Just wondering how far you have SEEN a deer go when shot through the heart? We all tend to think the heart shot is the perfect shot, and it no doubt is a killing shot, but how far have you witnessed a deer run after the hit?
I made a dead center heart shot on a large doe three years back and watched her charge off through the corn field for right at 245 paces before she fell over. How about yours?
I shot a doe that cut and ran at least 90ish yards and fell over completely expired. She was 60 yrds from me when she died but I could tell she cut over at least another 30 yrds becaude of where I found my arrow.
I had a big bull elk go only 40 yards with a 3 blade through his heart. Deer the same, 40-50 yards. I like 3 blades.
I'm sure it all depends on how spooky the deer is. Years back I zipped an arrow through the lungs of a mature doe. She only went 5 yards, looked back at the arrow sticking out of the ground, then fell over.
pure heart shots can be a long track.
I had one go about 80yds with a 1 1/8" 3 blade hole right thru the heart and nothing else important.
Happened to be with a compound, but equipment in this case doesn't matter.
For that reason my favorite shot is a low double lung missing the heart entirely.
Nice low (fast acting) drain holes and a working pump to make the trail. Not to mention lungs don't work well with holes in them.
In my experience heart shot deer don't seem to bolt and run with the same determination that lung shot deer do. Several of my heart shot deer just walked a few steps and fell over. One fell over right where I shot him. I thought I missed and shot another arrow, just when the arrow was nearing him, he fell down making my second shot high. Last years buck had an X through his heart from a Eclipse four blade. He ran about 40 yards and then stopped and fell over a few seconds later...
Furthest I have had was about 120 yards with heart and one lung perforated.
Here's a thought. Say a deer is hit and takes to flight. Deer can move at 30 mph, but from zero and in the woods we'll take half that and figure 15mph effective. 15M/hr x 1 hr/60min x 1 min/60sec x 5,280ft/M = 22 feet per second. So, 220 feet in 10 seconds. To cover 120 yards only takes a wounded deer 16 seconds.
After I take a shot I mentally count off the seconds. My limited survey seems to be that after a double lung shot the crashing usually stops in seven to ten seconds. I have also had deer take a single leap and stand; only to keel over in place (THAT is a great event).
I had a doe I shot low in the heart go roughly 130 yrds wasnt a dead center heart shot and the trail was not what you would expect but for the last 30 or 40yds she was bleeding like a stuck hog.
Shot a deer in the heart and he ran 40 yards, stopped, looked around like he was wondering what had just happened and then he sank to the ground. Shot a moose in the heart....3 steps later she was down. The deer was shot with a four blade Phantom, the moose with a 3 blade Razorcap.
I have had the other extreme, that the heart shot runs like heck. Remember, a hard running deer can do the 100 yard dash in seconds flat.
ChuckC
My longest trail was a heart shot doe and even though I knew where she went down it was still at least 120 yards from where I shot her. Much prefer double lung when possible.
I shot a doe through the heart with a 4 blade head (2 blade with bleeders) and watched her run off about 150yds and jump a fence. I was really worried that maybe the shot placement was not where I thought it was. I waited a while, got down and began tracking a GREAT blood trail the whole way. She laid dead about 20yds over the fence in to woods. She was in an open field when I shot her and I guess she just really wanted the security of the forest around her before she would quit!
So, about 170yds for me.
Bisch
I've had them run from about 40yds..lots of zig, zaging..to about 120yds. Most I've shot kinda throw a front foot up and run wide open about 60yds.
I have never shot a deer in the heart that I didn't get both lungs as well. All the deer that I have made a heart and double lung hit on didn't go over 30 yards. However the farthest I have had one run is only about 65 yards and that was with a pure gut hit. It just ran out there and laid down.
Only heart shot for me went about 5 yards from where the arrow was and fell over.
Kinda funny it was dark,I found my arrow then decided I needed my tracker son. Got him he looked over the arrow stuck in the ground and shook his head.
Dumb Old Man. :knothead:
my first bow kill ever was a 5 point that weighed around 135 if I remember right. shot him with a Green Mtn Longbow and Wensel Woodsman right in the heart at 22 steps quartering away. He ran an estimated 200 yards. Not much blood and found him in a dry creekbed
I had one that was calm when I hit it. I shot it right through the heart and it took two steps looked around and fell over. I had another one that went almost 100 yards. Most that were heart shot were between 25-50 yards.
I had one make about a hundred yard dash across a snowy field (easy track job) and one that dead centered a tree on a full steam downhill run(30 yrds).
I have had heart shot deer go two steps and fall over but I have also had heart shot deer run over 100 yards.
About 100 yards is as far as I have had one go and that was a buck and full tilt run till piled up. I have seen a cow elk that a partner shot go several hundred and pile. That was also at a dead flat out run.
God bless and Merry Christmas, Steve
How ever far they can get in under 10 seconds
I watched a buddy shoot his first deer many years ago from a treestand on the edge of a cut cornfield... bullseyed the heart and that deer went over 300 yrds on a dead run before piling up.
Couple years later I shot my first doe with a very dull stump shooting arrow by mistake (I haven't hunted with one of those in my quiver since). Again bullseye through the heart and this doe exploded out of there but only made it 80 yrds.
I prefer lung shots whenever possible.
Ron
QuoteOriginally posted by overbo:
How ever far they can get in under 10 seconds
I've read similar accounts that they can go with sufficient 02 in their system to make a 5-10 sec dead run...
Deer have been "timed" (who did that?) to run the 100 in 4sec! Do the math.
Longest I remember was 125 yards... and when I zipped her open, the heart rolled out on the ground. Totally severed from the circulatory system.
Amazing animals.
I have never thought as the heart shot as the perfect shot myself, I much prefer the lungs. Had a buck run about 150 on a heart hit. I've had others run for shorter distances, but some left very poor blood trails, my guess is the pump stopped pumping?
White-tailed doe through the heart with 4 blade Zwickey Delta, 85 yds. Amazing animals, beautiful and inspirational.
Kris
I too have experienced less blood on center heartshot deer than lung shot deer. I think when you center the heart and shut it down there is less blood pumped out than the lungshots. On average my heartshot deer have also gone farther than center double lung.
Also a heartshot that doesn't severely cut into one of the chambers - either only through heart muscle or merely nicking a chamber - can take a while to kill a deer. The buck I killed in Iowa this year I heartshot, nicking a chamber, and he went close to 250 yards - albeit most of it was down a steep hill.
One of Dad's neighbors in Iowa killed a deer this year with a Montec 3 blade head healed into the heart muscle - the broadhead was gristled into the heart. Obviously the chambers were not cut - and the deer had been shot 2 years before (as I recall) by a friend of the guy that killed it. Of course this would be a rare event - but strange things happen in the woods!
Every shot is different - but given a choice I'd take a center lungshot any day over a heart shot.
Ryan