nodog

When shooting at deer with bow and arrow, aim for the heart regions. If the deer "jumps the string" by dropping sharply before bounding away, the arrow will still the lungs.
* The average whitetail deer, weighing about 150 pounds, carries about eight pounds of blood in its circulatory system. Massive hemorrhage is necessary to bring the deer down quickly.
* A deer must lose at least 35 percent of its blood, or 2.75 pints in a 150 pound deer before falling. The better the hit, the quicker the loss.
* Deer blood carries high levels of vitamin K1 and K2 in early autumn. Vitamin K is an anti-hemorrhage agent, which greatly aids blood clotting.
* Frightened whitetails produce high levels of B-endorphin, which supports rapid wound healing. Endorphins consist of morphine-like chemicals from the pituitary gland, allowing the animal to control pain.
* Deer, particularly in northern areas, have thick layers of tallow along the back and below the brisket. This can plug wounds, preventing a good blood trail.
* A string tracking device attached to a bow and arrow is sometimes useful in recovering game. However, the string does affect the arrow flight on long shots

Found these on this site.

http://www.myoan.net/huntingart/deer_shot_place.html

silentassassin

The problem with that is that if the deer is 10 yards or less and you are above 20 feet in the tree, then you are more than likely going to just get one lung if you do that. When a deer is in close like that you really need to aim a little high at the bottom of the top third of the deer. IMO If a deer is out further then by all means aim lower. I usually aim at the top of the bottom third of the deer when they are 20+ yards

PABowhntr

Interesting comments but I tend to agree with SA. Though it all sounds great I think there are other factors to be considered in many of those cases. Thanks for passing it along though.

Paul L Mohr

Shoot at relaxed deer at the right moment and it usually solves that problem. Hit them in the right spot when they don't suspect anything and they don't know what hit them half the time. Sometimes they don't even run away.

At least that's what I have seen.

I will agree, these things have incredible undurance. The first one I shot I got one lung and the heart but didn't get a pass thru (light set up and spitfires, I was ignorant and didn't know better). That freakin deer ran non stop until it keeled over in mid run. Ran about 400 yards, maybe more. I switched to a cut on contact and heavier arrows and the next year I shot one at about the same distance (18 yards) and the arrow zipped right thru it. The deer ran about 10 yards and stopped to look around wondering what happened. It took a few more steps and fell over.

Paul

Rickmur

I aim for the exit hole.