I doubt any deer with such a wound which was not immediately killed or soon recovered would have much of chance to survive. If the deer did not die from blood-loss, the animal would die from a grievous infection and/or starvation, and would die a slow and horrible death. It would be merciful if the predators got the deer (animal) down and killed it quickly.
Are you saying that you would prefer all broadheads to be a maximum size to better the chances of survival of a errant shot?
I can respect that. It brings all sorts of "what ifs" to mind but I can still respect the thought.
So, if such a devastating wound does not guarantee a kill or a recovery, what is the necessity and advantage of a broadhead that mangles an animal?
I'm not even sure of what type of head started this issue or exactly how much of a cutting diameter we're talking about here but I'll throw my 2 cents in on some of the replies I've read.
It seems to me that an important issue has been overlooked as far as the "big head -vs- small head , 30-30 -vs- 7mm mag etc..." and thats shock trauma. A 30-30 will kill a deer just as dead as a 300 mag but the larger and more energy producing projectile will cause much more shock trauma which kills faster providing both examples hit the intended target. Use the same scenario in bowhunting and it's my understanding that a low profile broadhead attached to a light weight arrow producing 55lbs of kinetic energy will produce much less shock trauma compared to a large profile broadhead attached to a heavy arrow producing 70lbs of kinetic energy. Yes...both have to hit the boiler room!
In my experience , I've shot deer with the light weight setup that weren't sure what happened after being drilled through both lungs and ended up walking or trotting off which exumed less oxygen in their lungs thus extending their distance from impact to death. On the flip side I've been using the heavier (larger profile head and heavier arrows) setup which has never left a deer trotting off or looking around to see what happened.
Thats the advantage I see in the larger profile heads and heavier setups shot out of a bow that produces enough energy to greatly increase the shock trauma effect.
Is it necessary? Nope!