lung cut-bottom, midle or top
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: ONTARIO
Posts: 128
lung cut-bottom, midle or top
Typically I aim for a heart kill, but if I go high, I'm curious on which double lung cut would give the fastest kill (low, mid or high).
With a high cut it takes longer to get a steady blood trail, but once full it drowns. With a low cut, it froths out blood sooner but does it take longer to drown or bleed out. A mid cut on the lung probably has some of both advantages and disadvantages.
Which height on a double lung cut would cause the deer to travel the shortest distance? If it isn't the low cut, is the low cut still better so you get a sooner good blood trail even if it travels farther?
With a high cut it takes longer to get a steady blood trail, but once full it drowns. With a low cut, it froths out blood sooner but does it take longer to drown or bleed out. A mid cut on the lung probably has some of both advantages and disadvantages.
Which height on a double lung cut would cause the deer to travel the shortest distance? If it isn't the low cut, is the low cut still better so you get a sooner good blood trail even if it travels farther?
#3
Tuna, one of the wonderful things about lung shots is the fact you don't really have to wait long for them to "fill up" because they start blowing blood out of the nose and mouth fairly quickly. Dang near instantly in my experience. Then when they try to breathe they start blowing it out of the wounds. High and low actually makes little to no difference really.
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,834
Think of it like a balloon. Does it matter if you stick it high, center or low, its going to pop no matter!!!! Same with a deers lungs, hit it low, center or high, its going to die. Just have to make sure you hit them though!!!
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
I concur with others, that it makes little difference if the lungs are cut through high, low or dead center. In my 50+ years of white tail deer hunting, I have seen no significant differernce in how long it takes for the deer to expire, in the difficulty tracking, or the distance traveled after the shot, etc. As for heart shots ... no doubt as good a shot placement as there is. BP drops like a hammer and the deer will go down very quickly. But again, a small target area with little room for error.
Using a high power rifle, a hard hitting shot gun slug, or a big ol' 50 cal. muzzle loader bullet, etc. .... missing a few inches high-low or left-right more times than not makes little difference. These result in long, wide wound channels with terrific shock damage aalong the way.
Obviously a broadhead has to clean cut something vital. A heart shot ... miss 3" - 4" high you are likely hitting hard, tough bone and may not get the penetration to cause a fatal injury. I have tracked such shots for hours upon hours with no success in recovery. Or miss a few inches low, you end up slicing the brisket. If not high enough to clip a largeartery or vein, the deer will likely not bleed out quickly if at all. Last fall for example my bud made such a shot, though aiming for the heart of a large doe. It dropped like a hammer and lay there for over an hour. When my buddy came down and approached, she jumped and hauled a$$. He tracked for over an hiour and gave up for lack of blood trail. My tracking dog got to the trail about 4 hours later. She trailed the doe almost a mile and we found the doe lying down, unable to get up. We dispatched her quickly. No dog ... no deer. If that shot had been 2"-3" higher, it would have been a perfect heart shot.
Don't get me wrong Big Tuna. A heart shot is a 100%, drop dead, quickly killing shot. Make it if you can. I just go for the double lunger every chance I get, archery or firearm. And at my age, a big kill zone is welcomed !!
Using a high power rifle, a hard hitting shot gun slug, or a big ol' 50 cal. muzzle loader bullet, etc. .... missing a few inches high-low or left-right more times than not makes little difference. These result in long, wide wound channels with terrific shock damage aalong the way.
Obviously a broadhead has to clean cut something vital. A heart shot ... miss 3" - 4" high you are likely hitting hard, tough bone and may not get the penetration to cause a fatal injury. I have tracked such shots for hours upon hours with no success in recovery. Or miss a few inches low, you end up slicing the brisket. If not high enough to clip a largeartery or vein, the deer will likely not bleed out quickly if at all. Last fall for example my bud made such a shot, though aiming for the heart of a large doe. It dropped like a hammer and lay there for over an hour. When my buddy came down and approached, she jumped and hauled a$$. He tracked for over an hiour and gave up for lack of blood trail. My tracking dog got to the trail about 4 hours later. She trailed the doe almost a mile and we found the doe lying down, unable to get up. We dispatched her quickly. No dog ... no deer. If that shot had been 2"-3" higher, it would have been a perfect heart shot.
Don't get me wrong Big Tuna. A heart shot is a 100%, drop dead, quickly killing shot. Make it if you can. I just go for the double lunger every chance I get, archery or firearm. And at my age, a big kill zone is welcomed !!
#7
The only difference in lung shots is if you hit one or both lungs. Double lungs shots kill faster. The times I have put major effort into tracking a deer have included a single lung shot and shoulder hits with a bow. Being mindful of quartering shots will help avoid that. With Indiana legal low velocity firearms I aim high lung to stay safe if bullet drop comes into play. As a plus, 3 out the last 6 deer I have killed with a firearm have been dropped dead deer with severed spines. The other 3 were double lung hits. With a high powered rifle just aim for the vitals, bullet drop and shoulders are not such a potential issue.
#9
In my experience, with a gun it doesn't matter.
With a bow, the lower the lung shot the better the blood trail. BUT...its kinda a moot point if its a double lung, cause they usually don't run far anyhow. One lung hits however, depending on where hit...you can sometimes be in for a long tough track, and sometimes amazingly they can even survive it.
With a bow, the lower the lung shot the better the blood trail. BUT...its kinda a moot point if its a double lung, cause they usually don't run far anyhow. One lung hits however, depending on where hit...you can sometimes be in for a long tough track, and sometimes amazingly they can even survive it.