Did I hit the shoulder blade?

[BradB]

I made a 12 yard shot tonight on a young doe, about 20 feet up. She was quartering towards me and I thought it was a good shot.

I found about 6 inches of the arrow (the nock side) right by where I hit her--the arrow was broken, the nock had fallen out. She ran off about 30 yards to some brush and that's the last I saw her.

There wasn't much of a blood trail at all, and after 30 minutes of looking since I couldn't see and there was no one to help me I backed out rather than spook her if she's laying.

I didn't hear the crack of bone. Do you folks think this was a shoulder shot? The part of the arrow I found was bloody, but didn't stink. It seemed to have some small fibers on on it--maybe from the broken arrow?

It goes without saying that I'll be back at first light doing transects trying to find her.

[Christopher Quast]

Where do you think the arrow was placed? what color was the blood? sounds like to me that the arrow passed through and hit the opposite leg and when she took off the movement snapped your arrow off. knowing where the arrow hit will make a huge difference if you can reply fairly quick maybe I can help you out. Leaving for Ripley early AM

[BradB]

I aimed for just above the leg, in that little muscle spot where the heart should be. It could have gone a bit higher but I'm not sure. The blood I found (and not much) was bright red.

Good luck in Ripley, and thanks.

[Christopher Quast]

Good sign!!! You at least hit one lung for sure if the blood it bright red or moreless pink looking with bubbles in it and if so she shouldnt have gone far if you didnt jump her when you looked tonite. Good Luck on finding her and if you can bring somebody along just so they can stand in the spot where you have last blood and the tracking becomes difficult.

Thanks Should be interesting with the wind and weather tomorrow BRRRRRRRR!!!!!! But Im prepared for the worst Worse case scenario I can always resort to the fishhouse if it gets to nasty.

[sparcebag]

Bright red any bubbles Lung shot? or a cut main artery from lung to heart,could bleed internally if so you should find blood trail where she was going after the hit. you were up 20ft? HOPE ya find her.

[BradB]

Thanks guys. No bubbles, and I should say that there were only drops of blood and nothing terribly obvious. I too hope she was bleeding internally and I just couldn't see her in the dark with my dying battery on my headlamp. My only fear is that I'm hunting an area in the city with lots of yotes, and I've lost deer there before that have been completely torn up in under 24 hours.

I'm bringing my brother who was the Search and Rescue leader for the US Antarctic Program so I'm guessing he may have a trick or two in how to transect the area.

And yes, I was up 20 feet. I use a Summit Titan this year and I make a point of going very high. It's kind of a game, actually, I like to see how high I can get.

[sparcebag]

The reason I asked,was 20ft up with a deer 12 yds away you'd almost have to hit the deer between the shoulder blades and forward,towards you to get a vitals hit. close to 60 degree angle or more.

[aanderud]

The reason I asked,was 20ft up with a deer 12 yds away you'd almost have to hit the deer between the shoulder blades and forward,towards you to get a vitals hit. close to 60 degree angle or more.

Actally, a shot taken from 20 feet up and 36 feet out (12 yards) is 29 degrees. To take a 60 degree shot from that height, the animal would have to be no more than 12 feet out.

[archerystud]

Hey Brad,

I agree with Goldtip and it sounds like you snapped an arrow off.

If your arrow didn't come completely out the other side, it could be a tough track. I got a big doe once with a real nice quartering away shot but I hit the shoulder joint on the far side. Thus the arrow never came out and it was a very hard track even though I had drilled both lungs. I called my dad in and he was ready to give up based on the lack of blood. However, I refused to since I had seen the arrow in the deer as it ran away. It was a good thing I never listend to my dad as it was a real old mature doe.

Good luck!

[splakeshaker]

Same thing happenened to me on Wednesday. Hit the shoulder, broke the arrow and just no blood trail. Found a small spatter of blood 70 yards from where I hit him and another drop 40 yards from there and thats all i could find. Looked for 2 days with a buddy and just couldn't track him. Ended up losing a decent 8 pointer. It's a game of inches. I'll be aiming a little further back for now on. It's amazing how much you learn from a bad experience.

[sparcebag]

Originally Posted By: sparcebag

The reason I asked,was 20ft up with a deer 12 yds away you'd almost have to hit the deer between the shoulder blades and forward,towards you to get a vitals hit. close to 60 degree angle or more.

Actally, a shot taken from 20 feet up and 36 feet out (12 yards) is 29 degrees. To take a 60 degree shot from that height, the animal would have to be no more than 12 feet out.

Ya Aand What was I thinkin 20ft up and 20 out 45 degrees.Think I mixed yds with ft.?? OOPS

[BradB]

Sounds about right guys. My brother and I spent all morning out there and didn't find any more blood than what I found last night. We looked in every bit of swamp, tall grass, blow down, ditch, along the lake, and just about everywhere I could possibly go. We did transects, and probably would have stepped on her in the tall grass if she was in there. Very frustrating. The only blood found was at point of impact, a few steps away, and then 30 yards away where she stopped--same stuff I found last night. Nothing, anywhere else that we could see.

