Anyone ever recover a high hit?

[OntarioHunter]

That is definately foamy lung stuff, but not much. She should bed down. Too bad you don't have any snow. Take your time and mark each blood spot with a piece of flagging in case you need to backtrack and start again.

Another bow hunter passed on some good advice a few years back. He bought a cheap package of medium size nuts (for bolts) and tied a piece of flagging tape to each one. That way he could either loop tape through the nut and hang it on a limb or drop it on the ground and it would stay put. Easy to pick up and put back in his pocket on the way out.

 

[Nick87]

No man's land is my guess.

 

[elkantlers]

good luck to you

 

[Labman1127]

Sorry to say but that I agree that that is a high hit in “no mans land” / tenderloin shot. As others have said, the silver lining is that is a highly survivable hit for that deer.
I say this with fair certainty as I have picked up an arrow before that looked exactly like yours. Coated with white tallow and a little blood, with a spotty blood trial to follow consisting of dime sized drops for hundreds of yards before I lost the trail. It was a nervous buck that ducked when I released the arrow.
Good luck on your recovery.

 

[tjones]

A good read on the myth of “no mans land”


Hopefully you find her.

The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest

No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest. That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...

www.themeateater.com

 

[Nick87]

Well?

 

[338 win mag]

Could be top of lung. I've seen plenty of deer die quickly with little or no blood trail. Lungs could be full of blood yet leave little trace on the ground. Good luck

 

[Labman1127]

A good read on the myth of “no mans land”


Hopefully you find her.

The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest

No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest. That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...

www.themeateater.com

I was actually referring to that area above the Spine (tenderloin shot) as “No Man’s Land”.
it’s just muscle and ligament up there with some small spinous process bone. Any way you cut it, it’s a non-lethal shot with a bow.
Now if you hit him there with a 300 Win Mag there maybe enough bullet shock / displacement to severe the spine or at least temporarily paralyze the animal for a quick follow up shot.

 

[OntarioHunter]

A good read on the myth of “no mans land”


Hopefully you find her.

The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest

No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest. That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...

www.themeateater.com

Thanks for that great read. I cannot believe anyone who ever gutted a deer would believe it would be less susceptible to a high shot in the body if it was exhaling. That is laughable!

 

[OntarioHunter]

I was actually referring to that area above the Spine (tenderloin shot) as “No Man’s Land”.
it’s just muscle and ligament up there with some small spinous process bone. Any way you cut it, it’s a non-lethal shot with a bow.
Now if you hit him there with a 300 Win Mag there maybe enough bullet shock / displacement to severe the spine or at least temporarily paralyze the animal for a quick follow up shot.

That bit of foamy blood he found would seem to negate the hit in the back strap theory. Sure looks like blood from either lung or carotid artery.

 

[tjones]

I

I was actually referring to that area above the Spine (tenderloin shot) as “No Man’s Land”.
it’s just muscle and ligament up there with some small spinous process bone. Any way you cut it, it’s a non-lethal shot with a bow.
Now if you hit him there with a 300 Win Mag there maybe enough bullet shock / displacement to severe the spine or at least temporarily paralyze the animal for a quick follow up sho

Gotcha. We always referred to the tenderloins as the two strips of meat in front of the hind legs, inside of the cavity. The other as backstrap

 

[Deleted member 28227]

A good read on the myth of “no mans land”


Hopefully you find her.

The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest

No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest. That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...

www.themeateater.com

Killed this elk with a rifle during first season in CO.



I also shot a pronghorn with a muzzy, she dropped got up and ran. She was covered in blood just back from the front shoulder a couple inches down from the spine. We followed her for six miles without a chance at a follow up over a period of a couple hours. She was easy to pick out covered in blood.

I’m just saying you can hit under the spine and not have the hit be lethal.

 

[Nick87]

I was actually referring to that area above the Spine (tenderloin shot) as “No Man’s Land”.
it’s just muscle and ligament up there with some small spinous process bone. Any way you cut it, it’s a non-lethal shot with a bow.
Now if you hit him there with a 300 Win Mag there maybe enough bullet shock / displacement to severe the spine or at least temporarily paralyze the animal for a quick follow up shot.

What I was referring to as well.

 

[DouglasR]

no dice
Hunting is hard...

I was able to follow small specs of blood for approximately 400yds at which point she headed downhill into a ravine.
I walked the ravine a couple hundred more yards down to the creek bottom then searched up and down the creek a little ways in each direction.

So she either climbed out of the ravine or walked damn near 1000yds so I don’t think I’m gonna find her.

@OntarioHunter
I’m not 100% sure but I think the stuff that looks like foam in the pics is actually just tallow or flesh from the wound.
I could be wrong.

I hope she’s ok.
so frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Sorry man that sucks

 

[RobG]

I can’t think of any area in the chest cavity or blackstrap with tallow. There is hard fat on a spot on the “arm” but the arrow would have hit lungs. Hard fat is on the rump top too, but I’m not sure it would stick to arrow.

The waxy fat that I think would stick to an arrow is right under the spine around the rear legs (tenderloin area). You might have been able to slip an arrow through there without hitting the femoral.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Killed this elk with a rifle during first season in CO.

View attachment 167834

I also shot a pronghorn with a muzzy, she dropped got up and ran. She was covered in blood just back from the front shoulder a couple inches down from the spine. We followed her for six miles without a chance at a follow up over a period of a couple hours. She was easy to pick out covered in blood.

I’m just saying you can hit under the spine and not have the hit be lethal.

I don’t know how high you shot your antelope but,
1. That bull is definitely hit above the spine.
2. At the juncture of neck and shoulders the spine dips very low, probably at least a third of the way down from the back line.
3. I am not saying that a high one lung hit isn’t possible to survive, but every time I have hit high and recovered an animal it has been a short recovery with massive blood loss. Not always a good blood trail because of the high wound location, but accompanied by massive internal bleeding.

My automatic assessment when I hear
“I shot just below the spine” is backstrap shot.

 

[Addicting]

I watched the biggest buck we have had on our farm run away after being shot by a muzzleloader high in the ribs. I got to watch him for about 150 yards. I could see the blood stain on his chest get bigger and bigger and him appear to get wobbly and lay down. We gave him a half hour and he jumped up running like Usain Bolt out of our lives. He was bleeding out a hole 5-6” below the top of his back.

I have no doubt he succumbed to the shot / or infection. Blood was sprayed out ok till we got to a swamp and we could never find where he exited. Walked the whole thing and there was no where to hide. I am pretty sure I jumped him the next day where they normally run to.

Never got anymore pics of him or found the carcass, none of the neighbors reported seeing him. My guess he was hit thru the liver just behind the diaphragm high.

 

[madtom]

Yeah, the bull with the arrow is analogous to a pierced ear. Looks well above the spine and above almost all the backstrap.

 

[ACfixer]

Sorry to see this OP, I'd agree with the others that think she probably survived. Bow hunting is just so unforgiving, you did your best, don't beat yourself up over it. The a-hole lets it go and just shoots another, you on the other hand are a sportsman.