# Explain this one



## bukhuntr (Dec 1, 2016)

Shot this doe on 11-25 in Greene County.  Slightly quartering away.  I made a smoking shot from 20 yards. Complete pass through.  Killed the doe.  She ran 215 yards and I was on my hands and knees searching for blood almost the entire way.  The shot looked great to me when I made it, I kept second guessing myself the entire track.  Almost backed out to come back later.  Took me almost an hour to find her.  Shooting a Ramcat, which surprised me as well as the buck I shot with one this year bled all over the place.  When I found her I thought the shot looked pretty good.  Should have been a much better trail than there was.  Only thing I can think is that the exit was through the shoulder and maybe that stopped the blood flow.


----------



## watermedic (Dec 1, 2016)

looks like she was bleeding pretty god at the end


----------



## bukhuntr (Dec 1, 2016)

Most of the trail was a drop every 5 yards all the way to where she fell. I kept thinking, ok she's about to open up and start dumping.  Had I not been 100% confident in my shot I would have backed out.  Never had one hit this well bleed this little and Go that far.  All I can think of is that she was running wide open the entire way. I'm sure she was dead within 15 seconds.  Where she fell there were no signs of her kicking or anything.


----------



## Kris87 (Dec 1, 2016)

There wasn't any blood on the ground because it all stuck to her fur 

But on a serious note...Its more than likely the shoulder muscle opening and closing as she was running.  I have a buck I shot with a Ramcat 3 years ago I could post and the exit is exactly where your's is.  My buck wasn't quartered away, it was straight front lung shot, but he didn't go 60 yards and laid a carpet.  So who knows?


----------



## 1eyefishing (Dec 1, 2016)

Idk- possibly a somewhat failure on the mechanical Broadhead? Last year I had a failure on a split fire that only open 2 blades instead of 3. I found all three blades open when I retrieved the broad head out of the dirt, but upon inspecting the wound, there was only an nearly straight slice through the skin on the exit side. Sparse blood trail for the first hundred yards, then plenty. She ran hard and far out of sight, and then dropped with skid marks in the dirt road near my vehicle.

Good job finding her for you...


----------



## rjcruiser (Dec 1, 2016)

It's crazy. Some shots I think are going to bleed all over the place dont....and some that I'm thinking wont bleed at all do.


----------



## mizzippi jb (Dec 1, 2016)

rjcruiser said:


> It's crazy. Some shots I think are going to bleed all over the place dont....and some that I'm thinking wont bleed at all do.



Agreed.  Between doing it or seeing it, I've seen some almost perfect shots with several types of heads that will make you scratch your head and ask why.  Kudos to you OP for keeping with the track, having confidence in what you saw after the shot, and not looking to blame a head failure.  I often wonder how many folks who claim a head failed were in your shoes, then made a 60 yard circle for 20 minutes, then started typing about how crappy a head is


----------



## kbuck1 (Dec 1, 2016)

1eyefishing said:


> Idk- possibly a somewhat failure on the mechanical Broadhead? Last year I had a failure on a split fire that only open 2 blades instead of 3. I found all three blades open when I retrieved the broad head out of the dirt, but upon inspecting the wound, there was only an nearly straight slice through the skin on the exit side. Sparse blood trail for the first hundred yards, then plenty. She ran hard and far out of sight, and then dropped with skid marks in the dirt road near my vehicle.
> 
> Good job finding her for you...



ramcat heads are not mechanical heads


----------



## 1eyefishing (Dec 1, 2016)

kbuck1 said:


> ramcat heads are not mechanical heads




Thx, good info for me. 
Not to derail the OP's thread, but this old dog hates new tricks, so I've been sticking with thunderheads. Tried the splitfires, but right back to thunderheads.


----------



## Mudfeather (Dec 1, 2016)

Charlie Daniels said, "There are some things in this world you cant explain". 

I remember I drilled a doe with my recurve and a Zwickey. Shoot big feathers and I can see them. Knew it was a pocket shot...thought I was going to never have to bend over to find blood and would just walk to her. She was the same deal as you described.  Did find her and it was one of the best placement I have ever made...Go figure...


----------



## Stump Shooter (Dec 2, 2016)

Usually occurs on the shoulder shot, not all the time but some of the time shoulder will block hole. Cant explain the 200 plus yard track job shot looks pretty good.


----------



## Covehnter (Dec 2, 2016)

Sometimes you just have to scratch your head and go "hum". . . . which is exactly what I did on a situation much like yours only I had it on video. Til this day I still wonder what the heck went wrong.


----------



## Nugefan (Dec 2, 2016)

high shoulder shot will have a huge cavity for blood to "stand " in after the shot ....


----------



## Covehnter (Dec 2, 2016)

Nugefan said:


> high shoulder shot will have a huge cavity for blood to "stand " in after the shot ....



