What killed this deer?

[wisconsinteacher]

Last night I had the great opportunity to track a doe for my wife.  At the shot the doe took a few bounds then walked away very slowly.  It went over a rise and after a few minutes my wife said she heard a sound like someone dropped a backpack on the ground.  We gave it an hour and went to look.  The arrow had blood, gut, and white hair.  My goal was to track to the sound and if nothing back out.  Well, there was a good amount of blood.  I was able to find the deer in about 10 minutes taking it really slow.  After finding the deer right where she heard it last, I could tell she hit it dead center of the stomach and the arrow came out right in front of the hip almost at the belly line.  From shot to sound of deer falling was about 5-7 minutes.  My question is, what was cut/damaged to make this a happy ending?  I tried to look as I field dressed but could not find any major organ other than the stomach that was hit.  I guess having a sharp Stinger is a good thing.

[black velvet]

There is an artery that runs through the stomach and if cut the animal will bleed out quickly.

[J-dog]

Yeah, artery in there - nothing lives long with a severed artery. Dig in there and do your own autopsy - find it and come back let us know for sure.

[ChuckC]

From above (tree stand) ?  There is a major artery / vein system that runs high along the thoracic and abdominal cavity.  It branches off near the rear of the animal to form the femorals.  Also in there is the liver (more foreward) and kidneys (just in front of the pelvis) with associated blood vessels feeding them.  Cut any of those vessels and the animal will bleed out.  Five minutes sounds like too long for one of the major vessels, unless it was just nicked.

Good job tracking and congrat's on the deer !
ChuckC

[Dan Bonner]

There is an artery called the mesenteric that feeds the stomach and intestines. Thats my guess. The aorta, or illiacs are nearer the pelvis and would have been much quicker.

[Lunar-Tic]

Had that happen once myself, I seen the shot and new I was in for a long day, so as I walked over to mark the spot I last saw the deer there is was laying dead. I did some research and believed it to be the Pyloric artery (not sure if that is spelled correctly)

[macbow]

Congrats to your wife. Happy it was a quick trail, a little luck certainly helps.