Question out of curiosity
 

How many of you guys have ever recovered a deer after shooting it in the shoulder and only getting 3 inches of penetration?jesus im getting ripped apart here after a questionable hit i backed out I knew it wasnt a lung shot or heat shot. So i backed out and went back the following morning this question was written because I never recovered the deer so I was wondering how many of you have recovreed deer wit that much penetration

None with just 3" - but I have recovered two shoulder-hit deer while volunteer sight-tracking on the local Navy Base over the past 21 years. There was no penetration into the boiler room on either deer - and both deer were killed with follow-up shots while they were bedded. I think deer are quite capable of surviving a shoulder hit that fails to penetrate into the vitals.

-fsh

Had a similar experience last year with a shoulder hit. Looked all night and most of the next morning until we saw the deer running across a road. He had a limp, but survived!

Mack34

Easy guys. I think we've got a guy looking for an excuse to stop tracking.

I don't know the exact penetration, but it was VERY little one time when I hit a doe in the shoulder, they arrow fell out fairly quickly, but I still recovered her. SHe had lost decent amount of blood we followed her up & put another one in her.

It's impossible to tell it was 3" unless the deer is recovered.
An arrow can hit the offside shoulder or leg and back most/all the way out
so fast it appears you only got a few inches.

I agree.

If I am correct this is the guy that posted that he stopped tracking his deer after "getting 3 inches of penetration" :confused0024::busted:

If ur going to hunt then you better track. I once spent three days tracking a shoulder shot doe. Came up on her several times but couldnt get another shot in. I finally had to quit when the sign stopped and I did a body search for 5 hrs. A deer hit in the shoulder will survive, but just because you think that you got 3 inches doesn't mean that you did. You owe it to the animal to make every attempt to track and recover.

I searched for 6 hours trust me I was very proud to have shot this deer I backed out overnight and went back and couldnt find anything. I am a firm believe to search as much as possible and try the hardest to track down a deer. The deer did not ask to be shot and a responsible hunter always does his ultimate best to locate his deer

No - he searched 6 hours the next day after backing out on a questionable hit - did the right thing.

Several jumped him on the other thread WITHOUT reading the whole post.

jesus im getting ripped apart here after a questionable hit i backed out I knew it wasnt a lung shot or heat shot. So i backed out and went back the following morning this question was written because I never recovered the deer so I was wondering how many of you have recovreed deer wit that much penetration

I too like many others have never seen a deer recovered with a hit like that; but I also agree it is tough to judge how much penetration you did get.

Sounds to me like he did the right thing and backed out after realizing it wasn't a solid hit, and after 6 hours of tracking and not finding much blood, I would concentrate on finding another deer to fill my tag.

scribler , i didnt read your other post, i was just curious what kind of bow(poundage& DL mainly), broadheads, and total weight of your arrow is if you know? I know there are other factors in penatration but Im always curious as to what people are shooting when they get poor penatration.

checked the trail camera today and I shot that deer on the 4th and have pictures of him again just this morning at 230 am with the 5 does i also saw. Also had a good 8 point on there hoping to get a crack at him before the season ends

Deer and Bear hog hows your season been going any luck? I shoot a fred bear generation 2 with axis nano 400s with shuttle xt fixed broadheads at 60lbs draw weight. Im upping my draw weight next year I no im strong enough for it

I wacked a nice doe w/ my rifle in middletown last week. i got 4 in the freezer so I transfered my 3P tag to a needy soul. Ive been bowhunting w/ my reg. season tag down in rockland for the past few days , saw a great 8 point yesterday but only came within 50yds.

your easton 400s are 9gpi which is plenty heavy and assuming your using a 100gr head im guesstimating your shooting a 375gr arrow. should be plenty @ 60lbs. mabye we can get together and shoot at some point and I can check your bow and make sure its tuned if you want. good luck the rest of the season ,bro.

sounds good I know a few pepole who hunt rockland county, I dont no if you no ernie or pauly. Pauly shot a monster 8 point hes so heavy you cant even fit your hands around his beams

Excuse me but, maybe you should go back and read the entire post yourself! If you had read it as you claim others have not, then maybe you would see why he was originally being "jumped on"! This is what he originally posted, the part in caps is what he went back and added after editing his post the day after because people were telling him, including myself to get back out and look for that deer which is exactly what should have happened with the info from the original post!!! Maybe you should check your facts before accusing others of something you don't know about. Also to the OP, what do you expect with what you had originally posted?! You said you wounded a deer and stopped tracking after only 40 yards,you damn right people are going to jump on you for that! One more thing, it appears you just assume you only got 3" of penetration just because it was a shoulder shot? How do you know how much penetration you got? I myself have made and seen many shoulder shots with plenty of penetration to kill including one I made a few years back on a doe that ended up going about 100 yards. Just curious as to where the penetration numbers are coming from since this appears to be your basis for giving up the search. This was his original post followed by what he added the next day...


