[HabitatMD]

I am not proud of this story, but I'll share it anyway.

Earlier this season, Doubleshot and I were hunting and I stuck a doe one evening from my ground blind. She wasn't but maybe 20 yards and I stuck her high just below the backbone right above the lungs. I assumed there was no way she could have made it. We followed blood for a while. It looked promising at first, the arrow fell out, and the trail dried up after that. I was pleased how far we tracked her, but not so pleased that we didn't find her. I went back the next morning hoping to find her and came up empty.

Well, last night I went hunting at the same place. Low and behold I see a doe about the same size as the one I shot. She has a scar just below her backbone right where I knew I hit her.

I'm sure this isn't the fate of all deer that aren't shot the best, but this girl is a tough one.

Oh yeah, and there is one less ground hog. Landowner asked me to get rid of them because they are digging holes in his field.

 

[Bass Fishin]

Well atleast you know she didnt go lay down and bleed out somewhere and then just be coyote food.

 

[HabitatMD]

There were a few things I could have done differently. First I was shooting from a seated position...which I do practice. But she was going from window to window in the blind and I ended up when it was all said and done leaning forward more than I should have. Add to the fact bean stalks where pretty high kinda masking the bottom portion of her body. I may have had a slightly high biased to my shot as well just so I would hit some stalks. Could have knicked a stalk or two on the way as well. I don't know exactly what the biggest contributing factor was for the poorer shot. Heck, maybe she just plain ole ducked my arrow and I'm being too tough on myself. I knew it was trouble as she ran off, but I really thought we would catch up with her. Sure didn't think I'd see her again....alive.

 

[Shrapnel]

A friend of mine took a buck on Sunday of rifle season, that he had shot with a bow the prior Wednesday. Arrow passed through one backstrap and out the opposite ribs without breaking any...2 blade rage failed to open. The buck was acting if nothing was wrong at all, was out feeding the edge of an alfalfa field.

 

[rat]

[rquote=1490139&tid=104093&author=Shrapnel]A friend of mine took a buck on Sunday of rifle season, that he had shot with a bow the prior Wednesday. Arrow passed through one backstrap and out the opposite ribs without breaking any...2 blade rage failed to open. The buck was acting if nothing was wrong at all, was out feeding the edge of an alfalfa field.[/rquote]
Was the arrah still in it? Wondering how you knew what kinda broadhead.

 

[HabitatMD]

Here is about where I thought she was hit and I was hunting from the ground, so there was not "angling down" of the arrah. The scar was maybe an 1 or so further back, but the same hieght.

[file]81573[/file]

 

[Squatch]

Shot a little doe last sunday in the same spot with a rifle. She took off like nothing happened, clearing a couple downed trees as she went, and I had mediocre blood for about 40 yards then nothing. Spent a couple hours making circles with a couple guys and never saw that deer. I'm sure she was bleeding internally but didn't have high enough wound to bleed out. It is definitely a bad spot to hit a deer no matter what you are shooting at it.

 

[archer66]

Soooo I take it you didn't shoot her again?? Would have been nice to go ahead and get her and find out how healthy she was and examine the path of the original arrow.

 

[Shrapnel]

[rquote=1490142&tid=104093&author=rat][rquote=1490139&tid=104093&author=Shrapnel]A friend of mine took a buck on Sunday of rifle season, that he had shot with a bow the prior Wednesday. Arrow passed through one backstrap and out the opposite ribs without breaking any...2 blade rage failed to open. The buck was acting if nothing was wrong at all, was out feeding the edge of an alfalfa field.[/rquote]
Was the arrah still in it? Wondering how you knew what kinda broadhead.[/rquote]

We hunt together a lot, we both tried the Rage broad heads this fall, that, and, well, I asked him.

I'm not sold on the rages, when these are gone I'm done with them. Way too many bad stories about them out there, failure to deploy, hitting and breaking, opening in flight and veering off, no thanks.

I myself hit a doe back in Oct a bit forward and just caught shoulder from less than 10yds...2 blade rage failed to penetrate more than a few inches, they just open too wide and have too much cutting surface. I'll take penetration over a wide slice in the hide anyday. I keep hearing stories that if it's not a perfect broadside shot pass through is not likely with the rages.

