let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Hey all,

Let's talk about your broadheads and hitting hard bones along with the rest of the hunting experience that resulted...

I'm talking shoulder and spine shots, the shots that we all wish we had back once they leave your hand...

I personally have never hit a bone :D, ribs aside,(I’ve only been hunting for 3 years and haven’t had as many opportunities to ‘hit bones’ as I’d like:() but this past hunting season using the Rage 2blade I found myself aiming slightly towards the rear of the animal subconsciously. I’ve had great success with the rage 2blade but I just don’t trust expandables if bone issues occur, and I cannot shoot what I do not have absolute faith in. Also,I’ve been hunting with friends using expandables that claim a spine shot and we didn’t find so much as a drop of blood, could very well just be the shooters fault.
I know switching to fixed blades doesn’t buy you immunity, but it’ll probably be closer to it than expandables.
So, let’s hear your stories of hitting hard bones with your broadheads, fixed blades or not, and what ended up happening… pictures as evidence are preferable. [:-]

--tom

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I personally have never hit a bone :D, ribs aside,(I’ve only been hunting for 3 years and haven’t had as many opportunities to ‘hit bones’ as I’d like:(

You will!!:DTrust me my friend, if you stick around in this game long enough, it is goona happen!! I have hardcore bowhunting about 25 years now and it has happened to me a few times with different results.
I will tell you a few of the stories.
#1. Years ago, the first year that I shot expandables, I shot Wasp Jak Hammers. Had a decent buck come in on a friday mid morning. Slightly quartered away from me. I put my pin right behind the shoulder. Unfortunately my big old XX78 Easton alum. didn't follow the pin. I hit him a little forward. I heard the crack, and watched him run about 300 yards across an open field, and into a standing cornfield with the arrow dangling off his side, flopping back and forth. I finally found my arrow, and spent about three hours chasing him around that cornfield. Seriously. He literally just kept running circles around me in the cornfield. Sometimes we were looking at each other eye to eye 15 yards from each other. Luckily, the very next friday, from the very same stand about the same time, I drilled a buck perfectly and watched him fall within sight. When I walked up on him, he looked real familiar. I looked at his shoulder, there was a big old scab on him. It was the same buck. When I butchered him, the shoulder bone had a great big groove dug out of it about 3-4" long. I ended up doing a half mount of him and my taxidermist somehow left the scab on him. We call him the second chance buck!

#2. About 5 years ago, ( actually whenever the first year that the Rocky Mtn Snyper 2 blades were out , my first year of using them), I called a buck in with my voice from a long way across a field. He was walking paraleel from my stand about 28 yards away. I stopped him, but just as I was releasing my arrow ( a Gold Tip 5575), it was like he started to turn to walk towards me. Unfortunately I hit him dead square in the middle of the right shoulder. Man he went down like a ton of bricks. Hit the ground and let out a big long growl ( of course we all know that deer growl now!!:D) and then tried to get up but ended up dying right there. My arrow busted through both shoulders! When I butchered him both shoulders were broken.

#3. A few seasons later, on a sat. morning, I watched a beautiful buck coming through the woods parallel to my stand. He hit an open lane and stopped. I knew it was a 35-36 yd. shot, someting I shoot allthe time and have shot deer at seceral times. Well, this morning is one of those times when you realize how much an inch can mean in bowhunting! I let that Snyper tipped Gold tip fly, heard a CRACK!! and wached him take off, with the shaft flopping. I was sick. We started finding some blood, and my buddies were trying to get me pumped, but I knew in my heart what the outcome would be. I was right. About 4 hours later, we jumped him. As he was trying to mount a doe!! But we all saluted him as he ran away though! A fresh shoulder wound, and he was still trying to get him a little.:D
One of my hunting buddies actually lives right beside the woods I shot him in. Later that week, on the way in to my stand, I jumped him out of his bed, and he was running across the road. I know this sounds like a story, but buddies don't lie- My friend was just coming up to his driveway and saw the buck coming across the field. Ke also know it was the same one. He glassed it, and it ended up crossing about 20 yards in front of him. He was waiting for me at my truck when I came out all excited. He said buddy, I ain't kidding you, if you would hit him just an inch or 2 back, he would be in your freezer right now and his head at the taxi. He said that he had a scab about the size of a fist right on the back point of his shoulder blade. Just my luck!!

Sorry to be so long winded. I guess I got a little excited reliving the hunts. I think that there are several factors when talking about bone hits. That is why I told the stories. You have to take into consideration angles, shot distance, what broadhead, bow set ups etc. Just like for me. One year I hit one dead center shoulder, and I bust both shoulders. A few years later, I hit one on the back tip of the shoulder, bit about 10 yds. farther away, and he lived to see another day!

I guess the moral of the story is: Be sure the only bone you hit is rib bone!!!