I agree. But I wouldn't consider the entry or exit to be high on that shot. . . am I wrong? (the pictures of the original post)


----------



## Cole Henry (Dec 6, 2016)

I shot a doe the other day that had just about the exact entry and exit you do and I had hardly any blood. She went 80 to 90 yards. I was on my hands and knees looking for blood. There would be 15 yards between blood spots sometimes then she would start bleeding good and then slow down again.. When i reached the deer i couldn't believe it because the shot looked perfect to me and it went through both lungs. I guess there is just alot moving around in there as they are running opening and closing the wound channel with every step.


----------



## BowChilling (Dec 6, 2016)

Agreed the high shot and through the shoulder would account for a spotty blood trail. Third factor would be if that deer made it 200+ yards she was hauling butt. She was probably down in 20 seconds.


----------



## satchmo (Dec 6, 2016)

On Bone collector one time in Texas, TBone show a buck so perfectly that you couldn't have walked up and pointed to a better spot. 2 hours later Michael Waddel shot the same buck a Haden mile away and it ran about 40 yards. Never know.


----------



## GeorgiaGlockMan (Dec 6, 2016)

Weird.

I rifle shot a buck Saturday with 30-06.

Not a single drop of blood anywhere..I guess it happens sometimes.

Shot a doe with G5 montecs earlier this year and it looked like a pressurized paint can exploded.

Glad you found her!!


----------



## dixiecutter (Dec 6, 2016)

if she been hangin around a salt lick, might be one of those that clots quickly


----------



## Booner Killa (Dec 6, 2016)

BowChilling said:


> Agreed the high shot and through the shoulder would account for a spotty blood trail. Third factor would be if that deer made it 200+ yards she was hauling butt. She was probably down in 20 seconds.



My thoughts exactly. On a close shot like that, I've had em bolt and adrenaline takes over and they go farther than they should go. In my opinion, a spotty blood trail on a deer you know you made a great shot on is going to happen from time to time for no good reason. If you're gonna make the commitment to bow hunt, you'd better also commit to being a great blood trailer. Blood trailing is a lost art for many bow hunters these days. The only way to get good at trailing is experience. Get on as many blood trails as you can. I shot one a few years ago quartering to directly down through the shoulder at ten yds. Didn't get an exit and the deer ran about 90 yds. Two drops of blood the first 25 or so yds before I got enough to actually track. It's part of the sport.


----------



## red neck richie (Dec 6, 2016)

bukhuntr said:


> Shot this doe on 11-25 in Greene County.  Slightly quartering away.  I made a smoking shot from 20 yards. Complete pass through.  Killed the doe.  She ran 215 yards and I was on my hands and knees searching for blood almost the entire way.  The shot looked great to me when I made it, I kept second guessing myself the entire track.  Almost backed out to come back later.  Took me almost an hour to find her.  Shooting a Ramcat, which surprised me as well as the buck I shot with one this year bled all over the place.  When I found her I thought the shot looked pretty good.  Should have been a much better trail than there was.  Only thing I can think is that the exit was through the shoulder and maybe that stopped the blood flow.



Iv'e double lunged a deer with a 270  that did the same thing. people on this site told me it was biologically impossible. I just told them what I witnessed. Always thoroughly search.


----------



## treemanjohn (Dec 6, 2016)

Did you look at the organs and arteries?  What kind of shape were they in?

I saw my cousin shoot a cow elk with a muzzy once from 25 yards. We both heard and saw the arrow sink in right behind her shoulder.  She didn't flinch and kept eating. He nocked another and slipped it a couple of inches lower than the first. I saw it zip right though her. She ran about 50 yards out of range and I hit a cow call to stop her. She started eating again. We watched her for about 2 minutes and she fell over dead as a hammer. She had both lungs popped from the first shot and the second one cut off the top half of her heart. unbelievable!!


----------



## bukhuntr (Dec 7, 2016)

treemanjohn said:


> Did you look at the organs and arteries?  What kind of shape were they in?



Both Lungs and the heart had caught one blade.


----------



## Ihunt (Dec 8, 2016)

I agree that the shot looks like a ten ring.

This next question is not intended to start anything just trying to learn.

What type head? It seems to me when I shoot one with an expandable they run faster/farther. Again, just curious.


----------



## bukhuntr (Dec 8, 2016)

Ihunt said:


> I agree that the shot looks like a ten ring.
> 
> This next question is not intended to start anything just trying to learn.
> 
> What type head? It seems to me when I shoot one with an expandable they run faster/farther. Again, just curious.



Fixed blade / Ramcat 100g


----------



## Ihunt (Dec 9, 2016)

bukhuntr said:


> Fixed blade / Ramcat 100g



Well, toss that logic out the door. Thanks for the reply.


----------

