RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

Why argue over this? Theres an easier way to explain it. Its called " shi+ Happens" .:D

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

Hollow spot, dead spot, whatever you want to call it. It does not exist inside the thoracic cavity, period. The shots in question are above the spine and hit muscle, ligaments, bone and basically nothing vital. If you slip an arrow directly under the spine, along with both lungs you are going to cut this little structure called the aorta, not compatible with life. It does not matter what state of exhale/inhale the animal is in, the lungs and the thorax expand and contract together. These are poor shots that hit in a non vital area. Would be the same as shooting one in the ham and saying got him in the dead spot.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

If you hit the area above the spine it does not bleed very much because it has no main arteries through it. Were as this deer bled good for 100 yards. There was no problem finding blood, but then it quit. I thought he was dead we looked for 3 or 4 days. Then it got hot and we went looking for stink, I told the farmers around to watch out when taking out there crops, I thought he was going to die somewhere. I shot him oct 1 then on nov 4 i seen him scent checking does and sparing with another buck. This deer weighs over 200 pounds. with some distict fetures. He looked fine from what iI could see.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

THE DEAD SPOT EXISTS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I shot a huge buck in Sept. and the arrow hit high, didn' t pass through. I backed out and waited 2 hours before starting the search. Looked for a total of about 8-9 hours in a small wood lot and never found him. 2 weeks later to the day he got hit by a car and killed. If the dead spot doesn' t exist how did he live for 2 weeks after the shot?

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

Wanna bet? :D

I had a 6-point string jump on me last year and I backstrapped him (above the spine and even with the shoulder). Spent the entire day tracking that deer 400 yards (with blood) just to make sure he was alright. When he crossed the highway and into another property, the search had to be abandoned. Permission to continue was denied by the landowner.

Sorry, but superficial flesh wounds will generally continue to bleed slowly as long as the animal is kept moving. And because the body cavity was not compromised, all bleeding is external.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

The logic of " I shot a deer and didn' t recover it" =" dead spot exists" or
" I shot a deer and someone else shot it later" =" dead spot exists" doesn' t work. They are just bad shots. Meat shots. As someone else said, you could drive an arrow through the hindquarter and the deer might live (or die slowly) and call that a " dead spot" or " hollow spot" . It' s not accurate. If you shoot a deer and you don' t recover it or it lives, then you have hit the dreaded " lousy place to shoot a deer" spot. That' s all it is.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

It is also called I know I hit the deer really high and I never found him so it must be the mythical " hollow spot" !

kegei I have an important question about the " healed" deer killed later on, was the scar/wound above or below the spine?

I will beleive in the hollow space when someone can show me them slipping a broadhead below the spine all the way and not hit the spine arterty, the lung cavity or the lungs.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

If the arrow didn' t pass through, you didn' t hit the " dead spot" . You hit bone, most likely a shoulder. That' s how he lived.

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

Mez:

I knew you were in the crowd! :)

For those readers that do not know, " Mez" is a vet.

Now, for those laypeople who would argue with God, form a line on the right and take your turn telling " Mez" that he is full of it and does not know which is the hole in the ground! ;)


PS:

ArtP, davidmil, cardeer, charlieP, etc: I know you have have been hunting as long or nearly as long as I have (39 years). I don' t recall ever hearing about a " hollow spot" or " dead spot" in my earlier years of bowhunting. Did you? Anyone have an idea when this fable (excuse) started?

RE: The Dreaded Hollow Spot
 

I' m not arguing that, and maybe " Non-Vital" is a better term but all I' m saying is that the shot looked lower than the back bone and definitley didn' t hit a lung. The deer lived for 2 more weeks and was healthy to I' m sure I just hit muscle and nothing vital. The point is it happens. Is it a bad shot? Yes. But it happens a lot, deer jumping string is a good example. It' s gonna happen no matter how much you practice.