The deer I have shot with my Martin Hunter have all expired within 30 yards or so. All the shots (other than a neck shot) have been a double lung or a heart shot. Now I have always watched hunting shows and I have noticed two things on many of them:
1. The deer get hit and seem to run forever.
2. Sometimes the deer appear to not even realize they have been shot.
Is this the product of light arrows and low FOC? I usually get complete pass throughs and the deer seem to know that they have been hit. Is it due to using a big two blade broadhead (Simmons Tree Shark)along with a heavy arrow (2219's)?
Maybe I have just been lucky or something and the next deer I shoot will not be a compete pass through and run for 100 yards.
With my wheel bow I shot a pretty heavy shaft the bow was super fast and pretty quite and a lot of the deer I killed never knew they where hit some of the time they never reacted at all and didn't take three or four steps before falling over.
Deer are tough, but everything eats them. They respond in certain ways, one of which is to run like heck. They also dodge and run from the noise of the bow and the arrow in flight.
I believe that if you put an arrow through the deer's chest, with very little bone impact, the deer will often kick, look around and go on with what it was doing.
With some bone impact (ribs), it may run away, then stop and look back to see what it was and if it is chasing (which is why it is important for you to NOT move or jump up and down yelling how you Smoked the deer etc).
With major bone impact, shoulder, spine, hip, leg, the deer knows it is under attack and runs all out to get away.
Many folks have been shot or in some manner became skewered by a broadhead tipped arrow. In all the interviews I ever read, they all stated that they felt pressure, but it didn't hurt.
CHuckC
To have a deer shot with an arrow run only 30 yards and expire is pretty impressive. Most of the deer I have shot over the past 40+ years run farther than that.
Very limited sample size, many variables. Alert level of the deer and what was hit are very important.
Deer in Ga must be small, the ones Ive shot run a lot further then 30yds.
I shot a 6 point at 12 yards. Had a complete pass thru. I actually thought I missed this deer as he made no reaction at all to being hit. He walked about 20 yards looking out into the field and just fell over dead. I saw my arrow hit the ground on the other side of him and thought I shot under him. Made a great big hole right thru the heart.
Since 1970 I've shot a lot of deer, all but 8 with compounds (34 years of compounds).
While I've seen most of the deer I've shot drop I've had only one exhibit very little sign of being hit. Even that one deer did react to the shot by bounding about 4 strides and then stopping. He only hesitated a moment and then came back towards me a couple of strides and fell over.
Maybe, I've never missed a rib?
I've spine shot a couple and had one run 30 yds. and hit a tree. Everything else has went over 80 yds.
I have had two kick, look around and go back to feeding. . . then fall over.
ChuckC
I'm always surprised at the lack of penetration on those compound tv shows. My gosh those bows should drive an arrow though 2 deer! I guess those expandable really stop an arrow.
Tedd
I am also surprised at the lousy shot placement I see a lot of the time. These guys show off how good they are at , like, 50 yards, then screw up the easy shot, on film, and turn around and tell me what a great shot he made.
Whatever
ChuckC