Shoulder Hits
 

There is alotof discussion on shoulder hits and penetration with broadheads.

One personwill say I blew through both shoulders and the next person will say I only got 2" of penetration. This will happen because of the anatomy of the shoulder area.Also, alot will be determined by what angle the deer was standing, what it did on the shot and what position the front leg and shoulder was at when the arrow went into the deer.

To many times the broadhead will take the blame but most of the time it's simply the difference of 1" on shot placement.

NO broadhead, NONE, will go through the "knuckle" of the shoulder. But most quality broadheads will blow through the shoulder "area", if you miss the "knuckle". Again, this may only be a 1" difference in shot placement but it is reality.

Lets not be so quick to blame the broadhead but blame ourselves and a little bad luck.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

Gospel.

And....

ANY BH will go through the cartilage.;)

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I agree. I shot my first buck with a 55Lb bow and Muzzy MX 4's broadheads at about 8 or 9 yards from the ground. It only penetrated about 8 inches, maybe less.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I have hit two deer in the shoulder and did not recover either of them.....friggin on 500 yard long tiny blood trails that led out into the middle of the forest! I will not shoot for the shoulder and do not shoot with anything more than slightly and I mean slightly quartering too.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

Did you recover it?

8" is a LONG way into the vitals area of a deer.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I should add in that my buck went less than 40 yards. But i backed out for a couple hours because i saw the arrow sticking out real far and got worried (not that i wasnt already freaking out;)):D

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I've broken 3 ridge bones on shoulder hits. All were from the inside out(opposite shoulder).

Once I hit a doe an 1" down from where the joint of the ridge bone meets the next one down, it separated that joint but did not break any bone, just chipped it.

I've sent a couple thru the flat parts of the scapula as well. That's not much resistance.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

Get real. Better add a lot more specifics to this line.

LT

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I had this happen to me last year, hunting off the ground, had a 150"+ come in at 8 yards,I freakin pulled my shot, and hit the deer square in the shoulder joint, one his first bounce my arrow fell out, got a whole 1 1/2 of penetration.[:'(]
I was pulling 68# and using a 100gr. Muzzy (Bad to the Bone....maybe, but no match for the joint)

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

LOL...

OK....unless we're SPECIFICALLY pulling 200#'s and the deer is in spots.:D

I was referring to normal whitetails with normal bowhunting equip.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

The only time and I mean the only time I will should shoulder is if I have a 160grain 30-06 nosler partition loaded up. I have shot alot of big Kansas deer with this set up in my 06 at 200 yards the bullet will go through the close side shoulder through the vitals and then go through the off side shoulder. Then at that point the bullet normally will stop right against the hide on the off side shoulder. This is with a rifle, a hot hand load and if that gets the job done a arrow in no way can get the job done.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

While I agree with the premise of you post I think you are leaving out a very important element that applies to both mechanical and fixed blade broadheads.

If your bow is not well tuned and your arrows are not hitting square you are going to have decreased penetration. I think this is where the ball often get dropped with Mech. broadheads, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the product. It is an education issue for bowhunters.

Joe Bowhunter that doesn't have much technical knowledge sites his bow in and shoots it all summer. He screws on a Muzzy or two and they hit way off of the field points. Too often the answer is to go buy a pack of Mech. heads because they will hit the same as his FP's. He isn't going to get the penetration he should because the arrow is not flying correctly and not hitting the animal square. Many guys have the same issue with a fixed blade because they never shoot them until hunting.

I think this accounts for a great deal of the penetration issues.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

I agree on all points, Mez. But it's AS believable a scenario for the guy you mention (shooting the fixed blades) to simply adjust his sights to match his BH POI.

In either instance....the end result is likely the same. Band-aid on a potentially much bigger issue.

Good point.

RE: Shoulder Hits
 

Very true. I've seen it first hand with an antelope.

125gr Thunderhead shot out of a 70lb duallywith heavy aluminum arrows. The kid hit it on the scapula, the thin part of the shoulder blade, with his set up it should have went right on through. He called me to help him find the goat. We eventually got the antelope. The first arrow penetrated the muscle and only the tip of the broadhead was through the scapula.

I had him shoot the bow in my yard and what do you know, the arrows were sticking in the target at a 45 degree angle in the horizontal plane. He said his FP's and broadheads wouldn't shoot the same so he just sighted in for the broadheads to hunt with.

RE: Shoulder Hits