Very, very frustrating.

[BradB]

On the 12 yard question, I should say that I ranged it from where I shot (up the tree) to that point (the deer). I don't know what the actual horizontal distance is. I have a new rangefinder that is supposed to calculate the difference from elevation.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bummer on the lost deer, Sounds to me like you hit the leg on the far side. Without an exit wound it an be a very tough trail. My guess is the deer is down. I commend you for the effort you put to find your animal. Got a dog? Sometimes they can assist in the find?

[nater]

Sorry to hear about your loss. The same thing happened to me last tuesday, except I was on the ground. She was quartering towards me to some degree and I shot behind the shoulder but didn't see the point of impact. Found a little more then half the arrow broke off. Followed a really good blood trail through the woods and then she made it out into the prairie where the bleeding slowly decreased and was hard to find.

We tracked her that night for 3 hours and then next day for the same with my dog and couldn't find her. I must have jerked the shot or something and hit shoulder. It was my first deer shot with a bow and was quite disappointing to say the least.

You just have to shake it off and keep your confidence high. The main thing I learned is to avoid taking shots where they are quartering towards me to hopefully prevent losing deer. I looked online and that doesn't sound like its a high percentage shot.

[icefishing21]

that happend to my brother yesterday. 1st shot at a deer with his bow in canp ripley and we follow the blood trail for about 100 yards and didnt find no more blood.

[sparcebag]

Lots of times those holes plug with some fat,It takes a good tracker to follow!

[Flatlander]

I know I'm going to get blasted by some for this, but here goes. Broadside or quartering away. I know, I know. Those aren't the only 2 shots.

I shot a doe 6 steps from my tree a few weeks back. Punched a lung, clipped the heart and the arrow came out her brisket. She ran 40 yards and tipped over.

I've lost 2 deer rifle hunting(22 yrs), but have never lost one bowhunting(16 yrs). I've passed on more than a few marginal shots, and I don't regret any of them.

Stuff happens, and deer are lost. I understand that. I just think that if a few more of these marginal shots were passed up, and guys waited for that slam dunk shot, we'd have a lot less sad tales.

Just my opinion.

[PerchJrkr]

The doe and the buck that i shot last season early were both quartering towards me. High entrance holes and no blood. Takes time and close tracking, but it can be done. My buddy shot a buck with a Rage on opening day and we tracked that thing for almost a mile probably only finding a drop of blood every few hundred yards. That deer did survive though, hes got it back on camera.. funny how sometimes one lung kills em dead and somtimes they survive.

[BradB]

I won't blast you, and appreciate your comments. I thought that shot was a gimmie, but have learned a hard lesson otherwise. I'm sticking with broadside or slightly quartering away at 15 yards or less from now on.

[Cheetah]

Bradb, considering your deer has half an arrow probably stuck in it's body, it probably won't survive. Unfortunately it might not bleed externally and the scavengers might have a good meal out of it.

For me, I would gladly take a quartering shot through the front leg. I'd do my best to wait for a more broadside shot, but sometimes you just gotta take what you're given. I have a lot of confidence in my equipment though and it's ability to punch through bone better than what I used up to a couple years ago. If you want to know my equipment, PM me and I'll give you the rundown, but I won't turn your thread into a broadhead/arrow/bow debate that nobody can win.

[archerystud]

I've tracked two deer with that low exit holes and both of them plugged up with fat or other stuff. Perchjrkr is right and both of those were very difficult to track but we found both. Both were double lung hits.

This is the one reason I prefer to not get my stands up too high. I like them around 20 feet so I at least have some angle with the shot and it isn't nearly straight down.

If you do this sport long enough it is bound to happen. Learn from it and do better next time.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quote:

If you do this sport long enough it is bound to happen. Learn from it and do better next time.

So true, no matter what your choice of weapon is.

[Meat-Run]

this is a great topic/post to read and learn from. It brings up a question for me because I have a funnel that does present more stright on shots than a quartering away angles. I know some guys have taken these shots and not to say this is perfect but it can take out the boiler. Is this still a high risk shot even though it is getting right to the heart and it would be less than a 10 yard shot? Would you take the shot is what I'm asking?

mr

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quartering on shots are very tight. It really puts the front shoulder blade in play. and if you cheat too much to miss the shoulder blade you often miss the heart and only clip one lung. Then on top of that, the deer is looking in your direction, a more alert deer moves more at the sound of the shot and is no longer in the same spot by the time the arrow reaches its spot.

I worked at a sporting goods store for quite a few years in Bemidji.. I can tell you the horror stories of lost deer from quartering on shots.. even registered a few oops ones. My fave was when a guy told me it was a quarting on and the deer was looking at him. He put the pin on the heart and let it fly, deer dropped right in place with the broad head right between the eyes..