I had asked her several times not to walk down there during the rut but a lot of good that did! I showed her the pic of the one I'm looking for and she said yes but she doesn't know what a big buck is!!!
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Well after asking for more details from my wife, she mentioned the dog seen the buck 1st and barked at it then the buck stomped his foot, turned and walked away slowly. Maybe, just maybe she saw that buck?
 
203ntyp said:
Well after asking for more details from my wife, she mentioned the dog seen the buck 1st and barked at it then the buck stomped his foot, turned and walked away slowly. Maybe, just maybe she saw that buck?
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Take the dog to spot you shot it. They don't go for the blood. They go for a gland they produce under extreme stress. It's worth a shot.
 
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