I shot a spike once with a Thunderhead 125.The deer was alert and spun on the shot.The arrow hit the shoulder blade on the left side, deflected,went through the guts and exited in the ham on the far side.The arrow hung up by the fletchings in the deer.Along the way it took out the liver and the femoral artery.The deer did'nt go far.So strange things sometimes happen.VAhuntr, I agree about the thunderheads.They do penetrate well.If I ever go after elk that would be my choice.The only reason I got away from them was I had several rib cage shots where the arrow exited midway on the deer and because the cut was so streamlined I did'nt get a good blood trail.When I skinned the deer all you could see where the 3 slits and a small hole where the ferrule and arrow went threw.I once shot a doe a little far back ,hit the liver with a mid chest exit.She jumped at the shot,looked at her side ,then casually walked off.I thought I had missed until I saw the arrow sticking in the ground covered in blood.She walked in a big cirlce and went out of sight.I only found a few drops of blood,then nothing.I found her about 100 yds away dropped dead.I hunt in some really thick nasty woods.A 100 yd blood trail can be a nightmare,by yourself at night fighting briars and 6' rattlesnakes looking for drops of blood.Nothing against the thunderheads,they did they're job,I decided to try some mechanicals to get a wider cut and more tissue damage.On the smallish deer we hunt penetration was never an issue.My blood trails became alot shorter,many of the deer I have killed have gone down in sight.The only deer I have lost with mechanicals was a bad shot on my part.Artic bowman I agree when things go wrong we look for answers.Sometimes we blame our equipment when we should just look in the mirror.The couple of deer I have lost in 20 years of bowhunting wrer my fault,pure and simple.When I learned to take good high percentage shots at un alarmed deer,I haven't lost a deer since.Now I have had some wild times trailing deer,but i've already rambled on too long.Congrats,Taz.Welcome to the brotherhood
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Billy
WHACKEM N STACKEM