Well, I finally had a doe come within range this year after quite a few hunts. What prompts this post other than just being happy was the fact that this deer only traveled about 15 yards before piling up. Most (read that all) of my other bow kills have run anywhere from 75-100 (hard tracking flashlight-in-the-mouth on the hands and knees in the cutover) yards.This particular shot was left of the spine , forward of the hind leg, as the deer was walking away.The arrow didn't exit but had pierced the sternum and the silvertip mechanical had stretched the hide out so you could see it with no difficulty.When I saw the arrow still stuck in the deer without an exit wound I thought I was in for my usual tracking event. Boy, was I relieved when it was close at hand.

Well, this is a longwinded way of setting up a question. How far does the average bow shot deer run? And which shots get the best results?
I look forward to hearing your answers. Russ

[ 11-01-2002, 21:32: Message edited by: Russ D ]

I've had double lung shots drop them in thier tracks and I once had one that had a 2" hole in the heart go 200 yds. You just never know.

Congrats on the addition to the freezer!

For many years I rationalized not trying the bow because I had heard so many bad stories of lost game and difficult deaths. A buddy talked me into it indicating that in 15 years he'd never lost one that he'd hit. As I had shot a recurve at targets during college, picking up a compound wasn't too big a problem.

This is only my second bow season ... took two last year and have taken two this year already (one about dusk today). All four were broadsides at 20 to 25 yards range. Impacts have all been just behind the foreleg about 3 to 4 inches from the bottom of the sternum. and were angled downward.

I have been amazed at how quickly they dropped. None have gone more than 40 yards and all have dropped at the first obstacle in their path. I've had decent rifle hits go further. Cross my fingers and hope all of them in the future go like this ... but I am darned impressed by complete pass throughs with Muzzy broadheads!

Again, congradulations and good hunting the rest of the season!

Russ D, congrats on the deer. I have double lunged many deer. I have had them stay right where they were hit, continue feeding, and lay down to expire. On the other hand, with the same hit they have run or walked a half mile or more. No two have acted similarly. I think it is tough to get the same reaction in any animal when you are not getting structural damage. Learn the animals anatomy, keep your shots in the zone, and never track too soon. I personally wait 30 minutes to an hour if they don't drop in view. I feel tracking too soon is the biggest mistake hunters make.

Last year I shot a good sized doe at 15yds. She had been running around with two others and was breathing hard when I shot. She trotted about 20yds. stopped and began to wobble then fell over. The shot was standing broadside, double lung.

I got my first archery buck this year on 10/14. (6pt) 20yd broadside shot. He either "jumped the string" or I just plain made a bad shot, and hit him square in the spine. He dropped at the shot, pulled himself across the trail. I waited a minute or two to see if the shot was fatal which it was not. I shot another arrow but it was deflected by brush and it sliced his hind quarter. I got down from the tree stand and shot him from behind, angling into the chest which quickly finished the job. I dont know if the first shot would have been fatal if I waited longer. He may have died from shock but I do not want an animal suffer.

Nutoy: I'm still waiting for the one that drops in his tracks.Maybe those Texas deer aren't as hardy as our South Carolina deer.

Aquavit: You're exactly right about the quartering away shot. That is definitely the most forgiving.Your mentioning of the liver reminded me of an old reference to the "liverknot" which may be a european term.Anyway I found the old reference after a search which yielded http://home.snafu.de/l.moeller/hunt_bullet_selection.html (you know how one thing leads to another)

Mstarling: Your friend is most remarkable. I don't know anyone who has hunted any length of time that hasn't lost an arrowed deer.

Carnivore: I have heard of moose taking a bullet and continuing to feed until they fell over but never any of our deer. That would be fascinating to watch.Most of our bowhunting is done with limited visibility so I rarely get to see them expire.

Ten32:Congrats on the buck. I haven't done the spine thing with a bow, but I did neck shoot one with my muzzleloader and had to get down and finish things with my knife.It was just awful.I don't know how to describe in print the sound it was making but if you've heard it you know what I mean.

