Passthrough - poor blood trail

[WaitForIt]

Had something odd happen to me yesterday.

Two does came in before dusk, came up the hill to within 10 yards. I bleated at the lead doe. She stopped behind a 6-8" diameter tree. I could see the tip of her nose on the other side of the tree. I lined up the shot, picked a spot on her body about 1/2 way up from the belly and let fly. The arrow hit where intended, and the deer ran up and back down the hill.

I waited about 10 minutes because it was getting dark. I wanted to mark the trail so I could get a feel for exactly where it was going. I immediately found the blood-soaked arrow - smelled it, no odor. Red blood, a few bubbles. The blood trail was very sparse. Was able to follow for about 100-150 yards, with minimal blood. A great buddy of mine dropped what he was doing to come help track - we flagged a few spots and backed out.

Of course, it snowed overnight and removed all traces of the sign. I started at the last known blood and looked high and low for the body - 3.5 hours this morning and over an hour last night. No dice.

My question is - where can you shoot a deer and get a passthrough with nothing but blood on the arrow and yet not have a good blood trail? In thinking it over it obviously wasn't as good of a shot as I remember - but I cannot think of how I could have shot the deer to get a good passthrough and yet a terrible blood trail.

[mudslinger64]

you may have hit her above the lungs and below the spine,nothing really there and may not cause any fatal damage.i usually try to hit them in the crease behind the front leg about 1/3 of the way up,that will put you right at the heart and lower lung area.then the entrance and exit holes are low enough to drain the blood easily.

[ANYFISH2]

I have seen blood caked arrows and little blood trail with liver shot deer. They can go quiet some distance when shot in the liver.

[Scott Stein]

ya a buddy made a shot like this last year luckily the doe took of down a trail, found blood 100 yds from where he shot it and found her a ways down the trail

[benbosh]

she could have bled more internally, that could be the reason for poor blood trail, just a thought. but the rest i dont know.

[DoubleLunger]

I would say you hit her high as well. Ive found that a deer shot or bear for that matter(have done both) went down even quicker that a double lung shot. Both of the liver shots ive had, have resulted in less than a 40 yd track.

[frogtosser]

I had a pass through last year on what looked to be a perfect shot at 15yds. after waiting for 20 min I went to look for the blood trail and we found a pretty good one and after trailing it for 30yds it started running out to a pin drop here and there, she went from the woods I in to an open alfalfa field and we lost her trail all together. after 3 hrs we never did find her, I was in a tree and after that shot I thought it was money in the bank. Just goes to show you that deer are tougher then you think.

[Swap Buck]

I had the same thing happen only differance I had NO blood trail after a good pass through. Found the arrow right away and called a buddy for help, we looked a long time with no blood found. I knew I heard him stumble on the rocks by the R&R tracks so we went to look there. I found him 10' off the tracks. He didn't go 40yds but no blood what so ever. What I found was the arrow took out both lungs and then deflected some how and came out further back on the deer. The exit hole was sealed by a very fatty material right away causeing no blood loss. As you can see in the pic's it was a huge entry hole and in the second pic the fatty material.

(The dog in the pic is not mine, my buddy had to bring it with. But that's my future hunting Bud in the first pic the wife loves it when I bring home game!!!!)

[harvey lee]

I would guess you could have shot it high in the dead zone. One does not recover those deer as the high hit hits nothinjg vital. I have hit some in the liver and yes they traveled a ways but they bled hard.

[MNpurple]

I agree with others that you hit her high which is the reason she is not putting blood on the ground. With a liver sometimes it is over very quick, other times it takes a while. Because you took up the blood trail so quickly after the shot (10 minutes)you may have very well bumped her in which case she isnt going to stop and lay down. When they know something is on their trail they will go a long ways, maybe farther than you have looked. Good luck if you go back out, remember the next day crows sometimes tell the story, so be on the look out for them.

Another thing, many people think there is the supposed "dead zone" between the top of the lungs and the spine. If you look at a deers anatomy, when the spine approaches the neck, the spine actually drops way down into the body and away from the top of the back. There is no room between the top of the lungs and the spine which means there is no dead zone. You very well could have hit ABOVE the spine in which case your just going through the backstraps and vertebrate but often times here the the arrow is covered in the thick layer of fat that covers the backstraps. Notice on the pic, the blue line is the spine, no room between it and the top of the lungs.

[Bear55]

Another thing, many people think there is the supposed "dead zone" between the top of the lungs and the spine. If you look at a deers anatomy, when the spine approaches the neck, the spine actually drops way down into the body and away from the top of the back. There is no room between the top of the lungs and the spine which means there is no dead zone. You very well could have hit ABOVE the spine in which case your just going through the backstraps and vertebrate but often times here the the arrow is covered in the thick layer of fat that covers the backstraps. Notice on the pic, the blue line is the spine, no room between it and the top of the lungs.