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

When i've hit bone other than rib it has been on the far shoulder so i've gotten both lungs and found the animal but no pass thru or as good of blood trail as i woul d like .Last time it cut the heck out of the far shoulder as it ran and broke the arrow tip off . I was a little nervous gutting her that i would get cut until i was able to locate the head and remove it

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I stuck a Slick Trick Magnum 125 BH through the spine and into the lungs of a deer I killed this year that I dubbed "The Mercy Killing." He was a 1.5yr old Button Buck, with something wrong with one of his shoulders. I watched him try to get up several times to no avail. He was missing an entire muscle group from his shoulder, meat was ok, and the BH faired quite well. I actually re-edged it, and was able to heart punch a doe about a month later, and that BH is still on my #1 arrow after having been through the spine of that small buck, the heart of the doe, and the lungs of 2 coyotes, and God only knows how many times into foam. I also spined on once with a Spitfire, breaking the back of the 220# animal and rendering him paralyzed and waiting for a finisher shot. That BH also faired relatively well, one blade was bent, the other still ok.

Now in order to try to AVOID bone, I usually shoot for the heart nowadays, but the shot on the small buck was a difficult angle, but also a shot I was pretty confident I could put in it's place. The doe was a chipshot 15-16yd'er, no sweat except for the 15 or so other sets of eyes that were around as I had to draw and settle the pin.

I've also punched a NAP Shockwave through a shoulderblade in the past on a relative quarter-to shot I maybe should have held off on, but had a very good result with. The BH literally destroyed the shoulder blade, and broke the off side femur on exit, that young doe died 18 yds from the spot I shot her. Part of the reason I've faired relatively well is the 29" DL and 70-72# I pull, but I think the BH's have also been quite helpful as well. The ST is by far the best flying, and most durable BH that relatively decent money can buy as far as I'm concerned, and I'll actually take the flight of a ST over my old Jak-Hammers and Spit-fires because they really do fly as well as my FP's.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I shot a 5pt in 2001 in the shoulder blade.He piled up in 40yds and when I cleaned it,I had to use a plier to remove the BH from the far shoulder.This was from a 53# longbow shooting a 530gr cedar arrow tipped with a 125gr Zwickey Eskimo 2 blade

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I shot a mature buck last year and took a chuck out of the paddle bone going in and right throughthe center of iton exit at 25 yards and still stuck the arrow in the ground. I shoot a 70 lb compound, 419 gr. EastonAxis arrow at 280 FPS and a Montec 100 gr. broad head. I have only seen it twice that a arrow broke a leg bone an few years ago I seen a guy do it on a doe and the front broken leg bone was sticking out to hole the carbon arrow came out off broken in two. Once a long time ago I was hunting with a guy out of state and he shot a buck with a old Jennings four wheeler compound at 75 lbs and the arrow broke the hind leg bone on the exit. It's some time crazy what a arrow will do and the next time it won't do. I do know when I went from aluminums to carbon arrow I seen some crazy things done that I never taught was possible with a arrow.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Last November during opening weekend of the gun hunt I shot a seven pointer through the shoulder blade and it went through a rib on the other side. I was using a 125 grain Muzzy 3 blade, Allegiance at 57# and 28" draw. I still have the shoulder blade.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I've hit several spines. They all went down right there.
I've hit a few opposite shoulders...they broke.
I've sent a few completely thru the flat part of the shoulder. That typically doesn't offer much in resistance.
I hit one on the "elbow". Only cracked the bone, but separated the joint and BARELY got enough penetration to kill the deer.

All my bone hits were either with the old rocky mtn razors or NAP thunderheads. The RM's would be toast, I only bent one ferrule on a spine shot with the TH's.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

This subject is one reason I shoot Slick Tricks. If I do accidently hit major bone I know they can not only survive but still get the job done after the fact.

Slick Tricks are the toughest Broadhead I have shot and in 40 years of Bowhunting there have been many. I've been shooting tricks since 03.

Dan

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I've hit bone quite a few times. After inspecting the broadheads after recovery, I firmly believe that using a head with a trocar type point is far superior to a COC type head when a bone hit occurs. I've never had any type of damage to trocar type head other than nicked blades. I have had COC heads severly bend on impact.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I recently shot a hog in the front shoulder, i accidentally hit to low (range estimating error along with steep angle) and hit the lower part of the shoulder, going all the way through, then hitting the first lung, then snapping the far side leg in half. I was amazed at this penetration and couldnt believe the damage that was done. The hell razor performed great and is now my broadhead of choice

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

2 days before Christmas last year, I took a late season doe in whichthebroadhead stopped in (but destroyed)the off shoulder from a quartering-away shot. Like MeanV2 said, Slick Tricks are someheavy duty little fixed blades. I shoot the ST Magnums, and I don't think I'll be changing broadheads anytime soon.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

There are several good broadheads out there that will hold together and bust bone. The ones I would stay away from would be mechanicals. The strongest would probably be the cut on contact heads, then fixed/replaceable heads like the Muzzy/Slick Trick. I've stuck a some Muzzy 125 3blade right down through the spine from almost straight above and a couple that went either through a leg bone or through the opposite shoulder..most I every had to do was replace a single blade once in awhile.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I hit the near side shouldar of the buck in my profile pic. Just an overall bad shot on me. But, it blew through this shoulder and almost all of the arrow was stickong out of him on the other side when he ran off. He piled up 50 yards later. This was with a Rocky Mountain Snyper XP3 head. I'm moving away from the mechs this year, back to either a Muzzy or Slick Trick.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Over the years I have had many bone hits. Some with fixed blades, some with expandables. Some of them turned out okay and some not so well.

