has this happened to you? arrow deflecting off deer...
 

Sunday evening was my first time hunting public land by myself. i walked 1/2 mile into the woods, found a tree with some good sign and climbed about 10 feet up. wind in my face, going east. the deer runs im watching are all going north to south. i got settled in around 1 pm, didnt expect to see anything close as i hadnt scouted this land ever. at around 415 a decent 6 pointer is heading straight for me from the south heading north. he was taking his time, and my heart is pumping hard! i slowly stood up, got ready and he walked directly under my stand and i drew, he made it about 5 yards from my tree and i took a quartering away shot. he bucks and runs and i watched where i thought he stopped, around 40 yards to my east. i waited 30 minutes and climbed down, checked the POI and found a hole bunch of hair, but no blood. found some fluid that looked like saliva. found my arrow stuck in the ground, no blood on it.

i havent shot at a deer with my bow yet, but i shoot 3d tourneys all year long. im a good shot, i know i hit where i wanted. it seems like my arrow hit a rib or possibly the back of the shoulder blade and deflected off instead of penetrating. im shooting rage 2 broadheads, and the blades were mangled.

So my question to you all is this. Where should i have aimed? i aimed for the lungs, but at my angle i think i should have aimed higher, closer to the spine. i could have let him walk farther but i was in some thick stuff, didnt want to lose my shot, and i was very excited.

Same thing happened to a buddy just recently on a big deer, he shot it and it deflected right off, like u said it must have somehow hit a rib or shoulderblade (he actually saw it deflect off). Im no expert but ive noticed on hunting shows a lot of shots from treestands hit higher up and farther back than i would normally think was a good shot, maybe thats to avoid ribs and shoulderblaces too

you said the blades were mangled? sounds like a shoulder blade stopped the arrow and deflected it. gotta be careful on severe angled away shots

ive heard of this happening also. today i shot at a 6 point almost completely broadside. i didnt compensate for the loss of gravity due to shooting elevated, simply because there was no difference when i practiced at my house. well i hit very very very high. higher than the spine if its possible. i took a little chunk of hair off the top of his back, right from the shot i saw my arrow and were it went. I went to retrieve it later to just find hair. no blood at all on my arrow or broad head. i tried seeing if there was any blood by were he was going but none. i'm just glad i didn't hurt him. tomorrow while im hunting i might put in some time just to make it 100% sure i didn't wound him bad and only nicked his skin and a little hair.

ya the blades were bent, oring ripped. i kind of expect this to happen because the blades on the rages are so thin. im glad im not the only one this has happened to. now if i could just find the spot i was hunting sunday id be in business. i walked today and couldnt find it. sat on another trail i found but saw nothing.

the worst part about my hunt last sunday was after i came to the conclusion that i didnt kill the deer, i couldnt find my way out of the woods as it was now dark and i was pretty deep in the woods. i knew i had to walk north but in the dark it was hard to stay on track. it took me 15 minutes to find my spot in the daylight... took over an hour to find my way out! i bought a gps today and took it out to the field. i wont be leaving home without this little gizmo thats for sure

Critter, That happened to me years ago when my BH sliced the hide completely off the shoulder blade. Never really hurt the buck as I saw him out in the field a few nights early with his white scar clearly visible. But lesson learned and I will relate it to you. Don't shoot at a deer that close from an elevated position. Let it get out to at least 15 yds. which will 'flatten' out your angle allowing you to get both lungs. Too close and you stand a good chance of hitting only one lung. And a deer can travel a long way on one lung.
I had another experience which was nothing more than a fluke. I was hunting on the ground and had a 6 point come up behind me. Not sure what I was, he tried circling downwind to try and catch my scent. As he went behind some thick brush it gave me chance to draw. And when he came out the opposite side broadside I settled the 20 yd pin behind his shoulder and released. The 4 blade Muzzy I was using at the time flew true and hit exactly where I had the pin. He took off and ran over the rise. I waited 45 mins and started to track him. As I crested the rise I saw him jump up and take off. I backed out and found him the next morning. What had happend was my BH hit a rib on the way in and made a 90* turn, caught one lung on the near side, passed through the liver and came out on the opposite side just forward of the hind leg.

thanks for the tip bronko. i guess its not the ending i would have hoped but ive definitely learned from my mistake. just gotta relax and not get trigger happy

What did your arrow look like? You said no blood...but did it have the "saliva" type stuff on it?

Blades were bent due to whatever it hit in the ground (IMO). If you hit the shoulder knuckle, you'd know it. It would sound like a .22 rifle. I'm having trouble picturing this happening on a 5yd shot....and the arrow "deflecting", though.

My guess is you didn't hit where you wanted to (obviously) and you clipped him. Would've been the same end result with any BH.

Also deer are not 3D targets... and you need to aim for the actual vitals.. not where they are on the side of a 3D target... IE if you hit the 10 ring on a quartering away shot... you're just about guaranteed to hit the shoulder blade!!!

I've never had an arrow "glance" off a deer... but I have had limbs & twigs send my arrow veering off course... many of which can be invisible until you get right up on them!!!

it was almost a straight down shot, and i aimed for the lungs and i believe since i was shooting at almost a 90* angle it glanced off the deer, my arrow was almost straight up and down stuck in the ground. this is what i believe happened because i know i hit the deer. he bucked and ran with his tail down.

the arrow was clean of any fluid, only had hair on it. i found a fluid close to the hair that i think was saliva, maybe i scared the piss out of him i dont know. it didnt have a smell and i didnt have the guts to taste it haha