Perfect Double lung And lost The deer! Any Suggestions?

[StickEmXT]

I recently got a shot at a decent Ten point i have been hunting for the last two weeks. the deer came out at about 5:20 pm and jumped into the feeder pen. this was the first time he had eaten corn in the last few weeks due to the rut. i waited until the deer was perfectly broadside. i used my rangefinder and he was at 25 yards. i drew my bow without detection and released. The arrow hit directly behind the deer's shoulder right in the middle of the body.my arrow went all the way through till just the fletchings and tracer nock were sticking out. when the deer jumped out of the pen the arrow broke and each piece fell out both sides. i waited for thirty minutes until right at dark so there was a little light left. confident that the deer was not far i trailed the deer with good blood actually great it was every where for about 125 yds. the blood started to turn into little drops so i decided to wait until morning to continue. the next day i found a few more drops of blood and i even had a guy with dogs come to the ranch to help me. we never found the deer. this was devestating to me seeing i had hunted so hard all season. In my past expirences when i have hit deer in this same place it was a double lung shot and the deer did not go farther than 150 yds. i have killed four different bucks with my bow and three does and nemourous hogs.

my equipment is as follows.....
Mathews Switchback XT 29" draw 69 lb pull
easton axis arrows blazer vanes
muzzy 3 blade 100g broad head

i was hunting from a tripod ten feet in the air.


If anyone has an explanation to what happend please help.

Thanks, Kenny Byrom

[HubCityThumper]

sounds like you ran into a tough deer. it happens.

[holdem]

I feel your pain Bro but can't explain what happened on that shot. Mebbe he was exhaling during passthru and mebbe you were and inch too high or forward and he mighta ducked a little. Sorry this happened but chin up and keep shooting. You have the right stuff. mike

[Eric4x4]

That's too bad they are tough animals

[Chunky]

I feel your pain. I hit an axis doe in Oct in the place you described. It was mid-body where the 10 ring would be on a 3-D target. I was aiming lower, and in fact I feel like you can not be too low as long as you are in the body cavity. I don't know if I shot high or the deer went down, but either way I was sure the deer was going to be easy to find.

After about four hours of searching with little sign I gave up when all the batteries were dead in the last flashlight. I started again the next morning because I was sure the deer was dead somewhere. At about 10:30 the next morning I jumped the deer up at about 250 yards from the shot. She stood long enough for me to make sure it was the same deer and confirm the wound I had made. The deer then left showing no sign of lasting harm and I feel that she survived the event. What happened? I don't know, but must have missed the lungs high or not caused enough trama to cause death, that is the only thing I can think of.

Maybe you will see your buck again, I hope so....it sucks to not have closure and not know for sure what happened.

[jooger17]

I actually shot a doe a couple of years ago with a .308 at 20 yards and blew heart and lungs out on the other side. She ran about 40 yards and layed down. I gave her 30 min and got down and went to her. She jumped up and ran another 100 yards or so. I went back to the house ate supper and returned about 2 hrs later. I jumped her up again and listened as she went about another 100 yards and bedded down again. It got down to about 25 that night so I let her lay. The next morning before work at arund 6 am, over 12 hrs since I had shot her I finally recovered the deer and she wasn't stiff and was still warm. The moral of the story is yu can't wait too long. These deer will blow your mind sometimes. I would say keep searching your area where you shot the buck and most likely he will turn up somewhere close to where you shot him. Good luck and don't quit. No one like loosing a deer especially a buck but in reality man it happens. Keep on keeping on!

[Slingblade]

My best friend shot a good buck the same way, and it ran off. He called me to track it with my dog and we looked for it all morning and did not find it. The next week he could see buzzards and found the deer. It had gone over the fence just 50 yards from where he had shot it. The reason we had not found it even with the dog is because we were walking upwind from where it laid and it was in tall grass. these things just happen.

[huntinfool]

The arrow hit directly behind the deer's shoulder right in the middle of the body.

I can only think that at the shot the buck dropped and was turning away from you. That would put the arrow coming out a bit higher on the other side and probably missed both lungs or only got one. Having said that he should recover. Check watering stations and other feeders, he'll need both to survive now and if he gets sore he'll likely bed nearby so be quiet.