Last year I had two bone hits. The first was with a doe. 13 yard quartering away shot, the arrow exited thru the off side arm pit and then re-entered into the off side leg, breaking it in half before exiting. The second was a buck, 27 yard broadside shot. The arrow entered thru and exited the shoulder blade. Went thru it like warm butter. Both of these shots were with a Rage 2 blade. I had questions also about the Rage's penetration and thought these two shots cured me of any worries. However, I later shot another buck and only got about 12-14" of penetration. It was a 32 yard broadside shot, no bones encountered other than some ribs, arrow was placed right on the money. I still don't understand what happened there, but it was enough that I am going back to a fixed blade. I might have to give the Tricks a try, I have NEVER heard a bad review about those heads.

Here is a picture of the shoulder blade shot.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

It maybe the way that deer is laying but it looks like it missed the shoulder blade to me.
The area right there is actually one of the softest areas on a deer.

Dan

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

The leg is pushed foward in the picture, but it got both blades. I was really amazed, as I knew I hit a few inches forward of where I wanted to be.

I wish I had pictures of the other buck's entryhole, as I still do not understand what stopped that arrow.

Either way, I believe the Rage is a good BH, but I am still going to change things up this year.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

The shoulder blade is pretty high on a deer as noted in the picture.

If I ever shoot through a Shoulder blade I'll post a pic of the actual blade not the hole in the deer. A lot of guys I've witnessed say they shot through both shoulders in actuality did Not hit either one. (not saying that's the case)

The blade might be able to be shot through on the thin part with a solid setup and ample KE, but the lower part of the blade you are not shooting through with thearchery tackle that 90+% archers are shooting

Believe me! I used to shoot 90# and 80# setups;)

Dan

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Last November i shot a 6.5 year old 5x6 Smack in the hardest part of the shoulder [:@]! I was actually very worried about the hit, waited about 6 hours to go track the deer. When we found him he had went 75 yards and piled up. I shot him with a 100 gr Shuttle T-Lock, the broadhead was virtually un harmed! i Was amazed!!When we skinned the deer you could see where the head went through the shoulder, It was amazing that it could even get through that let alone out the other side of the deer! I will be shooting these broadheads a long time. They fly great and the strength is unreal. I hope they are the same now that Trophy Taker bought Tight Point, They say they will be. I guess we will see;)

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I hit a big buck while I was on the ground right in the shoulder, he was broadisde at 20 yards when I drew, he turned towards me slightly and I thought I could make the shot. Im very confident in my shot but it was just one of those things. I found my arrow and it about 6 inches broke off so Im sure it was hard bone that I hit. I rarely hit an animal and dont recover it. I'll never take that shot again, although looking back I should have shot behind the shoulder a bit more. We had a real good blood trail for the first 20 yards then just dried up, I knew it wasnt going to end good unfortunately after that. Thanks goodness I saw him a week later, limping badly but he was alive. We also saw him a few more times and his limp was almost gone in January. I got this video of him a week after the encounter from 300 yards in early November, no tripod so its a little shaky. BTW, he walked right under my stand I was heading to when I shot this video. It looks like you can see dried blood down his front leg, but I may be wrong??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RyYhUekrXQ&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjzFPNmdwiI&feature=related

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Allot of COC BH's aren't as strong as people think, but not all of them are weak.;) I myself will take a good strong COC BH any day over a chisel point BH.

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

Last year I was tracking the buck I shot and came upon a feeding doe. I had to make a quick shot b/c i snuck up on her and i placed my arrow about 3" too far right or were I was aiming and hit her in the shoulder. The opposite shoulder stopped the arrow (Rage3blade, axis 340, bowtech 101st 61#'s 290fps) and i watched her go down. I had 0 blood what so ever b/c the arrow snapped off in the shoulder, but she was down within about 8 seconds and done:D

My experience was a positive one, but it was a close call b/c of the blood situation. If she wouldnt have went down quick i would have been screwed... The only thing that it did to the bh was bend a blade and thats it. It definately did its job and im not scared to shoot the rage 3 blades again. I WILL be packing slick tricks this year though and i plan on using both the rage and the ST MAG. The ST's are amazing flying fixed blades.

Derek

RE: let's talk about BHs and hitting bone...
 

I agree 100% with meanv.The deer in that picture was not shot anywhere near the shoulder blade.it was in fact,shot through the softest part of the shoulder.I hear so many people claim that they blew through both shoulder blades of a deer,which is almost an impossible feat with archery equiptment.Unless the angle is severe,your chances of hitting the vitals aftergoing through the shoulder blade or shoulder bone is slim at best.

By the way,congrats on the shot that was made.It was a textbook perfect shot but it didn't go through the shoulder blade itself.