I've had a couple double lung shots die on the run/trot within 10-20 yards. Very impressive.
My first deer(with shotgun and slug) went about 100 yards with no heart and lungs to speak of.
So it just depends on the animal.
I agree with Carnivore on the fact that pushing a deer to early probobly loses more deer than anything else.

Russ D. Good for you on getting a short track to your kill. Most kills are 70 to 100 yards. The farest I had to track this years has been 125. On opening week end I shot 3 bucks. However, I have and advantage where I hunter. I hunt on a nursery between two plantations. See in South Carolina the season run from Aug 15 to Jan 1. After Oct your allowed to take each day (1 buck and two does). We have doe tags to hunt does. So far I have taken 8 deer.

TM,
Man you are really working on them down there... just curious, you've got 8 out of how many shots? be honest.

I'm back on my game. A new world's (for me anyway) record for the longest blood trail. I punctured a doe last night about 6:00 ,low light , distance about 22 yards.Satisfying whomp, but deer bucked and kicked as if gut shot.Got down and examined arrow, clean pass through , arrow a nice desirable shade of red. I was kind of halfway expecting the worse ,you know slimed arrow with all kinds of varying degrees of undigested greens and acorns. So, now I'm feeling better and I set off on the blood trail, dropping postage stamp sized pieces of toilet paper to mark the blood. 5 hours later, and about 300 yards through woods, ravines, I found her.Took her to the cleaning shed and did the post mortem. The shot was a little further back than I like but was in front of the diaphragm. One lung had a 1 1/2" triangle cut through it. Amazing what they can do on one lung.

I got my first deer of the year last night. I climbed into my treestand at 3:10. At 4:30 a doe crossed to my front at about 40 yards and started eating acorns under a huge white oak. At 4:45 a doe and a fawn came from behind me and walked directly below me on the way to the same tree. Fifteen minutes later I spied a small 4x4 directly behind me at about 35 yards. I blew on my grunt tube and got no reaction at all. Shortly he started walking toward a shooting lane. When he stepped into an opening at about 25 yards I shot while he was still walking slowly.

I watched the arrow all the way in and heard the impact. It looked like a center lung hit. When he took off a much larger buck took off with him. He ran as if nothing was wrong. His tail was up, bouncing and flagging fairly slowly. Since I saw him go over 75 yards before he went out of sight, I climbed down and went over and checked my arrow. I found it 6 feet from his hoof tracks covered in bright red blood.

While examining the arrow I heard him crash and started trailing immediatly, as it was starting to get dark. I found the first blood at about 40 yards, and only a few splashes for the next 40 or so then a huge steady blood trail down the trail for another 100. Then he turned off the trail and went 75 yards into the thickest, nastiest tangle of greenbiars, multiflora rose and blackberry vines I've ever seen. I had to crawl in and crawl back out, dragging him all the way back to the trail while on my hands and knees. At that point, I was glad I didn't get the big one.

I had hit both lungs just above and behind the heart. I was really surprised he went as far as he did with such a good hit.

Now I'm concentrating on the big one.

Oh, and I leaned my bow against a tree where I found my arrow while I tracked the deer. When I got back a squirrel had his neck caught in my bowstring. It must have been checking out the blood.

[ 11-02-2002, 02:42: Message edited by: Ol' Sarge ]

Speaking of distance,I shot a doe today that made 500yds easy.I,for whatever reason, paunched her bad.Thank God I nicked the liver.
Long day,long track and I'm too drunk to tell the whole story.
Mad

Steve, Answer to your question, Out of 12 hunts I took eight deer. I will tell you I do use techology. I were a sentlok suite from the top of my head to the boots. My boots are snake boots with rubber soles. I shoot from ground cover and tree climper when I need to be higher. I never sit in the same place or tree. I look for good ground cover or in the tree I try to use broad leaf and limbs in the tree canopy for add cover. I do spray my feet down with vanilla extract to cover my sense in and out. I have learn to sit still unless a snake decide to joint me on the ground or a racoon in a tree. As far as mosquito go the bug tammer is the best for me. All the truth and nothing but.

