YooperMike

Tough to call on that one. If that deer dropped at the shot, his body is going to look way different than it does right there. All the loose skin is going to go up, thereby potentially giving a false impression of where the hit was, versus where the holes actually ended up on the relaxed animal.

I'm not shooting that deer either, Rob. He looks pretty good, and yes he may die, but i'm burning a buck tag on him, with no obvious ailments at this point. Since the wound is so fresh, it is going to look potentially worse. Pat Reeve's buck is a perfect example of a shot that I would have bet the farm was lethal, but merely rode the ribcage and never entered the cavity.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I have much more footage I will try to get on.

I told Ben, if I had any thoughts of that deer suffering or dying, I would have zipped him immediately. I feel it's nothing more than a flesh wound and he's fine. Any hint of internal organs being damaged and that deer would be sickly, he didn't indicate that at all. He was shot Friday morning around 10:45 am and this was Monday evening around 6:00 pm.



My cousin hunts at around 20' and the deer was 15 yards and the arrow nicked a branch, Muzzy 100 grain heads. FYI

mauser06

that makes it harder to believe that nothing was hit...

did you see your cousins arrow Rob?? just curious....


to be honest, that DOES like like a RAGE hit....thats a big ole gash of an exit....i dont know...i still think something almost HAD to be hit....(gut wise)

Rob/PA Bowyer

If I see him again, I will film him, I'm betting I see him again and if he's stiff or sickly and in range, I'll zip him.

Germ

Good point

That arrow went right over the spine

mauser06

not stirring the pot or fighting with you Rob...you know that...

i would had a REAL hard time burning my only buck tag on that deer as well...he seems 100% healthy....but ive seen it take a week or 2 for them to start getting sick, infection, cold weather etc....just keep an eye on him...nothin else you can do...we can sit here all day and try to analyze it, but we cant be sure...but if i seen my arrow in him, i would gave him 8-12hrs to die and been sick when i didnt find him...no way i would though he would been alive...


i cant believe thats a muzzy hole! i would bet rage or snyper looking at the exit...guess its dried blood and stuff too im looking at.....a nice bath and he would look good as new

HuntingBry

I've read articles and books that discuss gut shots and have said that stomach matter and sometimes the lining itself can block a hole in the GI tract and the deer can heal and live fine afterwards. If that arrow caught the small intestine, which it could have possibly done in this case that wound is survivable from what I have read. The deer certainly looked no worse for wear in the video. I would think that if he were in bad shape it would have shown in his behavior that long after the hit.

TEmbry

Why shoot a presently perfectly healthy deer only because he has a wound? I must be missing something?!?

From Mausers pic, I can see that arrow possibly going high just over the spine...its hard to tell. I didnt see it in person, and would have passed if I did with that deer's body status.

Just because one is down, doesnt mean you should automatically count him out....taking the buck is fine, but using the injury as the reason, seems silly to me. Sure if one is direly sick with blue tung or something and it has no chance of making it, I'd end the suffering too....but these are pretty resiliant animals, a broken leg or flesh wound doesn't mean they are crippled and suffering for life...they can survive just the same as other deer.

GMMAT

PLENTY of stories of gutshot deer dying 10 or more days later from infection.

1 of two things is evident. Either you can have an exit hole nearly a foot down a deer's side and he can live ...OR....these diagrams everyone wants to instantly refer to are completely useless.

Or...I guess I should have said...."If you believe one....you can't believe the other".

buckeye

Looks to me like he will be fine barring a serious infection. Watching the video he shows little if anysign of pain.