Hunted a piece of property tonight that the lady doesnt like rifle hunting. So i brought my bow up started out nice it was snowing saw 5 does rite away then all of a sudden a 5 point appeard. He walked within range I took the shot and got him in the shoulder so i got 3 inches of penetration I heard the pop wen the arrow hit and my heart just sunk. If youv read my past posts this season is adding up to be the most frustrating season of my life. I followed his blood in the snow for 40 yrds and retreated cause it got dark.

This is what he added the following day...
I WENT BACK THIS MORNING AND SEARCHED FOR 6 HOURS AND FOUND NOTHING

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Last edited by scribbler444; Yesterday at 01:22 PM.

nah, i know alot of guys, no ernie or paulie though:)

how do I know it was a shoulder shot? I watched the arrow saw where it hit heard it hit straight bone the arrow came out with less then to 3 inches of blood on with some meat and hair on it. That is how I know where the shot was and how much penetration I got

DFS - What you posted showed he did the right thing!!
Realized it was a questionable hit, backed out to give it time and went backed and spent 6 hours looking.
Pretty much what the Bowhunters ed course teaches and most experianced hunters subscribe to. Pushing a poorly hit deer is the best way to insure it will not be recovered.

I never stated that what he ended up doing wasn't the right thing! He did exactly what he should have and what I would have done as well. Part of the reason the OP posted this thread was in response to the replies he was receiving on his other thread before he made his edit stating he had gone back to look for the deer. My post on his other thread was made before he made this edit on a seperate day. He was asking in that thread whether he should go out hunting the following day or not and all the "ripping" he was receiving was due to what appeared to be his 40 yard tracking job and then calling it quits for good on the deer. This is what had everyone including myself telling him to get back out and search for the deer which would have been the right thing considering the info he had provided. Only later did he make the edit stating he had continued the search which is a good thing and I have no problem with the way he went about it now that he has provided the full information. I agree now that he has stated the full info that he did what was right but, that info would come in handy for situations like this beforehand if he isn't wanting to get "ripped" next time! It's to be expected for what he provided with his original post. Also the other reason for my post in this thread was in regards to you calling out those of us who were doing the ripping. Claiming we did not read the entire post or have our info straight when in fact you yourself did not have the facts or information of the post to make such statements while we did have the info the OP had provided us at the time of making our post. With the info that the OP porvided us at the time of my post, I stand by it. It applies in all cases when hunting. Now that the OP has made the correction to his post and provided the additional info we see that he did actually do the right thing in the end. Maybe if the OP would keep his facts straight and realize what the reason for his "ripping" was then he may not get as upset about it and come here complaining about it when it was for good reason at the time. Also, maybe if you would check your facts before wrongly accussing others then you wouldn't be reading responses such as this!!!

I think everyone in here needs a hug. I did not state my information properly but if you have read my prior posts as snipe has you would learn that I previously shot a deer in the shoulder this year and did not recover him. I searched for 6 hours the following day in a similar situation as i backed out the night before. I should have been more clear with words but sentences like that should not have to be used if your not going to be a responsible hunter you shouldnt be on this forum in the first place. You shouldnt be hunting whatsoever. I respect animals more then some of my friends lol and would never leave without giving my best shot at finding a wounded animal. The animal did not choose to get shot we pull the trigger and we pull back the bows. If we cant manage tracking our game then its time to take up golf instead

lol! I completely agree with everything you said and I'm glad to here that you did put in the effort to look for the deer. Keep up the hard work and things will turn around for you buddy, good luck!

