Hoping y'all could help me understand what happened. I've had two shots this season that resulted in passthroughs but absolutely zero blood on the arrow. One of the deer was broadside and I heard a loud crack when it hit. The other was 45 degrees quartering away and I heard a pop when it hit. That shot was 18 yards while the deer was feeding on acorns oblivious to my presence and I swear it looked and sounded perfect (aimed to exit the far side shoulder). Both deer trotted maybe 10-15 yards then slowly walked away, leaving pretty sparse blood trails. That behavior makes me think gut shot but having trouble believing that as (i) I aimed forward on both deer, and (ii) there was no gut matter or smell on the arrows. Only a very faint smell of deer meat. Otherwise clean as a whistle. What in the world happened? I'm sick thinking about wounding these deer. QAD exodus broadheads (these are fixed blade, not mechanical).
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You said you aimed forward, pretty good chance you hit further forward than what you think and it was a meat hit.
It happens. Happened to my wife opening morning in fact. A few good spots of bright red blood, then a trickle here and there.
We have game cam pics of him since then by the way. -
That sounds and smells like muscle more than body cavity. A deer can move faster than an arrow can hit where it’s aimed.Comment
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You are probably hitting them high, above the spine. The spine is a lot lower than most people realize. You must hit in the lower half of the body.Comment
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Idk but if you hit lungs/heart those deer are dead. Otherwise, you didn't hit where you thought. One other possibility is you didn't track them properly. I'm not trying to criticize..just being real and trying to help. In my experience, there isn't much blood where the deer was shot. They bolt and don't start gushing blood until they have run 30 plus yards or so even with a heart shot or double lung. It's critical to note the spot where you last saw the deer running off and then start your search for blood there. Lots of time they will exit on a trail or eventually get on a well used trail. So sometimes you can pick up the blood on one of those. Follow all the trails leading in and out of area where you shot the deer looking for blood. One other note. I have killed 100% of my bow kills since 1995 with mechanical blades with only one lost. (poor shot by me) So contrary to what others say on here, it's not the broadhead. That's just an excuse. Good Luck.Comment
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Thanks all. I'm hoping they are ok.
Twist Drycreek3189 Draco Forward/high/muscle sounds like the case based on the clean arrow and slight meat smell. Got some bone on that first one due to the crack sound but I couldn't see the impact point. Do you still get a thump/pop sound with a high or forward hit? See below re: the blood - I've heard blood is pretty sparse with high hits, at least in the first 50-100 yards. The second deer is the one that's really got me dumbfounded as I keep replaying the shot over and over in my mind and it felt perfect. Clearly it was not.
asu-indian, definitely appreciate your insights. I watched the second one cover over 100 yards at a slow walk so definitely not heart or double lung. Couldn't reload fast enough to put a second one in it unfortunately.
There was a tiny bit of blood at the impact site on the first deer, but didn't see any more until 50 or 60 yards from the shot where the deer stood for a minute or two out of sight. That blood was bright red but there wasn't a ton of it. Nothing after that. Sounds muscle-ish?
No blood at impact site on the second deer, and not a drop until 60 yards later and it went dry after 10-15 yards.
Went down every trail they might've taken and nada. Also went to where I last saw the second one and couldn't find a thing after 4 hours of searching. Both ducked into a large thicket based on direction of travel but without a blood trail to follow it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.Comment
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We’ve all been there but one of my pet peeve’s is being able to track your arrow. So if you can’t use lighted nocks or video the shot. Sound is useless IMO of shot quality. Nothing worse than showing up to help track a deer and you ask the hunter “where’d you hit it?” and they reply I don’t know which doesn’t help the animal, them or you.Last edited by Aggiehunter08; 10-31-2023, 08:30 PM.Comment
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I got nothing as to what happened on your shots, but have you practiced with your broadheads to make sure they hit the same point of aim as your field points???
BischComment
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Basically, you didn't hit them where you think you did.Comment
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I know your feelings. All too well. Keep trying and stay positive.Comment
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This was going to be my suggestion. Broadhead tuning, especially on fixed blades is critical.Originally posted by Bisch View Post
I don't know your history with bowhunting or how many animals you have successfully harvested using this current setup, but I would encourage you to consider tuning your bow to the impact of the broadheads for the season. OR collect different broadheads from a few friends and find the one that patterns similar to your field points. Then hunt those heads. Spin testing your arrows for broadhead alignment is key as well. ZERO wobble. The use of cameras, if available, is the greatest tool for correcting shot issues. Hunting and also while practicing. A lot of hunters, even myself, get so caught up on getting the shot off before the deer leaves, they forget the fundamentals of shooting. Odd angles, weird drawing positions and lighting can set you up for failure. If you are shooting a ground blind for hunting, practice sitting in a chair. If you are hunting a ladder stand, practice shooting out of a ladder. Scenarios were my great asset for practicing when I was shooting and teaching my kids to shoot. Because we rarely get a deer to stand in the same position as the target. Another thing I do is ONE SHOT DRILLS. I'll grab my bow at anytime throughout the day with one arrow. Walkout to a random part of the yard, range the target, draw and shoot for perfection. Then put the bow up. A little while later I'll repeat it. We practice to develop muscle memory. When we hunt, there's rarely a follow up. One shot. One kill. Make it count.
Again, I'm not questioning your experience, but we all tend to rush the situation verses maybe taking that extra 30 seconds to ensure our form is correct. Making the best shot possible for your sake and the animal in the pins.Comment
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Did you try getting a tracking dog out there? Maybe you made good shots and the blood trail was just minimal.Comment
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The walking away part sounds like a liver shot but everything else you have described sounds like a high and forward shot like others have mentioned. A couple years ago I got a cheap phone tripod with bendy legs for like $10 on amazon. I try my best to film every shot now with my cellphone. Get to the stand, wrap tripod legs around tree branch, window frame, ect.... Put phone on Do Not Disturb, Lowest light settings and then put it in the tripod. As soon as you notice deer approaching start recording, doesnt matter if the video is 20 minutes long you can delete it or crop it shorter if you shoot. After the shot I make sure to watch the deer until I lose sight of it, then the first thing I do is go back and play the video frame by frame to make sure the shot was good, that will determine how I track the deer, wait time, get a dog ect....
I think if you could try and film your shots you could get a true answer and see what is happening. It has raised my confidence after shots a lot and it's cool having the videos.Comment
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On “perfect” shots, what you think you see is not always what happened. One season I shot two different does at the same feeder and they were standing in almost the same place. I thought I hit each of them in the pocket but in reality both arrows entered in the flank and got liver and one lung. Both does expired in sight but the arrow certainly didn’t go where I aimed. Or where I thought it did.Comment
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