I was 20 feet upand thedoe was 10yds out and quartered away at about a 30 degree angle. By this I mean... imagine the deer being perfectly broadside then rotate it quartering away for 30 degrees. What happened wasthe arrowhit it 1/3 the way down from the top of its back right directlyin the creasebehind the shoulder blade. And by this crease I mean... imagine a straight line from top to bottom of the deer right where the back of the front legs join the body. -that is what I refer to as the "crease".

Anyway to reiterate, I hit this crease about 1/3 the way down from the top of its back with it quartering away at 30 degrees. I saw the arrow sticking out ofthe deer right in that very spot but did not pass through. It appeared to have only penetrated about 10 inches and the deer fell over on its right side then quickly got up and darted away in a straight linefor 60 yards. It stopped and looked at me for a few secondsthen with only a slight limp, slowly walked away and out of sight.

I waited3 hours before even getting down to investigate. When I did though, there was no arrow of course but also no blood!? I walked to the spot I memorized in my mind where it stood to look back at me from 60 yards and still no blood. It was a very bright day and I pretty clearly remembered the straight line that he initially took his 60 yard dash. I circled over and over for 10 yards either way of that straight line whereit madeits getaway just in case I remembered it wrong. No blood. I know these woods pretty well so atthe 4hr mark,I pressed forward with 2 other people helping me lookfor about 500yds passed the spot I sawit last which was 100yds from my tree. This means I searched a 300x600 grid. Hours and hours of searching turned up nothing.

What do you thinkhappened? In my limited, not so experiencedvision, the arrowshould've pierced to top middle of its left lung and hit the bottom front of its right lung. Before anyone goes nuts let me say this: I am here to learn from whatever mistake it is I made. I obviously don't know it so please teach me without too much of the ripping off of my head. However, if that's what I have to endure so I don't make this mistake again, I will. Furthermore, I take full ownership of the mistake you determine me to have made.

Thank you.

I wasn't there. I'm also having a hard time deciphering exactly where you hit the deer......but a 30 degree quartering angle is no "chip shot". From 20 feet up and 10 yds out....it's not a bad shot, though.

If I understand you to say you aimed and think you hit somewhere near the leg, though.....you started out way too forward for a shot at a quartering away deer. Maybe I'm not understaning what you're describing.

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OK to try to clarify the point of entry, picture a medium sized deer body with a broadside view that measures 1 1/2ft by 3ft. In this rectangle starting from the top left corner go14 inchesrightthen 6inches down. Left side is the head side of its body.

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It sounds like a shoulder shot. I hit mine just a smidge foward of what would be a liver shot if it were broadside. Because it was quartering, it got both lungs and exited through the far front leg.

One other thing--the top of a deer's front quarter arches back a bit. If you hit 1/3 of the way down, that's right around where the front "shoulder" bone area protrudes back the furthest.

I think I agree with droptine for the most part. You shot too far forward. The shot hit the opposite side shoulder bone, thus no exit wound. Been there and done that.

For what it's worth. I have s ticker on my upper limb that reads "Stay away from the bone". Even on a relatively broadside shot I like to shoot about 4" behind what you are calling the crease. There's plenty of room back there for vitals and pass throughs are almost assured. With a quartering away shot, depending on the angle you probably should have been aiming at midway back the body. This would almost assure a liver and one lung hit, which correlates to a dead deer and an exit hole.

I'm thinking Droptine hit the nail on the head... Too far forward and hit opposite shoulder. He is also right you owe it to her to give it a second look. Just might find a dead deer.

Like GMAT said, since we were not there and even if we were there, I would not be 100% that what I saw is actually what I saw.

But from the info given, I believe it was a single lung hit. Which is about the hardest tracking job there is. Deer usually will not bed down, will usually go very long distances, and will not necessarily seek water.

What droptine said, you need to practice on a 3-d target, one arrow at a time at a variety of angles. study the path the arrow takes an try to envision where the vitals are and where your arrow has penetrated. A 30 degree quarter the entry hole is actually a few inches in front of the rear leg and right about where the ribs start.

Good luck finding the deer, If the hit was high,and one lung,no exit wound low she may bleed internally.