a time things went wrong

[blakeschack5466]

So i have read plenty of threads about penetration and arrow weight and broadhead design, and everyone is quick to point out their setup that works.
I want to approach the subject from a different angle this time.

Tell us about a time when you did not get good penetration. What was your setup? What went wrong? Were your broadheads not sharp enough? Did you hit heavy bone? What happened?

[Pat B]

My first trad hit was with a Canoochi Warrior recurve bow(built by Jefferys)pulling 62#@28"(I pull 26") and an ash arrow(600gr)and a Grizzly BH, very sharp. The shot was right at dark(still shooting light), at 14yds, broadside on an unsuspecting 8pt. When I took the shot I hears a hard WHACK and the deer took off at a dead run. I could hear the ash arrow hitting trees then all was quiet.
  We trailed that deer for 5 hours that night. I found the back 1/3 of the ash arrow, broken across the grain with one small spot of blood on it. The next morning we tracked it for another 5 hours and probably 1000 yards total to where it jumped a fence into a very large clear cut where we finally gave up the search.
  The next weekend I found that deer was tending his scrapes(he had one unique hoof print)but I never saw him again.
 I assume I penetrated his leg bone and not by much. I never found the front 2/3 of the arrow.

[Nathan Killen]

Season 2011 I shot a nice 11 point in front of the shoulder and high, arrow didn't penetrate completely, shot was 15 yds. My setup was 56@28 (I pull 28")550 grain Beman Bowhunter 340 with a Simmons Interceptor. I killed the buck 3 hours, 1 mile and another arrow later. If it wasn't for the broadhead design IMO and my determination I would not have gotten him. Shot placement was non lethal, but the broadhead kept the arrow in, but dangling which I think kept the wound open and bleeding. I stayed after the deer and actually wore him down which allowed me to slip in and put another arrow in him. He knew I was there but was too weak to run !

[coaster500]

I was in Africa. I had a very nice Warthog in front of my ground blind at 17/18 yards or so. He was very relaxed (if you have ever seen warthogs they are almost never relaxed). I settled in on my spot, the crease behind the shoulder and released my arrow. The shot looked to be one of my best but as it turned out the downward angle of the shot put my arrow thru brisket missing the pump works. I know this because we got it on video and after review it became clear. That old tuskers heart escaped by a fraction on an inch!!!  ...  The good thing is the hog will live to fight another day....  the bad thing was if you shoot it in South Africa you pay for it  :(

[huntingarcher]

I was hunting the edge of a small field,late October 2002.There is a feeder across from me about 75 yards,I was watching a doe and button buck feed around the feeder.I hear something close and to my left.There stands 10 yards away a mature 9 point broadside and looking across the field at the other deer.I am talking a 145 class deer.I had 2 trailcam pic of him but never thought I would ever get a shot on him.How he got so close without me hearing him I doin't know.There were some brush but his chest area is wide open.I shoot a little high,I was about 25' up in a climber.The arrow cliped a bush and dove in the dirt right under him.
He made 2 jumps and is now standing broadside 30 or more yards out in the field.He first was looking back at where the arrow is sticking in the ground.Then turned and started looking back across the field at the feeder.Broadside wide open looking away,I remember saying I can do this to myself as I came to full draw.The shot looked perfect as the arrow is on its way.The impact knocked the buck sideways as the arrow hit the shoulder and fell out.
I was shooting a 58# at my draw Palmer Classic recurve with cedar arrows and a Magnus I big 2 blade.I would guess the arrow at 600gr or more.The arrow only had blood on the broadhead,there was only a few small drops of blood in the first 40 yards,then nothing.
Would have been my best buck with a bow.

[Landshark160]

Only time I've ever had a penetration problem was on a shoulder blade hit.  You hit it just wrong and it ain't going through with any conventional setup.

[Stumpkiller]

First time I had hunted from a treestand.  It was a canoe-in trip to a swamp on the edge of a remote lake in the Adirondack foothills and I was using a 55# Damon Howatt Dream Catcher.  My arrows were 30-1/2" BOP P.O.cedar with 135 gr Zephyr Sasquatch II broadheads (big, wide beggars).  

I had a nice eight-point buck walk almost directly under me; passed from behind to right under my stand.  I was worried he was about to pass over my trail I used to get in (downwind) an hour earlier and scent me, so I took a shot down into him between the shoulder blades.  He dropped like a rock.  I waited a minute and tied my bow on the cord to lower it, and just as I started to he wobbled to his feet and ran off.  I could see the upper half of my yellow crested & fletched arrow up above his back.  Less than a foot penetration.

I spent all the rest of that day and the next two days or the trip poking through a hemlock swamp in knee to waist deep water looking under hummocks for a dead buck.  Never found the buck or any part of the arrow.  Just one good pool of blood and then nothing.

It was 12 years before I went up in a treestand again and thereafter I switched to narrow broadheads. Additionally, I will take a second shot if a deer is within range (has only happened once since then that a deer dropped immediately - a heart shot - and I put a second arrow through the lungs).  I also avoid steep angle snots.  Passed on a nice eight-point this year that did the same thing.  I could have dropped my bow straight down onto him and he walked off without turning to either side.

I really can't blame the broadhead, but I was so disgusted I had no confidence in them after that.

