Antler Eater

It never ceases to amaze me the punishment these animals can take and keep going like nothing happened.

Thanks for sharing.

bloodcrick

Lady Forge, seriously that would make a great conversation peice for the game room. If it was me, i would cut out the section of spine and treat it like a euro skull proscess, demeat, clean, degreese and bleach in salon peroxide let sit outside for a week and then display, its not often you come across something like this very very cool pictures, mother nature sure is a beauty dont you think??

Gundeck

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

DeerStalker80

huntingbry,
One it depends On where you live. Yes I know your in PA. I dont think you have fire ants we do down here in the south. I shot my first deer with a bow and my first bow buck at the same time dec 2. Got back to Florida put the head in an ant bed and let them do the trick. at 3 weeks it was clean. I finished it up painted the skull and left the antlers alone. My father has done several like that and has left them out side for 6 months squirrels started eating on them and they were still the same color as the day he shoot them. I like to paint the skull if you do that it also seals them and keeps them from drying out. My dad just buts a clear coat on them.

davidmil

Lady Forge, I shot a buck about 5 or maybe 6 years ago. When I shot him I noticed a little tuft of hair sticking up, but that was all. Well I gutted him and my buddy helped me drag him out since I was giving the deer to him. We inspected the little tuffed and found a little scab there. It was raised up just slightly. He had a couple gouges on his side and neck from fighting so we figured he just got horned there. When my buddy skinned him out he called me to tell me he found a Muzzy and 5 inches of arrow stuck in the deers spine. There was just the slightest discoloration around the shaft but no other indications that the deer had had anything happen. When I shot him he was just walking along feeding on some acorns. He was fat dumb and happy. If I hadn't shot him he would have lived out a normal life with all that metal in him. Heck, I got metal in me from 40 years ago... and I turned out normal didn't I. Well, no need to answer that, this is about the deer. LOL

waiting_for_a_gift

Quote from article entitled "The Sharpness Factor" by Russel Thornberry:
"Hunters are often mystified by the distance their game travels after being hit with a lethally placed arrow. The sharpness factor plays a big role here. I have seen white-tailed deer survive center lung shots, and in one case, even a center heart shot, because the broadheads used weren’t shaving sharp. You may think that I’m assuming that those heart- and lung-shot deer survived, but I’m not. In the case of the center lung-shot animal, it was killed by an automobile two years after it was shot through the lungs with a dull broadhead. The broadhead and 10 inches of the shaft were still in the buck, positioned right in the center of his lungs. His wound had healed completely, and he seemed to be in otherwise perfect health when the car hit and killed him. He was butterball fat, too. The heart-shot doe was shot later by a rifle hunter, also two years after an arrow passed through the center of her heart. She too was healthy and fat, showing no evidence of ills due to the 6-inch section of aluminum shaft still in the center of her heart. In both cases, dull broadheads failed to do their jobs. There was minimal hemorrhaging, and both animals survived. Shot placement is critical in bowhunting, but unless your broadhead is shaving sharp, a perfectly placed arrow may not get the job done."
Amazing stuff. Cool pictures Lady, thanks.

JNTURK

WOW! that is amazing that where the broadhead is located you didn't cut a nerve and that guy didn't drop in his tracks!! how he went on really amazes me....thanks for posting the pics

OHbowhntr

I tend to agree, I hit one in the low spine a few years ago, broke his back, and took out the tops of his lungs. However, when you consider the energy of our arrows, much of our energy is put into penetration, not "concussion," resulting in that BH poking through some bone, yet not really injuring the spinal cord or nerves. Most of the nerves exit the spinal column and are directed towards the abdomen of the animal. That BH in the spinal process is merely a flesh wound, fortunately for the buck, unfortunately for the hunter heading home sick to his stomach after missing a fine trophy.

Lady Forge

Bry;
I was using a new camera I got for X-Mas an
Olympus SP-350 8.0 MegaPixel
with it dosent have quit the Zoom Capabilities of my previous camera that was ruined by water damage but I do like the Quality of the photos it takes.

Bloodcreek;
You know I brought that peice of spine home with me I will be mounting it in some way with the Skull Mount

I have been doing skull mounts for some time now and found a way that works with my constraints and time ...I have laced the area with mouse poison to thwart the attack of mice burrowing in the area and attempting to knaw on the antlers and always cover the skull with a garbage can with a large rock on top to keep the Tree Rats from chewing on them and tie them to a tree to keep any wandering neighbors pets or coyotes from wandering off with my skulls.
I then dig them up when I think they are ready Power wash , soak in a lite bleach water to sterilize , dry , paint them and then seal them to keep them from discoloring due to smoke and air borne grease and polutants...and then I dont have to mess with the boiling, cleaning etc.
Here is a couple pics of some I have done in the past

JNTURK

i always thought hitting the nerve (spinal cord), like in the picture, would drop any animal in his tracks basically paralyzing the animal....