DaveH

From what I'm reading, it appears that your angle was a bit steep and probably hit the shoulder blade on the edge and traveled a short distance there before the bone stopped it - that would explain the lack of penetration and the piece of cartilage you found. It would also tell me that the deer is still alive. I won't take a shot that is too close to my tree for that reason. You can easily miss one of the lungs and the angles aren't conducive to a great shot. Hitting the shoulder blade broadside and at less of an angle usually will give you a pass thru unless you catch the ridge running thru the middle of it. I would still make an extensive search, but I think the deer is hurt, but alive.

blakefrautschi

sounds like hes dead, but lesson learned, back out if you aren't sure of a good shot.... and maybe i missed it, but how long did you wait till you started tracking?

halfbakedi420

frothy blood sounds like a lung, 12 inches penetration is more than enough....get ur azz bak out there and find it...or just go wound a few more fugg it.

Bigeasy08

To be honest, i didn't even question the shot at first but I still waited 3.5 hours before I came back to look for him. I found the arrow, searched about 50 yards more and decided to come back the next day. He could be dead...could be alive, but after 200 yards of all out sprinting, its hard for me to believe that he was mortally wounded.

I measured the height to the base of the stand. It was 27 feet to the base. It was almost an exact 45 degree angle shot after the math. I don't say its the best angle, but I don't believe it is a poor angle by any means.

FYI, this is the first deer I've "wounded" in my life. I shot 8 deer in the last 2 years, many from 25+ feet without a problem, so the hard part to me is determining exactly what went wrong. I firmly believe that if the arrow was 6" further back, he would have been dirt napping within 60 yards, but at the time I truly felt where I settled my pin was the right shot placement. Many of you think it was a ridiculously steep angle, but it wasn't. I bet a lot of you would not have hesitated to take that shot. It sucks, but nothing beats experiences in the field...target practice all year long helps, but isn't worth as much as a few arrows placed into a live animal

Bible_Man

If you only got one lung, which I would tend to think that you did, that deer could go quite a ways on the sprint before having to stop. I would think, judging from what you and not everyone else has said, that you have a dead deer. If you got a foot of penetration, you got some goodies in there. You will not find much blood with a high entry, but there is plenty in the cavity of the deer.

That deer could have easily traveled 4-500 yards on a single lung hit. He will, however die with a single lung hit in almost all circumstances if you had a sharp broadhead that cut as it should on its way in. Best of luck...I bet you find him. Just look a little farther than you would expect to have to go...they are amazing critters that desire to live as long as possible.

*twodogs*

More than enough penetration to get one lung. He's going to run a good distance on one lung so don't give up, you should find him full of blood. Good luck.