# Incomplete passthrough



## tmonster (Jan 27, 2005)

Question for all of the archers out there. I shot a doe last night almost straight under my stand w/in 5 yards. The shot was more down than anything. Here's the deal. She folded and hit the ground upon impact, got up, ran then stopped for a couple minutes, then i heard her get up again. After waiting a while i got down out of my stand. At that point it was dark. I just wanted to see where the arrow was and look for blood. Upon further searching where i shot there was no arrow so i walked to where she went, finding good blood and then my arrow about 40 yards away. There was full blood on the whole arrow including the fletching as it must have been pulled all the way through. Went back to my truck and waited for a friend to track and give time. When we went back to look for here, the blood trail ended about 20 yards from where i found my arrow and also where a soybean field ended. The direction looked as though she went across a cut hay field where we did not locate here. After a few hours of searching and nothing, we decided to come back first light. We couldn't find blood past where the soybean field ended and nothing else this morning. Any clues or suggestions out there?


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## north14 (Oct 1, 2004)

Just guessing but I'd say you hit her either too high or too low and missed the lungs and heart. Either way you would have blood on the whole arrow. Did you see where the arrow hit her? Is it possible you hit her in the front shoulder at a downward angle causing the arrow to glance off of bone? I shot a small buck once from a steep angle and hit him a third of the way up the chest and the arrow came out at the very bottom of the chest on the other side and missed vitals comepletly. He dropped at the impact and then got up and trotted off like nothing had ever happened. I saw him a few days later and he was fine although he would'nt come anywhere near my stand again.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Smell the arrow if it stinks you got a gut shot, if it doesn't stink you might of only got one lung, or a nonvital ( hopefully) pass thru. I don't trail at all if the deer doesn't flop within hearing distance. This is the downside of having one right under you its really hard to double lung them. IF you have a buddy with a retriever( or any dog) I would take it for a walk in the first bunch of thick stuff near where you lost the trail you might find it.

I did the exact same thing about 15 years ago with the same result, never found it. If I wasn't bumbling around in the woods it probably would of lay down pretty close to where I last saw it and died. Thats why I don't trail those type of hits anymore unless its raining, even then I will leave them and come back with my dog if I don't find the deer within 70-100 yards of where I hit it.

Most immediately fatal hits will drop within 50 yards if you are perfectly quiet after your shot. They usaully bolt about 25 yards then they stand there wondering what happened all keyed up. If you stay perfectly still they will then try to walk off and fall in that area.


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## willie123 (Sep 24, 2005)

sounds like u hit her further back and missed the spine. given the angle i would bet a months pay(as long as she was not gut sot which i think not)anyway that ur arrow missed the near long enrting high and exited the opposite side lung. it is common for a one lunged deer to fall get up an blast off for 40-100 yrds then stop check there back trail and any hint of noise or pursuit sends them an additional 200+ yards away from the scene. it is also extremely common to have some blood or vast amounts on the arrow but none at the site where the deer was hit. then pick the blood up again 20- 30 yards in the direction of flight. u should have found good blood then it was probaly like some one hit a switch and turned it off. my best advice on any deer hit with the bow that does not drop in SIGHT IS TO WAIT IN THE STAND 45-60 MINUTES THEN EXIT W/O MAKING A SOUND AND TAKE A LONG ROUTE OUT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THE WENT. go home have coffee if light permits resume the search 6 hours later if weather does not permits the deer saving over night wait 8 hours and resume the search. u should find the deer about 200-300 yards from where u last heard it or saw it. i have have extensive(17+ years) deer tracking when it comes to bow shot whitetails. i have blew threw both their lungs and lost deer. although i dont understand it or how this could possibly happen i have had it happen to me and enough other guys to know it is a problem. i strongly believe it has to do with the new real fast bows and tiny cutting dia. of the heads, and also i strongly believ that mother nature in the more deer infested parts is making deer much more resilant. if u have any other questions please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] address it with nordak deer or something i will know not to delete. mike


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## tmonster (Jan 27, 2005)

willie123, i'd bet that you are right on. Thanks for the insight and if i have any future questions i'll be sure to direct them your way. Yea, no blood at impact site, then heavy blood, arrow with lots for a good 20 yards, then the off switch. I never did find her and it really still bothers me. I waited what i thought was a long amount of time, called a buddy and waited until he arrived before we went searching. New rule for me is to wait till morning, weather permitting. Those deer really are amazing creatures. A couple winter's ago we followed an amazing bloodtrail for 9 hrs. We thought the thing would be over every hill or around every corner till we gave up till the next morning, when we finally lost the blood trail. We couldn't understand how an animal could lose that much blood and keep on going. The specific buck was pretty easy to recognize from a summer injured leg and he walked a little funny. He went by my stand 4 days later like nothing had happened. Oh yea, tonight i had to throw a stick at a fawn because it decided to lay down right under my stand and i wanted down without giving away my location. It was the only thing i could think of at the time. The stick didn't even alert it so i started grunting till it got up to look around. Finally it took off without being spooked. They can be so smart sometimes but other times so dumb.


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

The same thing happened to me last year, luckily I did find the buck, but here is what I have heard from a few reliable sources. In a deer a lot of their blood is pulled down towards the bottom of the cavity obviously because of gravity, so when you shoot a deer from above and get a high shot like that with a downward angle and don't pass through, gravity won't allow for the deer to bleed much through the top of it's back, Im positive it was an effective kill, but you will need to look hard for that one.


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## kase (Jan 23, 2005)

what kindo of setup are you shooting...draw weight, arrow, broadhead, etc....

kase


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## tmonster (Jan 27, 2005)

hey bretts, the arrow was pulled the rest of the way through when the first stop was made either by brushing against the beans or by her just pulling in it with her mouth. kase i shoot a mathews legacy 70# with easton axis arrows. i was using nap mechanical broadheads with the setup that day.


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

Do you remember if the blood was froothy. Froothy blood, or a lighter more pink blood means you hit the lung. Also payattention to what kind of hair or if there is fat on the arrow. You can learn a lot from just looking at the arrow.


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## tmonster (Jan 27, 2005)

What i think happened is i single lunged her, the broadhead went all the way through, but the rest of the arrow didn't. She folded/fell upon impact, got up, ran about 40 yards, stopped and pulled the arrow the rest of the way through there, upon pulling it through walked a bit then i probably spooked her and she was off fast. I've got the arrow in my room and the dried blood does have some bubbles in it. I think my problem is i spooked it when it stopped and was watching its back trail, and with a single lung they can take off for a long ways before laying down, especially with no cover near by. Learned a valuable lesson.


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