Bad broadhead?
#12
i can vouch for rage 2 blades. When i was young and dumb i didn't know much about KE, broadhead selection etc. Shooting a 45lb bow with normal rage 2 blades i took a quartering to me shot. Absolutely destroyed one of its lungs. Ran 20 yards up and piled up in front of my eyes. I got lucky with placement but i think the broadhead did its job.
I have buddies who say "i swear i saw the arrow go in right behind its shoulder". most of the time i dont even believe them. When we found his 2, they were both gut shot so its hard to believe someone over the internet saying they made a good shot.
I'm not saying your lying, but im not saying i believe you. It definitely could have been s deflection, bad shot placement, hitting a twig in flight, etc. I hope you can eventually recover your deer.
I have buddies who say "i swear i saw the arrow go in right behind its shoulder". most of the time i dont even believe them. When we found his 2, they were both gut shot so its hard to believe someone over the internet saying they made a good shot.
I'm not saying your lying, but im not saying i believe you. It definitely could have been s deflection, bad shot placement, hitting a twig in flight, etc. I hope you can eventually recover your deer.
#13
Well all I can tell you is what I saw. If I was good enough to double lung like you I suppose I would have a deer. The only thing I thought was weird is that the arrow never came out and there was no blood. Some blood should have dripped when the arrow bumped brush or other things as the deer ran. So all I was wondering if anyone using rages had this happen before. Since the blades expand do they not come out easily if it's not a pass thru?
#14
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Sabinal, TX
Posts: 6
There are so many different things that could have happened. Unless you find the deer you'll never know. This scenario happens to ALL bowhunters sooner or later - it won't be the last time, probably.
That said, I'm not a fan of mechanicals and we don't permit them for deer on the ranch I manage. Anything mechanical, by definition, is prone to failure. If they hit a good spot and deploy properly they're terrific; if they don't, they're an abject failure. I've never had a fixed blade fail to open, lol! And, I've had far more problems with penetration with mechanicals than fixed blades. I may get 10 good penetrations before I get a bad one (when I don't feel I should) with mechanicals. Whereas with fixed blades I may get a surprise one time out of 20-30. I'd rather play the odds. As long as your bow is perfectly paper tuned and your arrows properly spined, you should be able to shoot fixed blades with as much accuracy as a mechanical - out to 40 yards, at least. For me, anything further on a whitetail is unethical because they're just too quick and there's too much chance that the kill zone will be somewhere else other than the aim point when the arrow was released. It doesn't matter how accurate you are if the target moves while the arrow is in flight.
My personal views and experience not withstanding, I wouldn't run from Rage over one single bad incident. Especially since you don't, actually, know what happened when it hit. If it happens again, maybe. However, confidence is everything; so, if you've lost confidence in the broadhead, it's time to change - just to reestablish your confidence level.
Sorry to hear about the lost deer. Pick yourself up and get back out there! Good luck this season!
That said, I'm not a fan of mechanicals and we don't permit them for deer on the ranch I manage. Anything mechanical, by definition, is prone to failure. If they hit a good spot and deploy properly they're terrific; if they don't, they're an abject failure. I've never had a fixed blade fail to open, lol! And, I've had far more problems with penetration with mechanicals than fixed blades. I may get 10 good penetrations before I get a bad one (when I don't feel I should) with mechanicals. Whereas with fixed blades I may get a surprise one time out of 20-30. I'd rather play the odds. As long as your bow is perfectly paper tuned and your arrows properly spined, you should be able to shoot fixed blades with as much accuracy as a mechanical - out to 40 yards, at least. For me, anything further on a whitetail is unethical because they're just too quick and there's too much chance that the kill zone will be somewhere else other than the aim point when the arrow was released. It doesn't matter how accurate you are if the target moves while the arrow is in flight.
My personal views and experience not withstanding, I wouldn't run from Rage over one single bad incident. Especially since you don't, actually, know what happened when it hit. If it happens again, maybe. However, confidence is everything; so, if you've lost confidence in the broadhead, it's time to change - just to reestablish your confidence level.
Sorry to hear about the lost deer. Pick yourself up and get back out there! Good luck this season!
#15
A lot of good possibilities listed above. Here is another one that I don't recall seeing, but it's happened to me. With a quartering away shot it's possible you hit where you say you did. It's also possible that the RIB you heard crack was actually the arrow penetrating and hitting the offside shoulder or leg bone. In many cases when this happens the arrow actually bounces back. In such cases you may have gotten complete penetration without a pass through. Couple that with maybe some fat or tallow partially plugging the entrance hole and you're on your way to finding out about your true hunting skills.
Without an exit hole the lung cavity has to fill up enough to spew blood out the entrance hole. In the second or so that it takes a deer can take off and cover a lot of ground. Maybe 50 yards before the first sign of any blood. If running full tilt that can mean a very spotty blood trail; one that takes a lot patience to follow.
Without an exit hole the lung cavity has to fill up enough to spew blood out the entrance hole. In the second or so that it takes a deer can take off and cover a lot of ground. Maybe 50 yards before the first sign of any blood. If running full tilt that can mean a very spotty blood trail; one that takes a lot patience to follow.