Good luck.

[coop2564]

Sorry to hear you lost the buck. Here's some food for thought. I cant tell you how many deer I have trailed that were perfect double lung hits that when we recovered the deer were far from perfect shots most were one lung shot and the deer were angling more than the hunter thought. At 69 lbs using a muzzy your arrow should have zipped through like butter if hit mid body behind shoulder the fact it didnt go through tells me something wasnt quite how it seemed probably higher than it looked. I've trailed a lot of animals never seen one double lunged live over about 3 mins. Keep checking water sources could take weeks for him to die. But dont be surprized if he shows up on camera's again soon.

[Spike]

I don't know,sometimes it just seems like some deer are just more high strung and run like hell when hit with an arrow.I used to hunt those little 70-80lb. deer in Lavaca Co.They would usually average traveling 200-400yards before going down.It seemed like they would run till they were dead on their feet and then drop.I remember double lunging one.The trail was hard to follow,never any heavy blood,only fine mist blowing out each side.I followed those little tiny specks for an hour and found my buck 400 yards from where I shot him.As hard as he ran,I'd say it probaly only took him 20-30 seconds to cover that distance.

[BOWERIK]

Sorry to hear about the loss of any deer. I also lost what would have been my best buck earlier this year. The first deer I ever shot with a bow was a double lung pass through and she went over 250 yards and I had to search the next morning to find her; these animals can be strong resiliant creatures. If I was shooting your set up I would quit aiming behind the shoulder and start going right through the shoulder; what the point of shooting the muzzy with the bone breaking tip if you arent going for the shoulder. I shoot for the shoulder on deer and have never had them go far with their shoulders blown out. Regardlees I am sorry for the loss, but with bowhunting its not "if you are going to lose a deer" it is just "when is it going to happen?" Keep at it; it is just a sad fact that has happen to everyone I know and not just to bowhunters; like some people seem to think.

[holepuncher]

Lung shots are marginal in my opinion. or should i say finding them after the shot is marginal. I would suppose most deer lost are from shots other than the heart.I go for a heart shot especially on big bucks.

[supertrooperl14]

Bowerik, I have ran into some of these same problems. How many deer have you hit square in the shoulder? Have you ever had penetration problems and lost a deer by hitting them in the soulder?

I am confident with my equipment and have seen several deer hit in the shoulder on videos and they don't seem to go very far. I was just wandering if you had hit one in the shoulder and lost it. It seems like even the huge bucks in the midwest do not fare well with an arrow through both shoulder.

I think some would argue aiming for the shoulder is a bad choice. I am kinda torn on the issue, but if you can lose a deer hitting them where you are "supposed" to aim then what is the difference losing one aiming at the shoulder. I think as many arrows that are released at WT's sometimes these weird things just happen. All you can do is practice practice practice and the rest is all up to fate.

I shoot a 70# Mathews
Easton ACC 360 arrows
Rocket Broadhead

[Spike]

I hit one in the shoulder once.The broadhead must have hit the ridge on the shoulder blade.I was shooting from a treestand,when the arrow hit it cracked loud and the buck ran away with the arrow fletching pointing down.It appeared that the broadhead turned and followed the blade upward.I had good steady blood for 500 yards and it quit.Never found another drop,the arrow or the deer.

[BOWERIK]

I have killed probably 5 or 6 deer and numerous hogs and javelina; I have complete confidence in my equipment. I have always shot my equipment in tune, with heavy of arrows, and I have always shot fast set ups. I currently am shooting the bowteck samson at 76 lbs and have always shot expandables. I have seen and experienced deer hit double lung and these deer havs always had the ability to cover alot of ground. I think most people believe the shoulder runs straight up the leg and tend to aim to far back, and what they think is a double lung is not always the case.
I have always aimed toward the front of the chest and the heart is the only thing I am going for; see my write up in the hunting pages under "Val Verde Management buck"; that is what i am going for everytime. The deer in texas as we know tend not to be largest of their breeds and I think the further forward is the best shot.
With confidence in your ability and equipment I think it is the way to go.