So I shot a deer yesterday at about 10 yards. He was just slightly quartering to me. Not quite broadside. The arrow went through him so fast that I thought I missed him. Also it didn’t help that he just made a few jumps at what I thought was the sound of the arrow. He then walked off slowly and stopped at about 30 yards. He was just standing there looking around when he fell over. When he hit the ground he did not move once. I’ve never seen a deer do that. I mean nothing moved on him. Also there was only a small drop of blood on the feathers. However he left a profuse blood trail and blood was pouring out of the offside hole. When I dissected him I hit one lung. There was no blood out of the nose or mouth. Just was very unusual. Also the body cavity was full of blood

Not sure what or what not you hit but a short recovery is a blessing. Congratulations on your harvest.

Glad you got him, whenever someone says this or that is the way deer react have not seen much.

I shot a buck several years ago and had about the same thing happen. He was broadside at 20 yds , a lost sight of the arrow before it got to him. He ran a couple steps circled back and was standing there looking around. I was thinking that I had missed low. Until he toppled over. Talk about a roller coaster event that was one.

Congrats ! Were you in a tree or on ground ?

Only one lung? Was the deer maybe quartered to you a little more than you thought? Where did the arrow enter and exit?

Regardless, Congrats!

Congratulations on your harvest

Congratulations on a quick, clean kill.

What style of broadhead, 2,3, or 4 blade out of curiosity?

I shot a young buck once at about 10 yards,from a tree stand about 8 feet off the ground. Buck was relaxed eating acorns when I loosed the arrow. Thought somehow I missed. The buck never showed any sign of being hit, never flinched, never looked around, nothing. Just stood there crunching on an acorn. Took a few steps, went to pick up another acorn, and just toppled over stone dead. Only one in 38 years of bow hunting.

For any wild critter, there can be no more peaceful way to go out than that!

If you only got one lung, you must’ve been in a tree… shooting downward @ a pretty steep angle… any shot close to broadside, it takes a pretty terrible placement to get only one lung. And this doesn’t sound like it was terrible at all.

I’m going to guess that you opened up a large vein.

Good work, methinks!

One of the reasons that you hear folks say every shot is different.

Yes, I’ve had that happen with a bow and I’d hit a bit high—though angling down from a tree so the basic shot was good—and hit an artery. The first time was a surprise until I went down and saw the blood he left behind.

Chairman is right. You just never know

I was in a very high treestand. About 8 feet up lol

Cut a big artery. Has to be. Like falling asleep while standing.

Maybe low country but I was cognizant of the fact that he was not completely broadside. I thought I could get one in close enough to the shoulder to take out some goodies. I have had had broadside or quartering away shots run a lot further. Moral of the story? You just never know

I should have taken more pics but I was rushing against the clock due to warm temps

That is what it was like Murph

I’ve had double lung hit deer run like hell, walk away n drop in there tracks ~ I’ve come to realize no two deer reacts the same when hit . The one thing is certain is that they will pass away ~ nice job

What Murph said. "Cut a big artery." That explains it.

Congrats.

Congrats pn your deer JR, I shot a doe in about 10" of snow in a logged out area about 25 years ago.She was feeding on blackberry bushes/vines, shot was long at about 12 yards :) Snowing like crazy and she never reacted to shot, fell over dead in about 8 seconds.Like said above you never know how they are going to react.

I will bet your bow is very quiet. Congrats on your success.

Congrats on a quick recovery. Years back I had a similar thing happen to me. I had a deer at about 15 yards standing broadside feeding on grass in a small patch of woods. As I left go of the arrow the deer flinched, and just kept eating--like nothing had happened. I sat there in a hang on treestand totally dumbfounded- -thinking--what just happened? I tried to sit be still, and thought--I know, or at least thought I saw the arrow feathers going in just behind the front leg knuckle. Slowly the deer turned it's back end away from me, and I could see the off shoulder area as it kept feeding--it was blood red--blood running out of it. Suddenly the deer just dropped straight to the ground--it never moved. I slowly climbed down, and walked over to the deer, and I had made a good shot. When I gutted the deer the arrow had passed through both lungs, and there was a slice in the bottom of the heart. I have never had this happen ever again, and at the time I was dumb founding expecting the deer to run fast, and away. Just as your animal the chest cavity on mine was full of blood--kind of a messy job to try and roll the animal around to drain it all out. Also my arrow was sticking in the ground just on the other side of the deer. When I think back on this I still kind of wonder because every deer I have shot usually tries to run and there is some tracking involved

Had to have cut an artery. I shot a doe last year through the hepatic artery at the liver. She hopped once, stopped, took two steps, then fell over.

Necropsy showed a steep quartering away through the liver, severed hepatic artery, and exited offside shoulder through right lung. There was little blood, but she died 20 yards from where she was shot within 10-15 seconds.

Heart and arteries are the golden ticket, drop that blood pressure fast and you don't have to track as far. Sharp broadheads and quiet arrow flight means sometimes they won't realize they've been shot, mitigating flight response.

Congrats on your deer!

Any hint of quartering towards I've learned to pass even with a gun I killed a doe Saturday morning and had that shot it seemed like forever until she was 100% broadside.It was tempting.

A few times. When the blood drains from the brain, it's over.

Strange things can happen. I'm glad you made such a quick kill.

Congratulations.

Aorta and one lung slightly, possibly with liver, hence the profuse bleeding on the off side and blood in the body cavity. Was the hit in the ribs? I'm thinking not.

Arrowed a medium 8 point couple years ago, after the shot ( broadside) it turned its head to look behind him , looked forward , put its head down, flicked its tail ,took 3 steps then fell over, it was like it was annoyed by a horsefly or something

So how long between the arrow hitting deer and the deer hitting the dirt??

I had inferred about 30 seconds….

If you clip the Aorta, they should go down really fast due to low blood pressure in the carotids. If you’ve ever stood up quickly and started to grey out, you’ll know the feeling.

That’s why I think Big Vein.

And that’s why I almost always conduct a thorough post-mortem: I wanna understand what I hit and how far the critter traveled and how much time it kept running or stayed on its feet so I can use that information to reconstruct/replay a hit in my mind so I have a better chance of figuring correctly how soon I should take up the trail. All good info.

Yes, every deer is a law unto itself, but Anatomy & Physiology are pretty consistent.

I'll bet you got one lung and the diagram. I've never lost a deer when I busted the diagram. PERIOD

Well, no matter what - if you shoot them through and through, and they walk away and fall 50 yards in sight, and leave a heavy blood trail - YOU MUST OF MADE A GOOD SHOT! LOL again, Congrats!

Mine was just like yours Verdebull

I have had that happen twice. Both times the buck walked off about twenty yards and then stopped and looked back and then just fell over. Both times I can remember saying to myself "I can't believe I missed!". It is a roller coaster of emotion for sure.

Had one move about twenty yards and then start eating acorns before he fell over.

Shot one through the hams years ago that did that. He whirled at the shot and arrow hit him through both hinds and he went down and died faster than if he was hit by a run away train. Wasn't too happy with the shot, but hard to argue with the results!

Congrats! Gotta love it when they go down within sight.

10 of the last 12 critters I’ve shot did almost exactly that….little reaction. The 2 that took off were in the off shoulder….one was a Coues deer and those are the twitchiest animals on the planet.

Its the very efficient BH design. They go through those critters so fast they don’t know they have been hit….assuming we do our part an not alert the animal.

.

Outstanding! Figure it out and put in a bottle.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here