 

[Bill Carlsen]

My biggest problem has been shoulder hits. On some, with two blades, I know I got into one lung and probably killed the deer but will never know as several went unrecovered. With the three blade if i hit the shoulder I don't get the penetration and, therefore, only inflict a non fatal hit. I know because I have had deer I've done that to been recovered in good health with scar tissue surrounding the wound. If I get a bad hit is soft tissue the three blade brings them down much quicker than a two blade.

[pukwana]

I shot a small 4x4 last season from the ground at 10 yards with a 45lb recurve and carbon 400 arrows tipped with a sharp 125grn 3 blade BH. The arrow/broadhead combo paper tuned perfectly.   It was a perfect broadside standing shot just behind the front shoulder but I only got 7-8" of penetration.  Waited 30 minutes and started tracking, I did find the buck breathing his last breath about 80 yards away but it has really made me rethink my arrow setup for the future.  I am now starting to understand all the talk about heavy BH and arrow set up.

[KentuckyTJ]

What I've found over the years with all the deer size critters I have shot is that even on a broadside lung shot if the animal is in the action of fleeing the body and muscles may be twisting and contracting and that is a huge factor in penetration and can not be measured. So there is no true test of penetration unless you duplicate that action.

I do know if you are worried about it I would suggest going with a heavy arrow and getting your arrow/bow combo tuned the best you can possibly get it as arrow straightness when it hits the mark has a lot to do with penetration. Maybe even more so than the type of broadhead you choose.

[David Yukon]

This is a great thread, thank you blackshack for thinking of it!!

[DawgDoc]

I shot a smallish 4 pt in 2009 that resulted in poor penetration and an unrecovered animal. At the time I was shooting a 60 lb Bighorn with 29.75" (I draw 29.5") Beman 400 with a standard aluminum insert and screw in a Zwickey "No Mercy" BH. The exact BH weight escapes me but I think it was 165 gr. The buck was shot at 8 yds perfect broadside in the crease behind the shoulder from a 14 ft ladder stand. The arrow penetrated about 8 " and that was it. It knocked the buck down and rolled him but he took off running. No blood, no hair, no nothing. This was early in my experimenting with carbon arrows and have always thought my set-up was too light (needed about 100 more gr. arrow weight) and my broadhead was not sharp enough. I used to really struggle with single-bevel heads. Somebody once told me that if you have never lost an animal or had trouble recovering one then you havent spent enough time in the woods - probably some truth in that.

[D.Ellis]

I would think 8 inches of penetration on a broadside whitetail, right in the crease would have been both lungs unless it was a really  steep angle down or up. I have put a 9 1/2 inch knife blade through the same spot on a spine hit deer to finish it, and had an exit wound on the other side.
I lost a black bear one time, was about a 15 yard shot. Hit the big knuckle joint just a bit in front of the pocket with a pine shaft, magnus 2, total arrow weight about 500grains. 57# oak flatbow(probably 155fps). Tracked him for a couple hundread yards but no blood hardly at all. The arrow broke off right at the broadhead within 5 feet of the impact. Later that day I heart shot a 6 footer with the same setup and the arrow went through the leg muscle, through the chest and was sticking out of the offside leg. He went 25 yards. Difference in shot placement, about 2 inches.
Darcy

I was using a 58 pound 70" kodiak special, I did not have enough money to buy arrows for it. One set I had was too stiff and the arrows were loggy all the way and the other set were too soft, but were flying fairly straight after 15 yards and perfect after 20 yards. Bear four blade heads. I saw a large 6 point buck bed down and put on a stalk.  When I getting close, it stood up and was only 8 yards away. I fired and made what looked like a perfect shot. There was a loud crack. The deer bolted about 50 yards and stopped. To pull the broadhead out of his rib, dropped it and trotted off. My arrow was at the hit, it broke off right behind the head. My broadhead with about an inch of shaft was laying where the buck dropped it.  that is where I learned that no matter what the arrows have to be flying straight behind the broadhead to penetrate.

[Pheonixarcher]

This truely is one of the best threads I have read in a long time. It's great to see the lessons learned from unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully, all who read this will learn from others' mistakes. I have yet to take a shot at big game, but a few lessons I have learned are: turkeys are a lot tougher than you might think. 44#'s at 30 yards in the thigh/pelvic joint equals a bird that can still run really fast and far. Something else I have learned: chipmunks and red squirrels are faster than arrows! And porcupines can take a blunt, through and through, and still climb a tree. Most times with the arrow still in it. Use a broadhead!

[onewhohasfun]

KY TJ Great post and observation. The greatest penetration will be on an animal that has NOT reacted to the shot before the arrow hits.
I am hesitant to take a shot on one of those absolute dead quiet mornings. If I do, he better be real close.

[gringol]

Years ago I struck a nice 8pt whitetail on the leg just above the elbow.  I was shooting a 70# bow with a POC shaft tipped with a 125 grn Magnus I.  The deer was at about 15 yds and completely unaware that I was there.  I was in a ditch so I was shooting at a slightly upward angle.  I got about 1 inch of penetration.  I recovered the arrow, but not the deer.  That setup would have brought him down if I had done my job a little better.  That said, the broadhead was badly bent when I recovered it, so I've always wondered if things would have turned out a little differently with a tougher BH...