Anyone know deer anatomy?

[cavalierowner]

I need to understand why a deer I shot this weekend with my muzzleloader went down so easily. It was a BIG doe that was running toward me. I gave a big yell "HEY" and it came to a dead stop 48 yards (confirmed later by my range finder) away; much further and it would have been in heavy cover. But all I could see was the middle of the deer, nothing else. I didn't want to take a chance gut shooting it, so I aimed high to take out the spine, hoping that I wouldn't go low. I would rather miss than gut shoot a deer. Anyway, I shot and the deer ran just 9 yards, fell and never moved.

Turns out that it was an in & out shot that was about an inch below the spine and about half way between the front and rear legs. The exit hole was barely any bigger than the entry hole. Projectile was a .50 cal Powerbelt HP. There was a fair amount of blood spray in the snow where it ran and when we gutted it, there was a lot of bright red blood in the body cavity. I can't for the life of me figure out why it went down so fast unless there is a main artery or something that I hit. Even so, I've had deer with virtually no heart go further than that. Any other ideas?

[MUSKY18]

A lot of times when you shoot a deer like that, below the spine, the shockwave of the bullet going through the deer will have the same effect as shooting it in the spine. Will drop in its tracks. Talk to Elk guides and a lot of them will tell you to aim 2/3 of the way up the body above the front leg. The shot will take out the top of the lungs, and send the shockwave through the spine, dropping them in their tracks.

[Odonata]

I agree with what Musky said, but the aortic artery runs along the spine. You likely severed that; nothing with a pulse will go very far with this cut. That would explain the bleed-out.

[harvey lee]

I would totally agree with a severed artery. Deer do not travel far with a severed artery. Lots of blood.

A few years back in Montana, I shot a P&Y buck at 52 yards. Very lucky shot as I hit it's femoral artery in it's hind quarter and that deer went about 20 feet and dropped dead.

[wannafish2]

Personally, if I am gonna take that shot (and I have), I'll aim heart/lung height in the middle of the chest. It can be a messy gut job, but I'd rather do that than shoot into those tasty backstraps anyday. Both have gone down within sight. The heart and lungs make a much larger target than a frontal spinal cord shot.

Just my .02

[cavalierowner]

Personally, if I am gonna take that shot (and I have), I'll aim heart/lung height in the middle of the chest. It can be a messy gut job, but I'd rather do that than shoot into those tasty backstraps anyday. Both have gone down within sight. The heart and lungs make a much larger target than a frontal spinal cord shot.

Just my .02

I would prefer a heart/lung shot too, I'll take that shot every time over any other shot if I have it. But the heart and lungs were forward of the shot I had, behind trees. The projectile holes were maybe 3" behind the diaphram. I was shooting as far forward as I could.

[tipup]

Shot a doe Saturday evening the same way. She dropped about 2 yards from where she was standing. I also had a ton of blood inside and two very nice in and out holes. Did not do any damage to any of the meat. I was not trying for the exact spot, but it worked and worked well.

[TruthWalleyes]

A lot of times when you shoot a deer like that, below the spine, the shockwave of the bullet going through the deer will have the same effect as shooting it in the spine. Will drop in its tracks. Talk to Elk guides and a lot of them will tell you to aim 2/3 of the way up the body above the front leg. The shot will take out the top of the lungs, and send the shockwave through the spine, dropping them in their tracks.

+1

Shockwave did the damage to the spine.

Have you ever seen on a TV show where a bullet is shot into the clear ballistic gel...A .50cal bullet will make a huge shockwave! I'd never want to get shot with a deer caliber bullet.

[cavalierowner]

What you guys are saying about the damage to the spine from a shockwave makes sense. When that deer was "running" after I shot, it was all over the place. It was all that deer could do to stay on it's feet.

[Bear55]

I would say its highly likely you hit a major artery or caused hydrostatic shock in her spine or a combo of both. I hit a doe high one time with my bow and was amazed to see her drop and expire right away with ery little penetration, after a little research I discovered hydrostatic shock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock