Here's the rest of the story, since some of you seem to want to know it. I was reluctant to post the whole story as the shot I took did not end up where it was aimed. But having thought about it there may be something here as a "learning moment" for someone...I know it was for me...I took an old spot for granted and neglected to do a thourough "house cleaning" when I hung the stand. The good news is that the end result was quick and humane and the deer, literally, died under my stand. Here's the text of the email I sent to Charlie which tells the story.
Charlie: It is nice to have meat in the freezer early on. That is always my first goal....food on the table. We have up to four tags here in NH so I am not too fussy about my first deer of the season.
As for penetration with the 3 blade. I used to use Snuffers but put them aside after a few unfortunate incidents with poor penetration from tree stands. Two blades NEVER gave me a blood trail I could follow unless it was on snow. Then I tried the Woodsman and was happy with that but always had trouble with the tip curling no matter how I worked the tip but they penetrated very well and on good shots left lots of blood. Then it was four blade Phantoms which I love dearly. However, I did have some Razorcaps I picked up a few seasons ago and I used them last year on two does that did not make it 30 yards after being hit. They also are the toughest head I have shot with the exception of the threaded shank can bend if it hits something obliquely. The blades themselves take and hold the best edge I can get on a broadhead, especially if I finish them off on a ceramic stick or the Ultrafine DMT stone.
I'm emailing this to you because there is a little story about this deer. The stand I was in is one of my "go to" stands. I set it up this year without doing a lot of pruning...never had to before. My wife sat in it her first nite out and saw deer and she told me that a lot of acorns were falling. They are falling late this year so I decided to hunt the stand on Monday and rest my other one. While I was there acorns were falling from a tree about 25 yards in front of me and I realized that I had not brushed it out all that well and if a deer showed up they would be at this tree...it is one of their favorite trees when it is dropping acorns. I carefully looked for shooing lanes and made mental notes about where not to shoot due to brush or small limbs. Well, when the doe stepped into one of my predetermined lanes the arrow apparently hit yet another unseen twig and the first impression I had was that the arrow was going to be a paunch hit. It happened to hit her in front of her left thigh, cut the long tendon I the front of the thigh, went thru her paunch and completely broke the equivalent of the "knee" joint on her right rear leg. Her back legs were useless to her and she very quickly dragged herself to my treestand which was downhill from where she took the first arrow. I put another Razorcap thru her heart and lungs and the whole thing was over in about 30 seconds from the first shot. When I quartered her yesterday morning I could not believe the damage the Razorcap did to the leg joint....it couldn't have hurt her anymore than if she had her leg amputated.
I an glad that it turned out as well as it did and she died very quickly, even after a deflected first shot. I was reluctant to post the whole story on the Gang but thought I would respond to your inquest about 3 blades. I cannot tell you how good I feel about the Razorcaps and what they did to her leg joint was just incredible. I've only taken 3 deer with them but they have all gone down in 30 yards or less and they seem to be bomb proof, except for the threaded shank...could be better I think.
Hope your season goes well. I have a deprivation permit for a deer on one property I hunt and my wife received a moose permit yesterday. It is in an area where the moose are low density but it is in country that I know and hunt...but I still have 3 deer tags to play with, a bear tag, turkey tag, moose tag and small game. Life is good.
Bill
Topic: Early season success! (Read 686 times)
