The more you hunt and the more game you shoot or see shot merely emphasizes the fact that every deer will react differently. Some drop, some stagger around and fall over, some run like the hounds of hell are after them and travel an amazing distance.

I read an article once written by an African PH in Zimbabwe who also happened to be a licensed veterinarian by the name of Kevin Robertson. He conducted some pretty extensive studies on game and bullet performance during culling operations and went so far as to dissect many animals in the field. He exempted head shots, spine shots and shots that broke both shoulders In other words, he was looking strictly at chest shots. He theorized that sometimes the animals basic physiology dictated the way they respond. He found most of it related to blood pressure.

The anatomy of every animal is unique in that the major blood vessels never lie exactly the same from one animal to the other. So, 2 shots placed in the same area may very well cause different reactions since one may hit a major blood vessel while the other just misses it. Less initial blood loss means the animal can travel farther. He also found that on heart shots, the pumping action of the heart makes a big difference.

If the bullet hit the heart in a chamber that is in the process of empting of blood then it results in a different reaction than a chamber fully full of blood. This is due to basic hydraulics: Liquid under pressure has to go someplace. What he found was the displacement of the liquid (blood) by the bullet causes severe damage to the heart muscle. A bullet that doesn't displace the liquid does less immediate damage and the animal will live a little longer and can travel farther. He also found that on rare occasions the displacement of blood by a bullet in a full chamber of the heart can be so severe that the blood under extreme pressure can travel straight to the brain and basically cause a massive cerebral stroke. That is why some heart shot animals can run off and some go down like they are hit by lightning.

Additionally he found that a shot that was slightly high of the heart and hit several of the major blood vessels that feed the heart and also the lower lungs on average resulted in the fastest average death. Reduced blood supply to the heart means reduced blood to the brain. Holes in the lungs means less oxygen in the intact vessels which means what blood does reach the brain is carrying a depleted supply of oxygen. The result is an animal that can only manage a few steps if any.

I found the article to be very interesting. The average PH in Africa sees more game shot in 1 season than most people see shot in a lifetime. These guys pretty much know what they are talking about. He also stated the proper spot to aim on a game animal is the far shoulder and not the near shoulder. The reason is that in order to get to the far shoulder the bullet has to pass through the vitals no matter what angle the animal is standing at in relation to the hunter. You can shoot at the near shoulder and still miss most of the vitals depending on the shot angle. Additionally if the bullet makes it through the vitals and breaks the far shoulder the animal will usually go down immediately and not be able to regain its feet since both the vitals and the bone structure have been damaged.

After reading the article, I slightly altered my aiming points on game as he suggested and I've noticed cleaner kills. Food for thought.