Hypothetical question: Shot Placement

[Chew]

Let's say a friend of mine were to see a buck that he wanted to shoot. The buck came in close but there was no shot because of other deer moving in front of or behind the nice 8 pt. The nice 8 walks out to about 26-28 yards and stops with his rear facing my friend. The buck then makes a small turn to the right and is now hard quartering away (head at 1 o'clock, rear at 7 o'clock). My friend (overcome with buck fever and afraid the buck is about to walk off out of bow range) cuts loose an arrow and hits right where he was aiming. Unfortunately my friend, in his rookie state of mind compounded by buck fever, forgot to "aim for the exit hole". Whether or not the shot should have been taken is a moot point now. It was. The arrow should have been placed far back on the ribs so it would exit in front of the far shoulder (at least that's what my friend now thinks). Unfortunately, my friend had so ingrained into his mind that "low and tight behind the shoulder" is where the broadhead needed to go that he forgot all about the hard quartering away angle and the shot placement necessary for that position. My friend says the arrow slipped in perfectly behind the shoulder and didn't appear to exit on the other side. Based on the angle it appears the arrow either went forward of the far shoulder or lodged in it.

The deer ran off with the arrow. No blood trail. No broken arrow found later. He searched (with the help of others) that evening and the next day. No signs. Another lease member was up there several days later. No buzzards, no sign.

What are the deer's chances of survival with the shot described?

My friend appreciates any input from people who have went through the horrible experience of losing a beautiful buck to a poorly placed shot (specifically like the one mentioned above).

My friend's reasons for posting this are two-fold....to learn from his mistake and to possibly help another rookie who is faced with this situation.

[bowhunterhelm]

I say good chance the deer will make it. I once shot a hog like that, very similar situation. The guide called me two weeks later and he killed the hog. It still had my arrow lodged in it's shoulder.

If the deer was quartering away that hard it's very possible that the arrow never entered the chest cavity. Unless he hit a major vien/artery I would think you will see the deer again.

Good luck

[bdphunt]

Depending on where it hit, I too agree there is a good chance the deer is alive. The deer in my avatar and in the video in my signature called Strike One is a buck that I hit dead on the shoulder last year. I found my arrow and only a small blood trail. 4 weekends later I killed him. The feeling is horrible when it happens, but the only thing "your friend" can do is get back out there and keeping looking/hunting for him.

[bowhunterhelm]

Chew, not sure if you saw my post earlier this year but the buck in my avitar was shot opening morning. He's probably searching for does right now as far as I know.

I got the avitar pic about 4 days after I shot him. You can see the wound in the picture, just behind the shoulder.

[Chew]

Thanks for the input!

[jerp]

On opening day, an arrow shot at this buck glanced off a strand of barbed wire and went almost straight upward through his backstrap without hitting spine. This pic is a couple of weeks later. Amazingly tough animals. I'll bet you see him again.

[elhefe]

He's alive and a little educated in my opinion. Hunt hard and I bet you see him again. My .02

[Texastaxi]

I dont' know about the whitetail, but I can promise you that shot wouldn't kill an axis!

I'm with helm on this one. If it didn't hit a major artery, he's most likely still running around ... but he's gonna be a lot smarter now!

[bowhunterhelm]

Yeah, he's alot smarter now. The deer I shot has not shown back up other than in the middle of the night.

I watched him several months before season and he was showing up morning and evening every day! Not sure if I'll catch up to him now or not. Poking a hole in them with a razor sharp broad head will get their attention. They don't like it and try not to let that happen again

[DRow]

He's alive and a little educated in my opinion. Hunt hard and I bet you see him again. My .02

[D12]

Alive

[Kdog]

I feel your friend's pain.

I (not a friend) had a similar situation happen to me a few weeks ago. I made a shot on a deer broad side slightly quartering away. I thought I hit him high but behind the shoulder. It was a slightly uphill shot from the ground @ 15 yards. Although I had a complete pass though, I had very little blood on my arrow. That which I did have was dark red. I found a total of 5 drops of blood in 85 yards. The deer jumped two fences (located closely to each other) and then I lost the trail. After searching in the evening (with help) I pulled out to look in the morning. Buzzards were circling very far away. We looked where they appeared to be circling with no luck. I convinced myself the deer was not dead. That my shot was below his spine, and above his lungs.

I returned to the lease 5 days later. During my morning hunt 9 buzzards were flying back and forth between a tree right behind my feeder and in some trees a little farther away. At this point I realized that my buck was probably back there. I looked for about 40 minutes and found him, at least what was left. He ran up hill, circled back and jumped back over the fence. He was not up under a cedar tree (we have lots of those where I hunt), he was in the open, and appeared to have died where he fell. At this point I could not tell where I hit him. Where he jumped two fences, I had no blood whatsoever. I think maybe I clipped his liver?? Of course I was very upset at myelf over the whole situation.

Hopefully you will see him alive. If he is dead, I hope you find him. My advice would be to keep looking in the area where you hit him. I have heard deer can run very far, but my experience was the opposite.

[Kdog]

I feel your friend's pain.

Sorry - double post.