OKay - 3:00 today I decided to setup on my backyard buck - who I haven' t seen for a while - Used my old climber and got to about 12' on a good trail - About 4:00 a doe showed up just at the edge of the apple trees - 4:30 she moved in front of my stand about 35 yrds into a thicket - Just as she entered the thicket - here came the backyard buck following her from a far - He stopped to freshen a scrape and proceeded to follow the doe - The doe now closining on my stand (10' +-) is getting a little nervous and stamping her feet and sniffing - Just when I thought she was going to bust me the Buck moved into a good shooting lane at about 15 yrds and stopped - Figuring I better take my chance - I drew my bow (63# chekmate hunter) the doe let out a big snort and bounded for the creek - The buck looking at her had no idea I was letting a POC with a magnus broadhead fly in his direction - I thought it was a perfect shot - (10 ring on a natural look mckinze) - with a smack -the arrow hit right where I was aiming and only penetrated about 3.75 inches and the buck moved and joined the doe near the creek edge (20 yrds) - I watched as he limped on like nothing had happened still trailing the doe (not running or anything - sorta taking his time) - I watched them move through the trees until out of sight- I waited in my stand for 30 minutes trying to analize what went wrong - The shot looked and felt perfect - I climbed down retieved my arrow which had fallen out about 20 yards- and examined the tip - very end (1/32) was curled with bright red blood about 3.75 to 4" up the shaft - I waited 4 hours and just returned from locating the blood trail (very spotty)- and plan to search tomorrow giving him a night to bed and hopefully expire - Any idea what happeded? the shot wasn' t high enough for a spine shot and should have been back far enough - can' t figure it out - What do you think my chances are of recovery? If he is not falally injured will he stay in the area? MIght get lucky and have hooked one lung - We' ll see tomorrow - This just makes me sick!

Mike

Dang CDI, I hope you find him in the morning. AS for the curled tip on the broadhead, I would say you hit something pretty hard. Did you maybe hit the edge of the shoulder joint? I would say with 4" of penetration, you MAY have gotten 1 lung. It will possibly be a long track, but stick with it, and scour the ground close for everything you can find. Take your time, find your buck, and post us some pics of that hawg.

Was he broadside, or angled at all? Is there fat or anything above the 4" of blood on the shaft?

One thing is for certain, The next time a doe snorts and runs he won' t be standing still.
Good luck in the morning. That lack of penetration and the bucks reaction probably mean that you just nicked him. But you never know until you look good and hard for him or see him again.
Good Luck
Dan

The 10 ring on McKenzie targets has been one of my pet peeves for the past 14-15 years. The 10 ring is the last place I' d aim on a live deer. It' s not designed to the idea of getting people used to good hunting shot placement. It' s designed to let 3D shooters get a high score. If they miss the 10 low, they' ve still got an 8. If the 10 was at the bottom of the chest like it would be for a heart shot, they' d get a 5 if they missed low. The 10 ring is in the exact spot we used to shoot for a ' safe' shot in the days before 3D, when the 10 point heart shot was at the very bottom of the kill zone. LIKE IT SHOULD BE.

Anyway.... The center of the 10 is at least 5" too high, and is actually closer to the spine than it is to the heart. If your deer squatted the least bit as the arrow was in the air, then that explains the curled tip on the broadhead and the poor penetration. You probably didn' t whack the spine itself. More likely angled into the thickest part of a rib. And, like Kip said, that shoulder blade is still a possible culprit.

Definitely go and look for him to make sure, but I doubt you got inside the ribcage. He' ll be back.

I thought COI (Magnus) heads were infallable ? Thats what everyone on the LW and Bowsite says anyway. Mechanicals and fixed blades bad, COI good ??

Anyway, you hit heavy bone, I think thats the only thing that could have stopped your arrow out of a 63# bow. Would a Thunderhead or other chisel head type broadheads mattered ? Who knows, maybe. With only 3 3/4" penetration I doubt you seriously hurt that buck. If you had hit him even marginally there would have been a bloodtrail .. I bet there wasn' t was there ? Hit anywhere but heavy bone and your setup blows through ' em.

Sorry man, tough day hunting huh ?

Heres what I would think happened ... you hit in these red lines - somehow, someway, and theres where your heavy bone is. You cut through meat, your head hit that bone and curled up - thus your arrow had 3 3/4" penetration or so.

What does everyone else think ? A higher hit in the flat of the shoulder blade, with a 63# bow, should have punched through it (not as heavy and not round like the lower leg bone is)

okay - here the low down - Went out this morning and trialed a small blood trail - (bloody nose would have produced more blood) - Drips every 5-6 ft - then nothing - then a drip 100 yrds away - then nothing - then 2 drips - 100 more yards - he made it to the golf course and the short grass and lack of leaves - I lost the trail - 7 hours of tracking later - followed the trail some 500 yards - he never laid down so I' m thinking he isn' t hurt that bad - But it makes me sick to think I wounded him - First time I have left one in the field -

I should have mentioned my shot was a low 10 ring - I am guessing I only missed by an inch at the most - I will definately shot lower and further back next time - I am also going to try a different head - I normally hunt with wenzels and will go back to them - - I feel like all my practicing on my new Mckinze target has done me wrong - I know I' ve hit deer before in the same spot and they dropped under 100 yrds - Maybe buck fever is messing with my shot recall - I still get all balled up when a big one approaches -

On a good note - The backyard buck was at the feeder today and appears to be okay - So maybe I hit his older brother (they are almost identical) - I have put the word out to my neighbors to let me know if they see or hear anything - Maybe I will see him again soon - I am going to walk the golf course perimeter today - so maybe I will pick up his trail - I will keep you all posted - thanks
Mike

I bet you hit the knuckle, or base of the shoulder blade. I call it the knuckle. Its right on with that 10 ring and its some of the heaviest bone in that body.

The spine is an option but I am thinking if you hit a whitetials spine coming out of that weight bow, with a 2 blade normally better then good head. You would have busted him up pretty bad given that kind of head damage.

Vs

Smacking the heavier part of the scapula upper leg area. The blood would be bright red due to it being closer to the heart, but yet not the pink frothy lung blood. The real give off is the limp. I really believe with your bow and broadhead setup you would have penetrated the shoulder blade pretty easy and due to where you believe you hit (the 10 ring), that knuckle is right there somewhat in the 10 ring.

What I tell my partners, espically on moose but for all critters is one of two things. If the animal is standing broadside, close leg even with back leg, aim the same distance back way from the shoulder as you would aim up, on a moose 1/3rd up and that same 1/3rd back (not 1/3rd back in animal length). Some get confuzed with this but with a picture its really easy to grasp. The other is aim for the off side leg and only shoot with the close leg forward. This will keep you away from the shoulder blade on critters like moose. It will also depending on the angle allow you to shoot for the top of the heart. IMHO the heart itself is not the thing you want to aim for, its the top of it. You have a better chance of hitting all the veins going to or coming from the heart then the heart itself. But, if you miss it, you will hit lungs and or heart. All of which are good. On a whitetail normally its not an issue, on a moose, it definatly is! Big bones, big hide, huge heart lol.

Has all the symptoms of a shoulder hit. I know how ya feel dude, it SUX!!