Optical illusion
 

I wanted to see if some of you could shed a little light on this experience. I have been bowhunting long enough to know that sometimes where you think your arrow hit the animal doesn' t necessarily mean thats where it hit. 15 yd shot arrow looked like it hit just behind the right leg in the low part of the chest. Heart shot, I thought. Complete pass through arrow sticking in the ground. No blood no meat no nothing. The arrow had a sour translucent liquid on it.

Your thoughts/opinions

RE: Optical illusion
 

sounds like a gut shot

RE: Optical illusion
 

That' s what I thought but I thought I would see fodder (green)

RE: Optical illusion
 

I' m curious as to what you find out ........ a few years back a partner of mine arrowed a buck and we found the arrow - no trace of blood or hair, just a clear substance coating the arrow ....... we found a sporadic blood trail further away, but left the deer overnight as we thought it was a paunch shot - unfortunately rain fell over night (not in the forecast) and washed away the sign - even my old lab couldn' t find the deer for us - we searched a lot ..........

RE: Optical illusion
 

I can' t help with the shot question but I have experienced the " hit illusion" also.

Philbert8 and I were hunting out of the same tree when a group of does walked in. He selected his doe and I watched him shoot from just over his left shoulder.

I thought I saw his arrow hit a perfect double lung, just behind the the shoulder, in line with the opposite shoulder. When we retrieved the deer we were both surprised to see his entry point 4 inches back and higher than we both " saw" it hit.

He still got the double lung hit and the doe died at 40 yards.

RE: Optical illusion
 

Yep sounds like a gutter !!

Only strange one I' ve had like that -that hit right....was a small buck I shot last season. I hit him behind the shoulder and out right behind the heart. I had virtually no blood on my arrow and it was coated with greenish acorn residue . I had an incredible bloodtrail though and found him 125 yrds later . Only thing I could figure was that I hit him through the esophagus(sp) coming into the stomach !! I really didn' t autopsy him.......kind of wish I had now !! If I had not had the bloodtrail and seen blood coming out of the lung (entry hole) as he ran off.....I would have thought it was a stomach or gut hit !!

RE: Optical illusion
 

I just studied a anatomically correct 3-d tarket on Cabelas websight. The ones where the vitals are raised and painted. In hindsight due to the position of the deers leg, for me to hit the heart I would have had to almost go throught the right front leg. I had to have hit slightly further back, which would put it right at or right under the stomach. Still doesn' t explain the substance on the arrow. It probably was some kind of bile or stomach something.

RE: Optical illusion
 

My experience with gut shots have been a very stinky arrow and a gritty substance on the arrow. No green, just gritty stomach material.

My experience with lungs and heart is a very bloody arrow, pink and or red blood.

My experience with the " hollow spot" , if it exists, is an arrow with very little blood on it, almost like you described, wet to the touch, but not by blood. Do you think you hit high?

RE: Optical illusion
 

Shot a deer on Tues. and thought it was a good shot. Got down went to the arrow and it was covered with a clear liquid like you said. " Gut Shot" was my first reaction, but it didn' t stink. Went, grabbed dinner and came back about 5 hours later. Picked up the trail and there was bright red blood ????? Followed an excellent blood trail for about 40 yds and there' s my deer. It was a high double lung shot that just barely missed the spinal cord. He was with a few other deer and I heard them run away so I figured he was with them. Everything worked out though.

RE: Optical illusion
 

Made a shot just like that with the same results clear fluid, waited till the next day and found him 60-70 yds away. Never thought to autopsy him.Was just glad on the recovery.

RE: Optical illusion
 

I thought it was low but not absolutely sure. At 15 yards the think didn' t really have time to jump the string or anything.

RE: Optical illusion
 

Were you able to recover the deer, Scooba?

RE: Optical illusion
 

No. I was sitting just inside the edge of a field. When I shot she ran with two others out of sight into the field and I couldn' t tell which way it went after that. I found several sets of tracks in the field but wasn' t sure which was from my deer. I followed each but found no blood so I started zigzagging back and forth working away from the field. I did this on both sides of the field but to no avail. I hate losing one. It really makes me sick to do that.

RE: Optical illusion
 

I think the illusion comes from the Arrow and the deer moving so quickly that your brain cant honestly figure it out. Plus most of the time you are using the feathers for reference, that deer can move and the arrow can be deflected enough after the shot that the feathers is what your brain " remembers"

RE: Optical illusion
 

I think you are right. After I shoot I always concentrate hard on exactly what I have just seen to help judge when I should get down and begin retrieval. I sit there going ok did I see what I thought I thought saw. You want to make your mind go into slow mo like on the videos.