RE: How far on a heart shot?
Charlie P,
Your question is a huge varible. Depending on the situation ie. spooked deer, people in the area, cars stopping to look, gun fire in the area, etc., etc.....all or any of these things could "push" a deer a little further than any of us would like. An adrenaline pumped deer is capable of covering a lot of ground, despite the best of heart or lung shots.
I've always went for the lung shot. It's a larger target and if the deer can't get oxygen to its' vital systems there's less likelyhood of it traveling much distance.
Once the hemoraging starts, the oxygenated blood that is currently in the deer's system begins leaving that arterial system and will never return....no matter whether there's a heart or lung shot. Even so, adrenaline is a chemical reaction within the deers' system and happens within seconds of a panic situation. That existing adrenaline can allow the deer to travel/ function for up to 2 minutes and that's a lot of travel time for a deer.
A bilateral numothorax (pass-through on both lungs) has a long history of dropping deer inside 2 minutes....with a sharp broadhead. Gun shots are another story.
To answer your question....I'd say inside the 100 yard mark would be a normal for a heart shot deer.
Good hunting, Bowhunter57