About 3 weeks ago I was up in my stand and a doe walked out. This is my first year to bow hunt so I was going to take her to get some meat and the practice of drawing back on a deer. I drew back and made a good shot so I thought. I didnt get a pass through but I was behind the shoulder with good penetration. When I got down and began looking for blood I had no problem finding any. I tracked a good trail for 300 yards some times stepping in puddles of blood. Then it suddenly stopped. I went back for help and for two days looked for that deer with no success. My friend hunted the same stand this past week and wouldnt you know what came walking in. She was limping with what looked to be a scabbed over spot right behind her left shoulder. He has killed several deer with his bow and said the spot couldnt have been better. Why in the world did that deer not die.
I was shooting spitfires. (100gr.)

Was the shot real close, or quartering away real hard, or both? Any one of those circumstances can result in an arrow going between the shoulder and the ribcage. I have a buddy that killed a doe tuesday on a nearly straight down. quartering shot. The arrow passed between the ribs and the shoulder, but not before breaking up a rib before the arrow deflected. The broken rib cut the heart and killed the deer.

Because the hit was not lethal!

The pentetration was not as deep as you thought and the area hit was probably more to the bone and muscle side of the " spot." Don' t beat yourself up. That type of hit happens to the best.

However, you better take a hard look at the type of broadhead you are shooting. If it is a " mechanical," you can probably mark up another vote against the reliability of mechanicals.

Nicolas

I switched from spitfires because of penetration problems. You need to make sure you are pushing enough KE to get a pass thru. I switched to Rocky Mountain Gators XP, they are just like the Snypers but they require no rubber band and the blades are longer. The also have a razorblade ferule so they immediately cut on contact. I was in Bass Pro Shop the other day and all the gators and snypers were sold out and have been since bow season opened. They had tons of spitfires on the shelves. That tells me what people are using.

I have a buddy that had the same problem. I do not like these things, his did not even open on the deer it went in like a field point.
i will never shoot mechanicals.
good luck

Nicolas, how many pounds are you pulling?

Most mechanicals open.....period !! I have never had one.....nor seen one that did not open !!
Usually what happens is that the blades open after entry(not on impact), so there is a small hole in the hair but by the time it gets to the organs it is fully opened. If you pull the arrow out , most of the time Spitfires will close back up as you pull them out.......and could appear to not have opened although they did !!

Nichols......
One of a few things could have happened or all !

First you should know your equipment well and importantly your KE when using Spitfires. I have great luck with them at 70 # ke but would not recommend them to anyone shooting below 60# KE !! Check your KE !

Secondly...make sure your bow is tuned well and arrows are spined properly ! If your arrow was flexing or wobbling as it hit......you would have lost a tremendous amount of energy on impact.

Or you could have caught the back edge of the shoulder blade and that is a hard bone to penetrate. I have a friend that made a hit like that last year and swore it was perfect......he killed the deer a couple months later with a drawn up shoulder . He found blood for hundreds of yards but in actuality......never hit anything vital !!

Good luck.....learn from it.......and nail the next one !!

I have. A friend shot a nice buck with one and it was a complete pass thru. When he retrieved the arrow, the little rubber band was still on it and it was closed. It didn' t even open after burying into the ground. Deer was found by another hunter over a mile away, a week later.

I may stand corrected.......but do you think it' s possible that the o-ring rolled back up as the arrow was pulled out of the ground ?? I know they' ll do that on Mckenzie targets and will almost be set back perfect when their pulled out !

I have used mechanicals, and they didn' t open. I can' t remember what they were. I am now using Muzzy' s, and have no complants. There is not reason to shoot mechanicals for me, my Muzzy' s fly true.