 

[HabitatMD]

[rquote=1490155&tid=104093&author=archer66]Soooo I take it you didn't shoot her again?? Would have been nice to go ahead and get her and find out how healthy she was and examine the path of the original arrow.[/rquote]

Well, she was healthy enough to blow at me multiple times. :stickfight:

Wind was doing some swirling on me last night. Never got close enough, but I did get the binocs on her when when she was 40-50 yards out blowing at me. That's when I saw the scar. She looked healthy.

 

[archer66]

Man I hate it when they blow at me....I once shot a doe that I had intended to pass because she to to blowing. She saw me in the tree and started stomping her foot. Then she started blowing. She just stood there and blew again and again...counted 17 times...finally I had enough, drew my bow and shot her. Can't for the life of me figure out why she was concerned enough to do all that blowing but stood there and let me shoot her.

 

[Trykon_Buck]

Hab,

I had the exact same thing happen to me last year; right before rifle season I made a high shot on a doe, right below the spine and above the lungs - it was a complete pass through shot.

Fast-forward a week to rifle season, I'm hunting over my turnip plot and here comes this doe w/ a perfect little 'x' scar right below the spine, I knew right then it had to be her. She seemed perfectly fine, eating, and romping around w/ other does - I snapped a few pics of her, I'll try and dig them up, you can even see the 'x' mark in them.

They're tough lil' critters for sure!

:cheers:

 

[rat]

[rquote=1490164&tid=104093&author=Shrapnel][rquote=1490142&tid=104093&author=rat][rquote=1490139&tid=104093&author=Shrapnel]A friend of mine took a buck on Sunday of rifle season, that he had shot with a bow the prior Wednesday. Arrow passed through one backstrap and out the opposite ribs without breaking any...2 blade rage failed to open. The buck was acting if nothing was wrong at all, was out feeding the edge of an alfalfa field.[/rquote]
Was the arrah still in it? Wondering how you knew what kinda broadhead.[/rquote]

We hunt together a lot, we both tried the Rage broad heads this fall, that, and, well, I asked him.

I'm not sold on the rages, when these are gone I'm done with them. Way too many bad stories about them out there, failure to deploy, hitting and breaking, opening in flight and veering off, no thanks.

I myself hit a doe back in Oct a bit forward and just caught shoulder from less than 10yds...2 blade rage failed to penetrate more than a few inches, they just open too wide and have too much cutting surface. I'll take penetration over a wide slice in the hide anyday. I keep hearing stories that if it's not a perfect broadside shot pass through is not likely with the rages.[/rquote]
Gotha. I havent kilt anything with a rage broadhead yet so I dont know.
Just looking at the design, I cant believe that the blades dont deploy upon encountering friction during entry. Them two tabs upfront look like they HAVE to move rearward and the only thing keeping that from happening is a flimsy o-ring (which incidentally, I HATE about the rages cause they keep coming open in my quiver).
Seen a lot of success with the rage broadheads here past couple years... guess we dont hear about the failures as much cause people dont want to advertise it. :wave:

 

[Scott63401]

:kewlpics: of the scar :scared:

 

[HabitatMD]

:blah::blah:

 

[Scott63401]

good come back...I'm impressed

 

[JRNYRAVN]

Years ago I shot a 7 point buck during rifle season. The antlers were short and hardly curved at all and the bases were large like a 3.5 year old. I didn't think much of it until I skinned it later. Above the rib cage on the inside of the hide were two perfect X scars and through both backstraps and at that point were gray and as hard as a rock. Obviously it happened the previous year. Other than that it seemed very healthly. Amazing animals for sure.

 

[bhanks55]

habitat. You need to make it a mission to get her. If not your in-town place. Smokepole her so we can get some necropsy results. I would love to see a dissection of that wound tract!!

 

[seth_turner_04]

That's the exact spot I hit a doe earlier this year that ended the same way. I tracked her for a while, but she never bedded or even acted like she was hurt. I was in a very short stand so there was hardly any downward angle on the arrow trajectory.

 

[Thayer]

No void...just a tough deer...probably one lunged here and didn't perforate the diaphragm.

Love them deer...I hope she stuck her tongue out at you.