I actually agree 100%. The truth is, i shot this Deer a lot lower then i was aiming.

I have to agree with Mountain Devil and I base this on personal experience. I shot a BIG doe a few years back. She was standing broadside and I shot her right through the heart. That doe was able to still run over 40 yards in a tag alder marsh before she dropped. Blood was everywhere from the hit. And mind you, this was done with a roundball. Tracking her was a piece of cake. Blood trails on the bushes was all over. But I remember thinking.. how far would have she ran, if it was a nice smooth field?

My first buck was another one. My father shot a buck with a 12 gauge shotgun, right in the heart. It ran down a small hill past me where I (I was 14 years old) emptied my 12 gauge semi automatic shotgun at it. I blew the front leg off (not the body.. just the leg) and it knocked that deer down, and it never got up. I would guess that deer ran over 40 yards before it reached me.

One other small buck I shot once through the lungs. When I recovered him, he had this foamy stuff coming out of his mouth. Kind of gross actually. I don't know if anyone ever saw that stuff before. It was air, bubbles and lung parts I think. But he was able to go over 30 yards. Again, through tag alder brush. How far would have it gone on a flat field?

So depending on the ease of terrain, the slope, and the attention mode the deer was in at the hit, I believe one could run that far. One reason when I bow hunted, I always liked to shoot a deer when it was relaxed. Never when they were on high alert. They don't seem to run as far.

I was hunting with a guy many years ago and he was using a 35 remington. He hit a deer directly in the heart. It ran 100 yards till it hit a lake and then dropped into the water. After gutting it there was absolutely no sign of of heart in there. It was turned into a mass of mush by the heavy 35 bullet.

while i am not convinced that lehigh's are the best muzzle loader bullet, from what i have seen so far they are definately at the top of the heap.IMHO the barnes MZ "non polymer tipped hollow point" with it's good BC is the best all around performer from 0-150 yds. I would also rate the tipped TEZ,TMZ right up there,especially for long range shots. the MZ boat tail with it's small hollow point i would never use fearing it's close range lack of expansion.nice deer by the way! Grats

i think its basic...if ya get shot in the brain, there is the possibility that the body can survive...if the heart stops, the whole body stops. is there a doctor in the house?
i believe if ya just barely nicked the heart, to cause a lil tear, i can see them running, but usually bullets are tumbling, and would be a very small chance of a very small hole when the heart gets hit.

I had two nice heart shots with pass throughs this year. One ran maybe 40 and the other went maybe half that. Both hearts were burger and the aortas were ripped apart too. Lots of "jello".

Mine didnt have anywhere near that kind of bleed out though. Nice "pink mist" left on the ground when hit but nothing like the Lehigh pics ive seen.

Sometimes they run much further than you would imagine and sometimes they dont.

Not BS at all halfbaked. The last doe I shot covered about 40 yards before dropping. The 250 grain Gold Dot took off the entire upper half of her heart.

halfbakedi420

You might be a little bit off base here... depending on the oxygenation level of the blood in the animal at the time it may be able to run for quite a distance using the blood exsiting in the system (muscles).

The Army found this out in the Phillipines a long time ago, when short range - heart, heart & lung shots with a .38 revolver failed to stop humans - hence the development of the 45ACP. Heart shots will kill but they are a long ways from being immediate.

Well said sabot!!

Maybe halfbaked was out in that TEXAS sun without his sombrero on.