Angus74

OK, About two weeks ago, I was hunting a spot on our property, I had a decent 8 pointer come in to rattling, he came in fast and I didnt have long to decide so I took the shot. It was a standing slightly quartered away shot at 19 yards. At the shot the buck ducked and spun at the same time but the arrow still appeared to be high in the shoulder with about 12 inches sticking out, it popped really loud when it hit him.He ran hard with his tail down till hewent out of sight(about 80 yards or so).I waited 45 minutes before gathering my gear and climbing down.The trail was hard, and not very much blood at all, but I knew his travel route for a ways, and could see stirred up leaves where he ran, I found half my arrow after about 50 yards. I tracked the first 100 yards, just a little past where I last saw him, and found a large puddle where he stood for a little bit.and there was some tiny bubbles in the blood. I marked the spot, and left, I had to go get my son from my wife so she could leave, and he likes to help track anyway. I came back tw0o hours later with my dad and my son, and we took up the track, expecting to find him quick, After the puddle where he stood for a while, the trail was much better, probably cause he was walking, and not running. It continued a long way, downhill, crossed a creek, and skirted a ridge on the other side. We followed the trail for about a 1/2 mile or so, and was getting very worried, and didnt understand how a deer hit where I was sure I hit him could go so far, he was bleeding down his front leg, and was leaving a bloody track on his right front. Finally when he neared the property boundary where a clearcut and a pine thicket meet our land, it seemed to simply stop. We looked for a good while, and dad and my sone were getting really tired, we had been on the trail for another 2 hours, for a total of 6 hours since the shot. I took them back home and rested for an hour, and returned, I found a little more blood in the next 50 yards or so, and then lost it again, I circled and gride searched as well as I could, when returned to get my dog, she turned up nothing, and hte best I could tell, he went right into the area where the clearcut and the pines meet. I went back every day for a almost a week, and walked the area, listening for crows, and looking for crows and buzzards, nothing, I even went out almost every night and listened for coyotes, thinking they might find it, and never heard one in the area. I had pretty much given up, and wanted to post here to you guys about it, but just dont like the "didnt find him" posts, and knew Id be flamed on here,lol. Well when I had decided I wasnt goint to find him, I get this picture of this buck about 200 yards from where I lost the trail. I am almost 100 percent sure this is the same buck I shot, the body and especially the rack seem the same, and he has a pretty fresh scar high on his shoulder pretty much exactly where I was sure the arrow was at when he turned to run. How is it possible that this buck survived the shot? The arrow was angled down, as I was in a tree about 18 feet high, and even found some spots of blood like he was bleeding a little bit out of his left side too. Ive never believed much about the no mans land above the lungs and below the spine, but is that what I hit? Or did the arrow angle forward and into the brisket, and only get one lung? And can a deer survive that? I dont know whether to be even more sick about him still being alive, or to be relieved that he didnt die and not be found? Whats you guys thoughts on this? Sorry for the long post, thans for taking the time to read this, and let me know what you think. Thanks

Angus74

I also thought Id add, that this pic is taken on a scrape and is 7 days after the shot. I didnt turn out as big as Id hoped on here and you cant see the wound well. before I cropped and resized it for here I zoomed it as best as I could and it appeared to be a large nasty scar, still open kind of.

arkbwhtr1

I've heard that they can survive after being hit in just one lung. That's amazing!

Brocster

All I can say is that deer are amazing. Your arrow could have easily deflected once it hit the animal, and it is quite possible that no major artery was hit. They can chew their wounds to gum up the hole and clot the blood leakage. It looks like you have a story to tell for a long time!

rybohunter

They can certainly live off one lung. I killed a buck back in 03 and when I gutted him he only had one lung in there. Completely freaked me out.The bad lung was nothing but scar tissue that I had to peel from his ribcage. He had a giant scar on his lower front chest.

BobCo19-65

I believe the shot was over the spine, see picture below and remember that there will be an addition inch or two of hide/muscle over the top of bone on the back.

mauser06

that shot is ABOVE lungs and actually ABOVE the spine. hard to believe but i hit one same spot this year...hell you just told my story! 20yds..he ducked..bad penetration...half decint trail for about 400yds..dried up, searched the next day with 5 other guys combing the whole area to never be found. he never even slowed up. i lied..when he jumped a bunch of downed trees he slowed and blood came out better but other then that he never bedded or slowed. if he was dead we woulda found him im sure of it. and im almost posative i seen him once and my buddys jumped a buck that they described and it sounds like him turkey hunting. heres a link with some good info... http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...7344;p=5%C2%A0

read all 5 pages and youll understand where i got my info..most people think theres a void above the lungs and below the spine..but at the vitals a deers spine is pretty danged low..guess because of the shoulders there and the muscle. if i was a betting man id bet that was the buck you hit!

Angus74

Hey thanks for the pic,, I guess it is possible it was over, but I would have thought the angle could have put it through the cavity, the pic does show just how low the spine is in the body, I knew it was low, but thats a good example. I also now see anothe post about almost the same thing, now I feel silly. Thanks guys.

livbucks

I'd say it went just above the spine and hit the bones above the vertibrae. He will live obviously. Go shoot him again. I bet the front half of your arrow is still buried in his back. Look at the lump behind the scar in the picture. (number 1)That right there is your broadhead under the hide. Number two is the shoulder blade.

MichaelT.

I have seen a buck shot in the neck with a 30.06 that ran off , never to be found, then shot by my ex-mother-in-law, about 1/2 mile away from where her brother-in-law had shot it. She shot and killed it about 5 or 6 days after he had shot it and the neck had a nasty looking wound that was starting to heal over. The deer seemed fine according to her.

They are amazing animals.