Finally saw some rutting activity on Friday, the next to the last day of PA bowhunting. My Dad saw 9 different bucks on the trail of a doe. He was set up in a treeline in the middle of a field top. A big 8 point came in behind the stand and squared off with a slightly smaller buck. My Dad put the shot on him but ticked a branch. The arrow hit the big buck in the shoulder blade and fell out. NO PENETRATION!
He bled marginally at first and then dwindled to nothing. We were on our hands and knees at times looking for blood. We tracked that buck for almost a mile total walking,but no more than several hundred yards from the stand at any time. He stayed on the doe. We never found him.
My Dad said the shot sounded like an axe hitting a log. When the buck started running after the doe, the arrow fell out. He could see blood high on the shoulder of the buck but the buck didn't limp at all. We found where it eventually bedded and there was just a slight smear of blood on the bed, but no drips or puddles. Dad said he was a very big bodied buck compared to the others.
We went out on Saturday, the last day, and set up around his bedding area to try for a second chance at him. There was zero deer movement on Saturday, All four of us saw nothing.