Dacotah I agree that is the only way I can see you can be high in the kill zone and not get lung or the spinal artery, over the spine!


nny243 said a mouthful with this statement.
Strut&Rut said I have butchered deer with a lot of fat over their shoulders and hardly any on their hind quarters and vice versa.

I think the major point here is that we should always be thinking that if we cut a deer with an arrow, it will die. Yes, statistically it might live but we can' t assume that it will. It is safer and more honest to assume that it will not. Whenever I talk to people that have lost deer, they will almost always end up by saying that the deer will live. It' s a defense mechanism in our own mind. It might be days or it might be weeks but the animal is going to die. Anecdotes about seeing the same deer the next year or next month are probably the exception, not the rule. That' s why shot placement is so vital, especially to bowhunters.

Sorry guys - I was wrong about there not being a hollow spot - I can' t beleive I was so foolish not to see it before - here it is.


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There is not so much as a " hollow spot" as there is a non-lethal zone you can hit. On two guaranteed factual instances we harvested a buck during rifle season which we had wounded during bow season. Both were hit high with the bows and had visual scars on them when we butchered them after the rifle season.

This is a FACT not a myth. Believe it or not, your choice!

Any of the white area on the diagram above could be considered a non-lethal zone, although as I' ve said, they should probably be considered " slowly lethal" zones. They are all just bad shots.

I in fact have changed the way I shoot at deer. I will either miss them low or get the heart. I am sick of tracking. This all has to do with the high non lethal shot. Even if you hit them high in a lethal spot, they are extremely difficult to find, especially with no snow on the ground.

I' ve never hit a deer in this spot (real or not), and don' t know anybody at home who has either, but if such a thing does exist, I think that Strut and Rut may have the right idea.
My first thought about this " hollow spot" was that it could exist when the animal was at full exhale between breaths. Not sure, but it sounded reasonable in my head. (It was hard to tell with all of the echo.)

...but then there is that whole pleural cavity thing. The lungs do need negative pressure it inflate.

lol Farm Hunter. I must be going blind. I didn' t even see that before.


I think it is a hollow spot after it is punched out. lol

Dakotah- I think you are missing the point, deer do go and live on with high non lethal shots. A friend of mine wounded a 6-pter (big one) by Crookston and then 6 weeks later another friend shot the same buck and it looked real healthy except for a few scabby wounds.

It happens quite often, whether people want to believe it or not. I can' t explain it.

To be sure aim low from now on, or if you feel like testing the theory shoot em high!

I don' t doubt that, kegei, I just think the hits are either over the spine or not double lung. I don' t know what else it could be.

He didn' t by chance take a pic of that Crookston buck? I' d love to see the wounds. It' s nice to know some can heal up that quick.