People need to chill out about everything on all of these posts. By no means am i defending anyside here but what i want to say is we are all bow hunters and should appreciate the opportunities we have to bow hunt. Not every guy is perfect nor are they as experienced as other people in this forum. Im sure we have all had our fair share of questionable hits but do not rip a guy apart if you dont know the whole story. We shouldn't be ripping apart other hunters to begin with. We should all be helping one another instead of getting pissed off at one another! Help other hunters out. We as bow hunters are all in this together and we should take all of this negative attitude and use it to defend our rights as hunters and work to make the future better for other hunters. Don't turn a first year or inexperienced hunter by ripping on them for whatever they did. Help a fellow bowhunter out.....

Try reading both of his post before you make assumptions. Things have been cleared up and everyone had a big hug! Happy ending!

Just saying nothing negative should have been said to begin with...thats all i was saying

i think he actually said he has searched for 13 hours after it laid over night....thats is way more time than i ever would look for anybodies deer...i find it a lil hard to believe..13 hours!!!!!

im glad mine havnt gone that far yet....it could and probably will now that i say this!!!

haha,yeh no joke! That's about the way it goes aint it?!


P.S. I know the proper word is isn't. I just like aint lol!

Not If you find the arrow.

An arrow will come to a complete stop on a deer shoulder or richoche out away from vitals. You did the right thing. I'd go over the land next time you get a chance just to see if you can find the arrow. But in my experience and opinion if you feel you did a reasonable search and exhausted all evidence of trail then you did all you were bound to do. You backed out and let the deer have room to die and went back the next morning. You did a thorough tracking job. You lost a deer. That sums it up and nothing about that line of statements are wrong. Hell I hit a buck in the shoulder with a 150 grn hornady 30-06 load Sunday and it still made it 60 yards before it dropped. You hit yours with a broad head. lol It probably pulled it out with its teeth and ate it for breakfast while sitting on the top of the hill watching you crawl through the woods on your hands and knees. Sorry just kidding. But seriously I've been there too. It's not a good feeling but it happens. In my opinion any bowhunter that says they havent ever lost a deer is either lying or they haven't been bowhunting for very long. I wish you nothing but the best and I hope you find your arrow.

where exactly did it say i looked 13 hours? I said I looked for 6 hours the following day, I shoulder shot a deer previously in the year and looked 7.

I don't think he was bashing you man. Actually sounds like he was backing you up but, at the same time saying damn, 13 hours, are you sure?! Take it easy man, Halfbaked seems to be a pretty good fellow around here.

I have to agree with this 100%. The hardest deer for me to find was one that tried to jump my arrow after it nicked a small twig. It nicked the deer on the underside of it. After getting my arrow and checking the area of the deers movement I back away from it.
It was a wet rainy day and that only added to the missery of trying to locate it. I left it for an hour and a half as it was early in the morning that the shot was made. I also notices the white hair on the ground as well as a fatty substance on my arrow. Both which indicated a low shot or perhaps a gut shot. So I went home and let it lay for a while and got out my rain gear. It was a pain to track as it went up a ridge rather than heading towards a small stream as I would suspect. I was taught early in hunting that a wounded deer will walk with it's toes spread for balance and that played a big part in the recovery of it. I circled around for about 4 hours before I came acrossed it. While making my circles I noticed where a deer walked with it's toes spread up onto a ridge and sure enough when I got there it had gotten up and went down towards a cedar swamp. I knew right then with all the time that had elasped that I needed to go in behind it. It had laid down shortly after getting in the swamp. Upon seeing me it got back up only to recieve another shot this time connecting directly to both lungs and that was pretty much the end of it.
Upon the original shot it was hit only in the flank just under the belly area. The skin was still holding together and the penetration was roughly one inch going straight threw. So is it possible to recover with your shot? Based on my own experience I would say yes.. If not pressured in any way and given time to lay and bleed out I see no reason as to why not..

I was gonna say the same thing schultzy!

the arrow isnt always an indication of a hit! i shoot a 9pt this yr hit him perfect. exited rite in his armpit. the arrow or broadhead had hardly any blood just a few hairs on the fletches. he ran 120yd and expired. i shot an old big bodied buck last yr while stalking. hit him in the shoulder and saw the arrow sticking out and it broke off when he took off. i compared it to my other arrows and it looked like i had 4inches of penetration but its hard to tell really. an arrow can and will back out as a deer turns to run. i searched off and on the whole wk. not much blood at all. shoulder hits happen. ive found myself aiming a tab bit further back and im pulling a lil over 70lbs.