Alex G.

There is a first time for everything and I experienced it on Saturday during opening day in Va.
Shooting Lightfield Hybred Elite 12 guage, 3" Sabot Slugs out of my Mossberg 500, 24" rifled barrel.
It was a 20 yard shot, spike buck was running straight at me.
I had the xhairs right on his chest.
Just as I sqweezed the trigger he turned a bit to his right.
My shot hit his left shoulder blade (scapula I believe) and deflected off!
Fur flew off due to the shot.
I saw the shot hit and he never missed a beat, didnt flinch, didnt limp when running, he just turned away and ran into the woods tail up
I saw the impact area when he turned, looked like a 2" gouge into his shoulder, not a clean entrance hole.
Searched the area for 2 hours and didnt find a trace of blood where he was hit or where he ran into and thru the woods.
Just bothers the heck out of me that the slug didnt enter the animal and that I wounded him.
Will definately be the last time I ever take a shot like that.

Overall the club did very well... 9 deer total, 6 bucks & 3 does. Including 2 - 8pnts, 1- 7pnt and the others smaller.

Rebel Hog

Wow!........I have a had time figuring that one out!

dvalliere

How do you know for certain that it ricocheted? Sounds to me like you hit it and, beyond that, can't be sure of anything.

iSnipe

2 hours is just a warm up for searching for a deer.

Hard to say what really happened, but sounds very feasible. Hitting the scapula at that angle and leaving that kind of a mark is a very realistic thing that could have happened. It's not a thick bone to penetrate. I often cut part of it off with a knife so I can get the backstraps a little easier sometimes. It's also much thinner in areas where bullets and arrows can penetrate much easier. If one were not to hit it square, like an angled shot in this scenario, I can understand lack of penetration.

iSnipe

UncleNorby

Could have deflected, could have penetrated. The deer was already running, so not uncommon for it to run off, and they can go furhter than you'd think. I would look some more if you can.

dvalliere

This is not conclusive. I was part of a deer drive where one of our best shots was on point when we scared up a deer. He swore he must have missed it because it didn't so much as flinch either time he shot. At the same time, he thought he had made good shots. He was a veteran hunter and was confused by the contradictory evidence.

We searched and found it. It hadn't gone too far beyond where it disappeared from his line of sight.

The verdict: he nailed it in the boiler room. Both times.

GreatHunterWannabe

Thats interesting, but I suppose it could happen if at the right angle. I know someone who snot a pig with a .22 and it ricocheted right off his scalp and he just snorted and continued to eat.

Beezer

A slug bouncing off bone is entirely possible. I shot a small doe standing broadside high from about 35yds and it bounced off her spine and back out the same side. By the time it exited it had expanded and left a hole big enough to pull her heart out of. Look to the top left of the exit and you'll see a round circle about as big as your thumb, that's the entrance. Both the entrance and exit were confirmed when she was skinned and gutted, you could see the point where the slug hit the spine.

iSnipe

Beezer, that's a good picture. Reveals a lot about what could happen when talking about ricochets.

=========

I've heard where a person shot a deer high in the chest and the bullet entered, hit the opposite rib, then followed the contour of the rib to exit out the bottom.

I also witnessed a guy trying to dispatch a wounded vehicle struck deer. The deer had it's head up and my buddy from 45 feet took aim with his .22 magnum and hit 'em just above the eyes and below the top of his skull. The bullet didn't penetrate and ricocheted into the woods. I thought it was a flush shot and didn't angle that much.

iSnipe

Beezer

It took a few minutes, but I soon realized that everything that came out of that hole came back in my direction.