RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

lol.... you can't be serious.....right!!!???

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

i have never seen a deer recovered that was shot in the void zone but if you manage to get the spine they wont go far.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I don't think there is a "void". I think people actually hit above the spine when they see this. The spine actually dips down 5-6 inches right behind the shoulder when the deer is standing, and I think that people hit this area thinking they shot just under the spine when they really shot over it.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I don't know what to think about the "void", but I always thought the bald spots were from fences and other low hanging obstacles!

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I absolutely agree........that and what Nuge said, it just so happens that the spine dips to it's lowest point pretty much in line with the "sweet" spot of the vitals below.
The reason shoulder shots with firearms are usually so devastating and drop the animal so quickly is because the spine sits low and behind the shoulder blades. That impact just shuts down everything.

I beleive we had a veterinarian on here the last time this topic got out of control, and he said that there is no "Void" anywhere in a deer's chest.......the plural cavity sits tightly against the spine.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I have seen 2 voids with my own 2 eyes. One was the scars and piece of scapula removed from a doe I shot. The other was the still healing hole and sliced inner loins on a buck that my dad had shot. Both shots had passed thru the chest cavity and right under the spine, one near the front behind the shoulders, and one at the last couple ribs.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

Many people do not realize how far down the spine really in the chest of a deer. I believe most people who think they hit a 'void' are really shooting OVER the spine. There is nothing vital over the spine, just meat and the spinous processes.

I also agree with this theory and I don't believe any animal will live with both lungs collapsed. Just my opinion and I am not a vetrinarian, but I think the void could be a freak 1 lung hit from a wierd angle or a high shot that looked better than it really was. I always aim low, for the heart, to prevent this problem.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

You may be right about the spine being low but wouldn't that make "the void" above the spine. It's still there, still a place where you can make a non fatal hit that looks like it should be.

I hit the void (above or below the spine) last year on my biggest buck to date. Doesn't it always seem to be the biggest ever instead of that management doe. Anyway, looked for 3 days before giving up, didn't have any blood trail or anything. He got hit by a car 2 weeks later to the day.

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I'm not gonna say there is or isn't a void. Three years ago I was hunting on a very cold morning and had lots of clothes on. I took a shot at a doe and my string hit my sleeve on my coat and i made a bad hit on the deer (now i wear a sock with the toes cut out to compress things when i have layered clothes on). Anyway I hit her back a little far and high but i'm sure i hit under the spine. I got a clean pass thru with fixed heads. found my arrow and there was almost nothing on it but fat and just a very little amount of blood. I spent alot of time looking for that deer and only found a couple of very tiny drops of blood. Never saw another sign of her...

RE: The Dreaded Void, No Mans Land...????
 

I just have to throw my two cents into this discussion...

My uncle hit a spike horn two years ago and hit him just under the spine. The deer actually fell down as if a spine hit and started flopping. When approaching the animal to finish him off he suddenly springs to his feet and runs off. We followed the blood trail for over a mile and finally lost him in a series of beaver ponds. We were sitting on a log trying to figure out where he might be and a dog started barking. It turned out a stray hound had trapped our spike in one of the beaver ponds and would not let him out of the pond. We managed to arrow him in the lungs and get him out of the pond, but after cleaning him out we discovered the body cavity had been punctured, but the lungs showed no visible signs of trama. I don't know what this means, but I really don't think we would have ever retrieved this animal without the help of that dog.

Do you guys think it makes a difference if the animals lungs are inflated at the time of impact on a shot like this ??????