Shed some light on this for me
 

The hit that took my buck down has me perplexed to say the least.

After skinning it last night I found out I did not even enter the rib cavity. He was hit about 1" from the bottom just behind the heart. The arrow went through the sternum - and maybe one blade reached just above it.

He bleed pretty darn good, going 150-200 yds tops. He never bedded and seemed to be on a slow trot to walk. Where we found him there was blood over a large area where he probably floped a bit. Coming out of his mouth and nose was thick white foam - no blood just a think clump of white foam.

I though thyrodic artery - but man did I hit low.

Anyone with a better knowledge of what I might of hit??

David??? Len??? You guys have shot 1000 deer:D, you had to of hit one way down;)

Thanks

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

If you went through the sternum, you could' ve caught the very bottom of the lungs. Did you check them when you field dressed him?

I think most of the arteries actually exit the top of the heart, so I doubt that' s what happened.

You had to have clipped the lungs... that' s my best guesstimate :)

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Thanks Range, I should have added this....

I took a real close look at both the heart and the lungs When I dressed him.

I am sure neither one of them where hit

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

you it a major artery,did his blood trail look like you dumped a 5 gallon bucket of paint,my guess is you hit a main artery,i' m glad you found him.nice buck to.


go deep hunt hard.;)

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Well, then, I think he was aware of your reputation, you clipped him low and the blood was from a muscle hit, he ran scared because he knew you were on his trail, causing the cotton mouth foam, and finally died of a heart attack from fright...

:D

You must' ve clipped some sort of secondary vein or artery, but I don' t have a clue what it would be called in that area.

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

No 5 gallon paint bucket - but a good med red color trail - easy to follow with some larger 7" by 5" puddles soaked into and under the leaves.

I am sure I hit some sort of artery but did not know of one that is that low

And on a side note - my 75 grain Jackhammers (mechanical) left a super entry and exit hole. They did a super job on a not so super hit. JFYI

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

I don' t know, but I can relate something equally strange. A friend of mine shot an 8pt two years ago, at about 10 yards. It was running, and he hit it right below the knee with a 30-06, the front leg. It died within 25 yards. I thought for sure we would find another bullet hole when skinning, but we didn' t. An incredible amount of blood. Wierd. The bullet went right down next to the leg bone. Yet I see deer all the time with the leg shot right off above the knee, that heal up just fine.

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

I once set a trap for a mouse. Wife called me at work, she heard the trap go off and was scared to go into the kitchen. I went home, sure enough, mouse in trap. Only it was caught just above it' s hind foot. Mouse is dead, lying spread eagle on the floor. I picked the trap up, mouse stayed in the same position, full up in rigor mortis, only he' d just been trapped about 15 minutes ago...

Scared him to death Rack, that' s what I' d go with if I were you... :)

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

My best friend from high school once shot a Bluebird in mid-air with half of a fishing rod used as a " Shotgun" .........no lie, I saw it.[:o] Power of suggestion!?

Anyway, I doubt you WILLED the deer to die Rack, but you hit something major........
There are only 3 things that can kill an animal as quickly as yours died ......exposure, disease etc. are another catgory, We' re talking trauma here, and that trauma has to involve one of these things:

1. Central Nervous System (Brain or Spinal Cord.......which in some cases leads to shock which actually causes death. (Actually all 3 of these can lead to shock which can be the actual cause of death.)
2. Major Organs (Lungs, Heart Kidneys Liver etc) You already stated none were involved so that leads you to only one conclusion...
3. Blood vessels.......Artery or Vein. You had to have hit a major vessel which in turn caused enough bleeding to make a very sleepy deer.[&o]:D

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Just goes to show you how freaky bow hunting can be. Survive a single lung hit, but die when no major organs/arteries appear hit.

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

The only suggestion I have is to keep livin' the way your livin' because someone is liking what you are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Rack-Attack, you looked at the heart but you did not say whether or not the sack that surrounds the heart was intact when to preformed your field autopsy?
Only guessing but I' d venture that you lacerated the sack that surronds the heart or some veins or arteries(http://www.kerrlake.com/deer/white2.htm......scroll down to circulation) that are below and forward of the heart.
A Deer can travel some distance as long as it is getting some oxygen to the muscle. Lost of blood depletes the carring vehicle but as long as the lungs are still functioning it can travel a good didtance. It all depend on the rate of blood loss. Once the blood isn' t there to carry the oxygen it crashes.
Just a thought.

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Yeh.... some guys have all the luck.[:' (][&:][&:][:-] We' ve hit a few low. Len hit one this year real low and a little forward. He cut the artery off to the front leg. Although... the deer went about 500 yards.[:o] THe big 10 point the guest at our place shot was also shot low low. He had one blade just put a little slit in the bottom of the heart. I mean it just barely laid it open but he bled like a stuck pig. He went about 300-400 yards. He did go through the back of both shoulders but didn' t hit anything major there. Just a little nick in the bottom of the heart. The arrow barely cut through the sternum into the chest cavity. You name it... we' ve had it happen.

RE: Shed some light on this for me
 

Thanks guys - I think logs link nailed it down with his link

There are two large veins running right over the sternum - I must of hit them.:D

Yea I was leaning towards that theory also until Logs knocked me back to reality:D

You aint kidding[:-]