has this happened to you? arrow deflecting off deer...
11-10-2011, 07:51 AM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Southern TN
Posts: 1,018
That arrow could not have glanced off if you hit where you wanted to, even at that steep angle. It just ain't gonna happen. You said yourself that you were excited...must have missed your spot, even if just by a little. Just skimmed it, and maybe got just a bit of a muscle in the leg or something...hits like that can be watery for sure. Good luck on your continued adventures!
11-11-2011, 09:10 AM
#13
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 26,274
That is one of the reasons I will not let people use mechanicals on my land. Your arrow deflected and all you did was cut into the skin (which is why you saw the clear fluid on your arrow). Ive seen it twice with quartering away shots and mechanicals. Shots that would have been dead deer with a fixed head.
11-11-2011, 09:16 AM
#14
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 320
I know what you're trying to say, and it's a myth. The difference in range/gravity/etc from an elevated stand vs. a ground blind is minimal. Most people hit high when shooting from an elevated stand simply because they break their form...they drop their arm and that throws off your point of aim. Bend at the waist and you'll hit exactly where you're aiming, despite your elevation (assuming you're not shooting some extreme angle due to range or extreme height...like 40 feet up).As to the original poster...being able to shoot well is one thing, knowing where to aim is another. As others have pointed out, aim for where you want the arrow to exit (behind the opposite leg is a good place) and extend that path through the vitals. That will tell you whether or not you can take a shot that both hits the vitals and passes through the deer.
11-11-2011, 09:20 AM
#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 320
That is one of the reasons I will not let people use mechanicals on my land. Your arrow deflected and all you did was cut into the skin (which is why you saw the clear fluid on your arrow). Ive seen it twice with quartering away shots and mechanicals. Shots that would have been dead deer with a fixed head.
11-11-2011, 12:10 PM
#16
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 411
I can't see a BH glancing off a deer unless it is a very steep angle and you catch the shoulder or the arrow is tipped with a stone. I have heard this before and it always turns out that what the shooter saw as far as POI is not truly what happened.
11-12-2011, 04:49 PM
#17
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,747
On a very steep angle if the BH catches the shoulder blade it may follow it and never penetrate the body cavity. Early in my archery hunting I did exactly that on a deer that was too close and walking away. Being young and foolish, I thought I could put an arrow between the shoulders, breaking the spine and not have a tracking job. I was a bit left and the BH (a 3 blade Snuffer) hit the top of the left shoulder blade and slid right down the outside of it.
11-12-2011, 05:35 PM
#18
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Bradley IL
Posts: 93
? There is less gravity at your stand? I know what you're trying to say, and it's a myth. The difference in range/gravity/etc from an elevated stand vs. a ground blind is minimal. Most people hit high when shooting from an elevated stand simply because they break their form...they drop their arm and that throws off your point of aim. Bend at the waist and you'll hit exactly where you're aiming, despite your elevation (assuming you're not shooting some extreme angle due to range or extreme height...like 40 feet up).
As to the original poster...being able to shoot well is one thing, knowing where to aim is another. As others have pointed out, aim for where you want the arrow to exit (behind the opposite leg is a good place) and extend that path through the vitals. That will tell you whether or not you can take a shot that both hits the vitals and passes through the deer.
I know what you're trying to say, and it's a myth. The difference in range/gravity/etc from an elevated stand vs. a ground blind is minimal. Most people hit high when shooting from an elevated stand simply because they break their form...they drop their arm and that throws off your point of aim. Bend at the waist and you'll hit exactly where you're aiming, despite your elevation (assuming you're not shooting some extreme angle due to range or extreme height...like 40 feet up).As to the original poster...being able to shoot well is one thing, knowing where to aim is another. As others have pointed out, aim for where you want the arrow to exit (behind the opposite leg is a good place) and extend that path through the vitals. That will tell you whether or not you can take a shot that both hits the vitals and passes through the deer.
11-14-2011, 09:43 AM
#20
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 26,274
When I first started, I took a similar shot to the OP, and it glanced off the shoulder blade. With a fixed BH/! If the shot is well placed to avoid the shoulder blade, major bones, etc, it will penetrate, fixed head or mechanical. On a reasonably fast bow, a Rage head will go through a deer like a knife through hot butter. It's all about shot placement. I'd pass on a high-angle shot now, given my experience (and that of others)...with any BH.
Get the right kind of head. Cut on contact fixed head. Ive tested many mechanicals for different shops, they work, but have flaws. Fixed heads have issues, but nothing compared to mechanicals. Out of all the heads, a fixed, cut on contact will out do all other heads.