This is 100% correct, the "dead zone" is nothing more than a myth.The top of the lungs actually rise above the bottom of the spine. Most shots that are blamed on the "dead zone" are above the spine.

[harvey lee]

That may be but, I have shot deer a bit high above the lung/heart zone and the deer never went down and I don't trail them until they have been shot for a good amount of time.

I saw the arrow go through the deer with my lumenocks. I know it hit above the so called kill zone.

With that said, then I must have hit it and nicked one lung.

[sticknstring]

Depending on your angle, it sounds to me like to you got one lung and/or liver with a high exit wound resulting in internal bleeding. I would guess dead deer, just need to find her. With a few inches of snow on top of her, she wouldn't be easy to spot. If you have access to a dog, throw on some orange and grab the shotgun and go "bird hunting" in the vicinity and find that deer.

[NIBOWMAN]

I believe Deer and Deer Hunting had an article on the "dead zone" a couple of months back. The lungs completely fill the chest cavity along with the heart from sternum and spine. This makes it impossible to shoot a deer in the chest and not hit one or the other. This being said, I do agree with sticknstring that it may be a high lung shot, and with you getting out of the tree in only ten minutes you may have pushed her before her chest filled with blood. Just think of how far a deer can travel in 30seconds after getting jumped.

[Grainbelt]

I've had that same thing happen. A double lung shot on a doe mid height. The arrow was full of blood and blood on the ground at the site of impact. She took off running and left a drop of blood here and there for about 100 yards. I did half moon walks back and forth, further and further out till I found another drop. Finally I found her after quite some time. When I was dressing her out and cut into the diaphram it was like deflating a balloon full of blood.

[snapcrackpop]

My guesses:

1) it was slightly quartering to him and he got one lung

2) hit above the spine.

I think it is very unlikely, but possible to get a double lung shot (with a bow) and it would recover.

I aim above the elbow (in the V, not behind the leg), a good shot will hit both lungs and heart vessels, a bad shot will result in hitting bone and the deer will survive.

[vister]

thats funny you mention everyones excuse, the dead zone! i've got buddies that regularly hit deer there, and never recover them. i tell them there is no such thing as the dead zone, but they strongly disagree. they insist they are only cutting through hide, and thats why their arrow is bloody, but its a tough blood trail to track. so i counter with the argument that an arrow only going through skin wouldn't bloody up an arrow like that! the problem is, a high hit isn't going to pump blood out onto the ground, until the cavity is full to the holes. thats why brisket shots bleed to beat heck, but rarely find them.

[Bear55]

I'd have to also go with a possible one lung shot. The other most common problem is our eyes can deceive us, we think we are seeing a shot hit in the center or a big high but when things happen that fast we might see what we want to see. You also have deer ducking shots so what might look like a great shot can hit above the spine at the last split second.

[JEV]

I beg to differ on the dead zone as I have first hand knowledge. In late October of '02 I arrowed a nice buck. Shot looked good, a little high, but good. I waited 30 minutes and started to track. Tracking was easy as we had just had a bunch of new snow the day before. I jumped him out of his bed a 100 yards from my stand. Bed had good blood in it. I decided to back out and come in the next morning. I picked up the trail the next morning and the blood got less and less. My father in law met up with me and we continued to track the buck. Eventually we jumped him with 2 does by his side. He ran off like he was never hit. There was just a little bit of blood in his bed where he was laying. I figured I'd never catch up to him at that point and we left the woods. Later that day my father in law was working cattle on land that borders the woods the buck was in. Midday, he see's the buck come out of the woods heading across a CRP field and then watches it bed down. He figured it had expired so he walked out there. He said he got right up to the buck and was going to grab an antler when the buck got right up and took off back into the woods. Long story short, we got back on the trail and I was able to stick another arrow in him. When I gutted him, I noticed the initial arrow had hit right above the lungs, as there was no lung damage, and right below the spinal column. The arrow head and part of the arrow were still stuck high in the chest cavity. He had been bleeding out under the hide and slowly expiring. He would have eventually died, but I was happy as can be to finally get him. He dressed out at 235 pounds and is hanging on my wall at home. So, in fact, there is a dreaded "dead zone". At least on the buck I shot.

JEV

[Bear55]

Good story JEV but there is still not a space above the lungs and below the spine for an arrow to sneak through without damage. You said yourself the shot was high so lets just call it a marginal shot and not blame it on a mythical area. What we are all saying is that there is not empty space there. You have to remember that the lungs are fully inflated when the deer is alive and that they fill up the entire body cavity.

I don't doubt for a minute that a deer, especially a large buck, can live after being hit through one lung or the top of both lungs.

[JEV]

I was just stating facts. The top of the lungs had no broadhead damage and the broadhead was lodged right under the spinal column. 1/4" higher and that buck would have dropped in his tracks.