shot a 6 point Friday. He said he shot him in the the shoulder. HE also said that the arrow was up to 6 inches or so in blood...he said it bounced out. Him and his dad looked for it for about 4 hours. He never found it. Do ya'll think this buck is alive??

Also I would like to add that this is why i don't go bow hunting b/c I don't want to be pissed off at my bow, knowing that my gun could have done the job. haha.

Bow's kill deer too, just gotta know what your doing. (Not implying your buddy doesn't)

How long after he shot the deer did he wait to start tracking it?

He knows what he is doing. I"m just saying a bow can't make all the shots a gun can. But anyways that is not what im talking about lol. Him and his dad looked at the arrow for a couple of minutes. Then started tracking it. So it did have time to run of and "bed". I'm thinking the deer is still alive out there somewhere. What do you think erope?

What type broadhead is he using? Bouncing out sounds like he hit bone and didn't penetrate the chest cavity. A flesh wound. I assume he was shooting from a tree stand with the deer close and under him? Could've traveled down the bone before popping out. Just my opinion.
Bill

Yeah he said must have it bone. But he said he wasnt sure...I don't know about what broadhead he was using.

But since he said it must have hit bone, that is why i figured that it is still out there somewhere.

I think the deer is long gone. Alive or Dead? It's anybodys guess, and I will guess alive. lol Was there any blood trail?

The deer may have had time to bed down but it probably didn't have time to die, but starting to go track it right away probably pushed that deer far, far away. Just what I think.

The only thing got me thinking is the 6 inches of blood on the arrow, 6 inches seems like a lot of penetration to me(keep your minds out of the gutter also), if the arrow had penetrated 6 inches maybe it went behind the 1st shoulder and hit the 2nd, but hat would result probably in a pretty quick kill, im not sure, hopefully the deer is alive and wasnt coyote food,

you should probably ask this question in the bow hunting forum also, but if the arrow actually penetrated six inches and then hit bone I think it would have stayed lodged in the deer so I'm gonna go with the traveling down the shoulder blade theory. Just my $0.02

Ok which is it hit the shoulder or has no clue where he hit? If he hit the shoulder he hit bone and that can cause lack of pentration. Possibly the angle of the shot or a out of tune bow could have caused the arrow to deflect off the shoulder bone and showing more blood then penetration actually received. Either way a couple minutes isn't enough time for a deer to set up with perfect placement, I wait 45 min minimallybefore trailing anything I have stuck with an arrow. Even when I know that the shot was perfect and the animals is down. Sounds like your buddy needs to learn a few more things and not blame the equipment but rather the user.

Hopefully only a flesh wound but it may have been fatal to hard to tell from the details given.

My guess if the deer was hit where he said it was the deer is dead! As stated before six inches in a deer is alot of penetration in the chest or anyplace else.

Are you sure the arrow bounced out?, or did the deer bite it and pulled it out? Sounds to me they went after it rather quickly and perhaps found the arrow after the deer pulled it out. ( I am not sure though ) As deer will pull them out when they can get a chance to. My opion is that deer has died as the broad heads can make an awfull big hole in a deer. I am sorry to here about this.