dEsireTohUnt

I shot my first buck with a bow about 3 days ago. I called him in using a doe bleet and I was on the ground. I was simply sitting behind some tall grass. The buck came at me and stopped about 15 yards away and was facing me and staring right at me. I figured i would spook him if I waited for him to turn broadside so i let the arrow fly. I hit him square in the chest and my arrow went clear through him. I left and went back that night and got on a really good blood trail. I trailed him for about half a mile before i lost blood and we never ended up finding him. So what i wanna know is has anyone else had any luck with this kind of a shot?

huntingkidPA

that is not a desired shot, though im surprised you didnt hit the lungs at all or atleast a main artery. i think he will definitely die but finding him will be hard.

blackhawk_archery

well not a good shot to take in my opinion but had you of shot him in the center of the throat rather then the front of the chest he wouldn't have made it beyond 25 yards before he fell over.

jethropew

That shot should be avoided. Unfortunately you learned the hard way. As bowhunters, we have to show restraint and wait for a deer to be in postion for high % lethal shots. Take care in the future and good luck.

07superglide

I would have to agree..... A neck shot would have dropped it quick!
My buddy hammered a doe in the neck last year..... she went 20 yards.
If that!!

V8Ranger

Go back to where you shot him and do a grid search, he may be closer than you think.

AquamanPSD

I find it very hard to belive you had a pass through on a deer long ways... maybe I misunderstood but getting an arrow to penetrate roughly 3-4 ft of meat is highly unlikely assuming you don't brisket, ribs, or pelvis.... i filmed a hunt where a friend of mine shot one in the same manner with a bow that I witnessed him shooting 346fps. Burried it to the luminok but that is far from a pass through.

scottycoyote

i agree, if you has a full body length pass thru from the chest, you should have a dead deer pretty close by, the blood loss would be massive. Is there a chance you hit low in the chest at a more downard angle, if it missed the heart and came out in the lower stomach region then i could understand him running off far enough to make tracking difficult.

Bob H in NH

Any chance you deflected off the front of the chest and basically skimmed along the outside of the ribs? If you went stem to stern inside, you had to hit at least a lung, liver, guts, maybe heart depending on height.

RidgeFACTOR

I agree. I think the "tall grass" might have obscured your vision slightly, there is no way and arrow will penetrate the length of a deer and exit, no way. I myself like the fellow said earlier, think you might have grazed it's brisket and the deer bled like a stuck hog but probably is still alive. I know this because I too took a bad shot at a deer once, caught it in the brisket, arrow shaft was covered with blood and it was bleeding enormously, never did find it. Good luck.