bowfly

this may spark the debate of "dead space" above the lung...i think you nicked liver and never really touched lungs...sorry about it, but the best you can do now is learn from it and move on

SteveBNy

Exactly. Doubt I would take any pics.

deernutz

My uncle shot a buck with nice placement. He trailed it 400 yds with really good blood. It swam a river and he lost it. He shot it with his .270 2 weeks later 100 yds from where he shot it with his bow. So it does happen.

gregrn43

A quartering towards is not the optimal shot to take, the shoulder covers part of the lungs. I try to wait till he's broadside or slightly quartering away. A broadhead through both lungs usually ends up with a dead deer in about 10 seconds. The way you describe the hit and how far the buck ran sounds like a liver hit. Most liver hits are fatal, but the deer can run a long way be for death occurs.

iSnipe

The part of the lungs I want to hit is NOT covered by the shoulder. If my arrow/bullet hits the shoulder, then my shot was off and too high anyway. The shoulder only indicates to me that I made a bad shot to begin with.

iSnipe

diamondrack

Snipe, He was talking about a quartering toward shot placement and in this situation you do have to be aware of the shoulder.. In most causes (depending on the angle of quartering) if you do hit right behind the shoulder on that type of angle you are at best single-lunging the deer and probably either getting liver or guts.. Now you can sneak an arrow just in front of the shoulder (in my opinion is still a questionable shot placement), the shot placement almost has to be perfect with this shot.. SO---my question to you is "what part of the lungs are trying to hit on that type of angle that is not covered or altered by the shoulder''? I can whip an arrow at the deer two and hope that I catch either both lungs and or NO shoulder, but realistically your odds are not in your favor with this type of shot..

wvnimrod

Sorry you lost him,but as someone eles stated take and learn from it,that is what makes you a better hunter is learning from all your experiences both good and bad. Shot placement is crucial and quartering away and toward are like steep angle shots, IMO although doable,there not good choices.Sometimes its best to watch that buck walk by and try for him tommorow than to track and not recover,and I know first hand its the hardest lesson to learn,and unfortunately we always learn the hard way!
Good luck and hope you have a chance at his offspring!

stabnslab_WI

Sounds like your a good shot and a terrible tracker. After the shot, if you think its good, wait for three or four hours or even the next day. When you get out of the avoid going in the direction the deer went. Some deer back track some be careful even walking to your truck.

diamondjustice

what broadheads are you using i have a friend that shot a buck in the a$$ and wend down in about 290 yards till he fell over with a rage 2 blade and i shot on in the back of the neck and he went down try them they work or your money back lol

Pro-Line

Diamondjustice...Are you serious? I opt for the logic that a field point will kill a deer if you hit both lungs.

Losing a deer happens to everyone. If you continue hunting, it'll happen again. When I started bowhunting in the 70's an old school bowhunter taught me the 3 things that you need to keep in mind if you are serious about bowhunting.

1. Practice until you are the best shooter that you can be.
2. Get as close to the animal as possible.
3. Use good judgement

If I were to guess what happened to that deer from the info that I have...I would say that you single lunged it. From the single lung hits that I've seen, the animals bleed pretty good...then stop bleeding. Then they go a ways with no blood before expiring.