Is this to be expected??
 

Well I took my first bow kill yesterday. Have spent alot of time reading on the boards here in search of the best choices, i.e. equipment, etc. I was outfitted with mechanicals since I was so incredibly concerned about accuracy. My bow is plenty fast and I shoot 3-4 times every week.

The deer I took (a fat solo doe) was broadside but angled slightly toward me. Because of this I aimed just along the rear edge of the shoulder to maximize vitals contact. Well I was about an inch forward of where I wanted to be and caught the back age of the shoulder bone. I was using an NAP Shockwave. Long story short, had no pass-through and the deer went a long long way to the lake (saw no blood). When I gutted the dear the piece of arrow was inside and when I pulled it out only one of the 3 blades was opened. (I do have a pic but no way to post it) Was lucky to recover since I hunt property with a lake and a club member out fishing saw a deer in bad shape laying in water in the edge of the lake. It was dead when we got back to retrieve it.

My question: Is this to be expected with a mechanical? Does the improved accuracy come at a price of requiring only "perfect" hits? Would a fixed head have fared any better? Luckily in this case the tip and one blade did enough lung damage to complete the kill. I'm torn about going to a fixed head now or not.

RE: Is this to be expected??
 

PaDavy - If you have the pic on your computer, send it to me and I'll get it posted.

If you pulled the arrow and head out, did you pull against the head ? That would close the blades, right ? I aint doubting you any - what did the hole in the deer look like ? What poundage bow, arrow weight ?

Good example fellows of how mechanicals STILL can fail, and possibly end up in lost deer. Anti-hunters love mechanicals.



Stealthycat's Photo's

RE: Is this to be expected??
 

Stealthy,

I didn't pull the arrow out. It was completely inside the deer's cavity (broken off, about 8 inches plus head). I didn't yank it through entrails either. Took it out carefully. The entry hole was small and round.

My bow is a Browning Mirage SX set at 65lbs. I"m shooting 60/75 Beeman carbons (not sure of weight?) and 100 grain heads.

I'm not trying to make a negative statement on mechanicals. I really don't have the expertise to comment. I know you can have poor results with either fixed or mechanical. I'm just curious how a fixed head might have reacted under similar conditions.

I might just try to fill my second tag with my Bob Lee Stick longbow and Simmons Sharks and avoid the whole debate in my mind :)