Interesting picture of healed “bad shot”

[Soonerlongbow]

We’ve all seen, heard, and likely have made bad shots. Also fully expected those deer to die and be ‘yote food, and oftentimes they are. I’ve found skeletons from deer that were never found, had been hit by a car, or other disasters. But I’ve also seen deer, pigs, and what not that are missing legs for the same reasons. My dad sent me an article today that illiterates the “point” quite clearly. Reminds me why we’re told to be careful when processing game animals.

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/story-of-a-whitetails-will-to-survive/amp/

[durp]

Had a friend kill a 7x7 bull back in the mid 80's that had a chunk of Easton 2216 down the side of its ribs...surrounded with gristle...must have been shot straight down from a tree stand

[Sam McMichael]

That is a neat display. These guys are tough. I remember some years ago reading of a fellow that tried to miss a deer on the highway. He got almost completely stopped, but the deer brushed up against his car as it twisted away. After a few steps, the deer fell down and died. Curious about how such a slight hit could be fatal, he dressed out the deer. An arrow had been previously shot that stopped just short of piercing the deer's heart. The twisting motion and the bump of the car drove the point into the heart.

[Soonerlongbow]

Seen a buck killed when the projectile never entered the body cavity, merely grazing the breast bone. Sent a fragment of bone up into the chest cavity and it expired, most blood I’ve ever seen in a critter. The very same tool removed a fore leg from a deer that lived and grew an awfully strange rack for several years to come.

Always strange.

[Bisch]

I shot an aoudad. When I shot it, and recovered it, my buddy noticed a + shaped mark on the critters side. Placement was a little high, but it certainly looked like it should have been dead from that shot. When I quartered it up the next day, I found a 4-blade muzzy embedded in the off side shoulder from where the + mark was. When I shot the aoudad, there was no indication that it had ever been injured!!!!!

I have also seen several pigs with broadheads and one with a bullet from previous shots other than the one that killed them.

Bisch

[Cyclic-Rivers]

My first archery deer had been shot and healed in 3 of its legs . Had perfect  broadhead marks

[Dave Lay]

Wow, several years ago hunting a pretty pressured WMA I killed a doe that had 2 Different broadheads in her, one just below her spine and the other in her hip ,  she had led a rough life . It kills me to lose a deer, I am responsible for their suffering but it does happen at times in all methods of hunting , we just need to do all we can to minimize the chance of that .

[Soonerlongbow]

Wow, several years ago hunting a pretty pressured WMA I killed a doe that had 2 Different broadheads in her, one just below her spine and the other in her hip ,  she had led a rough life . It kills me to lose a deer, I am responsible for their suffering but it does happen at times in all methods of hunting , we just need to do all we can to minimize the chance of that .

My grandfather worked for several years at McAAP back in the ‘70s I believe, as well as helped with the draw hunt on Haggerman NWR then as well. Because of this he was not a fan of archery hunting at all in any form. Said he had seen too many people lose critters.

[flntknp17]

I was butchering a buck that I killed several years ago and when I took one of the front shoulders off, there was about 8” of aluminum arrow shaft lodged between the shoulder blade and the body cavity.  Upon closer inspection, the hide had healed scars above and below the arrow shaft.  Someone had shot directly down from a tree stand almost vertical and the arrow lodged outside the rib cage with the point exiting and breaking off and the fletching also breaking off leaving no sign of injuries until I cut the shoulder blade off. 

[buckeyebowhunter]

I don't buy the argument against archery hunting when I bet that just as many people wound and lose deer with firearms. I have no proof of this of course but I've seen it happen many times during Ohio gun season.

Not trying to change the subject but it just gets under my skin when people argue that archery is unethical hunting. Mistakes/ bad shots happen with both hunting methods and as mentioned these animals are designed to survive.

[Soonerlongbow]

Seen it happen from pretty much every weapon. Personally seen a deer’s leg pretty much removed because of the optic offset and super close distance. Survived and became a tripod with a strange rack.

[hawkeye n pa]

We had a local butcher that hard a hard time sawing through the spine of a nice buck.  (Every body and their neighbor wanted this buck. )  He found a aluminum "overdraw" arrow completely parallel on top of the spine and completely healed up.   Was really hard to imagine that it didn't affect the health of the deer as he covered about a six mile area that we knew of.

My Dad shot a 6 point in gun season that had a old broadhead lodge inside the head at base of the horns.  I've shot a few 'gang green' deer also that appeared healthy but had been hit or gored at sometime.

[GCook]

We have a lot of pigs.  We often shoot pigs that have previous wounds.  Most of the firearm, small caliber, wounds.
That said I don't know that I have ever lost a deer with a rifle.  Pigs yes as we shoot them running, in the brush, at night, when and however. But with deer I've always been pretty particular.
That said with modern bows I've wounded a few but less than I have fingers.  Unfortunately with trad equipment I've lost 4 in 6 seasons.  I found three a day later in water or where the coyotes fed on them.  That said there is just more room for error.  It sucks but it happens.
That said I have a doe with a fawn who has an arrow in her now coming to my set up.  The shaft is broken off and there is a lump on each side but she is healing and still caring for her fawn or I'd try to put her down.

[buckeyebowhunter]

This^

[Soonerlongbow]

Unfortunately shot placement on live range is different than on a flat range. The angles are constantly changing due to range, elevation, changing directions, continued movement, etc. Proper sharpened broadheads likely kill faster and with less trauma than a loud weapon. It’s a silent bee sting vs. a hammer that’s super loud. Blood loss from a good broadside heart/double-lung that goes mostly unnoticed results in the critter going to sleep rather than a speed sprint. It’s very similar to butchering pigs and fowl where the animals carotid is severed.

But as stated, things change. I have video of a doe shot from a tree stand that turned so violently and drastically that the arrow entered the underbelly behind the last rib and exited between the shoulder blades. Had been broadside with slight quarter-to, meaning she turned nearly 160° angle from a <20yd shot.

[buckeyebowhunter]

Sooner did you stop her or was she alert? I've seen them come unglued once the arrow is released after they were stopped. It's crazy what they can do in thousands of a second when that arrow is on its way. This is why in my opinion at the ranges we shoot speed isn't much of a factor.

[Soonerlongbow]

She was feeding natural in a wheat field with a feeder. Wasn’t me, my hunting partner with one of his last deer before the switch, after years of my bugging him.