[ 11-04-2002, 19:53: Message edited by: TM ]

Ol' Sarge,
Congratulations on your Buck and Tree Rat with one Arrow!

Post some pictures of your double if you took some

No pics. I had left my camera in the truck and it was very dark by the time I got back to it.

I let the "tree rat" go.

Oh Well,
Maybe next time

[ 11-05-2002, 04:42: Message edited by: amosgreg ]

Third deer! This one , I didn't have to track at all. I had drawn when it was feeding behind limbs, expecting it to walk right out into the spot I had picked out for it.Well , it went to the right , still behind limbs, then back to the left where I wanted it but still under cover, then it started coming right at me. I had now been at full draw for a while and decided to take the shot as opposed to letting down , turning around and shooting as she walked away.Right into the spine and down she went squirming around in a circle . I quickly nocked again and skillfully shot her in the left foreleg. Nocking again I was able to get one into the boiler room, which calmed things down considerably. Whew! Talk about a bunch of adrenalin all at once. Not a preferred shot but no tracking needed Now, I know why I carry six arrows. Good hunting, Russ

Nutoy, I'm glad to know your secret. Good hunting , Russ

Guy's, I have never been so lucky to have a deer that I hit with and arrow that drop in front of me or in his tracks. It alway been a let go tracken..

However, to change the topic, I'm going to start taking along my camera. I seen some nice pictures from number of you, just like to return you al some to look. Just keep in mind the deer we shoot in SC only weight in from 110 lbs to 190 lbs. Now I have been told that in the upper part of the state they take them at 200 Plus, but I question those numbers?

Another deer season ends in South Carolina on Jan 1 2003. However on the bright side I was able to take eight deer. Also the first season 3-D shoot is on Jan 5th which I enjoy in the off hunting season. Keeps the skill level at peak. Hope you all had a great hunting season and holiday.

Most deer will run 75 to 100 yards, but I like to wait 1 to 2 Hours before tracking them. Everyone makes a bad shot sometimes. Patience is the key.

Good Luck Hunting!!!

Russ D.
In reply to your question on ScentLok I actually use two suits at different times of the year.
1. My light weight suit is by ScentLok. They just came out with it in the last two years. Does extermely well in South Carolina heat/humity. Before then I used a mid weight ScentLok and just stay on the warn side but could hunt with it.
2. When the weather turns cool, I still wear the light weight suit. However I have a Cortex ScentLok rain suit. Very soft exterior in break up patten. Between the two suits my body temperature stay comfortable down to 30 degree. We only get 30 degree here for a few weeks at most. TM. PS. This year I also puschased the ThermaCell Mosquite Repellent system. It really works and does not effect the deer when they come. Better that Mosquite spray.

[ 02-16-2003, 20:42: Message edited by: TM ]

Thanks, TM. I've been wanting to get a suit but don't want to make an expensive mistake. Is your lightweight suit one that you wear over your clothes or is it underwear? If you have a Cabelas catalog or their web catalog could you post the catalog number or a link to the light suit . Thanks a bunch. I too am in SC and although further north than you, we still hunt a lot in warm weather. Thanks again,

RUSS D.

1. WWW.CABELAS.COM or 1-800-237-4444
2. Cabelo's MT050 rain equipment in gore-tex/scentlok. This suit is in Cabelo's master catalog fall 2002 edition I. Page 23.
3. ScentLok suit I purchased for is called climaflex single layer (Savanna Series) by ScentLok. A Very light weight and breathable suit. I'm a very warm blooded person, so if I can wear it in the south of the state I know you will be able to wear it in the up state. There is no need to wear under garment scentLok underwear with this suit. All I wear is my own underwear. This suit is in the cabelas master catalog fall 2002 edition II, page 77. You have a number of different style shirts to select from. I selected the pull over long sleeve with the pants. It work well with me. Comes down to perference. Hope this help.

[ 02-18-2003, 03:48: Message edited by: TM ]