Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wounded mule deer have arrows lodged in heads

This is kind of crazy...

Without watching....

Looks like a crossbow hero

Damn sad!! I hate to see a wounded animal.

Looks like someone was focused on the antlers when they took a poor shot. Our rifle season is after bow season and I’ve seen several deer with an arrow sticking out of their haunches. Sad to see an animal suffer....I’d much prefer democrats suffer rather than animals.

Yet we'lll blame the bows all day long on this, never mind how many are shot and wounded with guns... but you can't see the "bullet" in them or through them.

We seemingly will never be able to be on the same page anymore

I don’t think that is the issue and haven’t seen anyone “blame the bows”, what you can see in the previous posts is that myself and others hate to see a wounded animal irregardless of what caused the wound. A bad shot is a bad shot and a wounded animal is a wounded animal.

Thats about as bad as seeing a deer without a nose or lower jaw caused by a "head" shooter.

Theres a good chance the buck above was shot by a jack light poacher trying to be quite about his business and wanting the deer down right there.

Unreal.

I saw a big doe a few weeks ago that appeared to have been shot a bit high and a bit far back with a rifle. I was looking her over with binoculars and she had a big hunk out of her there that appeared to be healing. Her ribs were showing but otherwise she appeared to be doing well and getting around fine with another doe. We all looked at each other for a bit before they flagged off. If I hadn’t had the binocs, I would have never known anything was wrong with her. I expect that she will be fine.

Whenever I have dug into a deer's innards, the small voice in the back of my head wonders about old broadheads that may lurk within.

If these were in a relatively small area, then it's a bit strange.

I ve seen thru as couple deer that were hit poorly with a rifle. I have not seen or encountered any with arrows in them. One doe had a 2 inch hole below the spine and above the lungs but she was still motivating. Ed k

I've seen it plenty around here on the fire. Archery haters.

I"m with you though, I totally hate to see ANY wound. But we tend to pile in on head shooters and archers for some reason. Truth be told plenty are wounded in other ways and or lost.

All of its a shame.

Which should all remind us a passed shot even on the trophy of a lifetime, is much better than a boogered up shot.

Years ago before the rifle season I was scouting for deer and came across a small group of deer and in that group was a small buck with an arrow through his neck, look like that old Steve Martin act where he had an arrow through his head.

I had my rifle with me and my first thought was to put him out of his misery, but after watching him for a bit he didn't seem miserable at all , he seemed to be going on as nothing was wrong.

It would have been illegal for me to drop him and considering his condition I let him go.

I don't have a beef with bow hunters but they kinda have a beef with me because I won't let them hunt my land until after rifle season. My beef with is with fish and game for giving bow hunters such a big advantage. Let the bow guys hunt with the rest of us and just have one deer season regardless of weapon.

Rost, I think most of the contention up here is not what a particular group uses but rather....when? Up here it generally centers on the prime times and the allocation of a particular resource, equitable distribution. I’m sure that every region has its own unique issues and gripes and it’s always interesting for me to hear about them. You and I are in complete agreement about wounding. There’s a lot of lazy hunters that are poor shots and the tool they use is immaterial. I don’t think that the animal cares what shot it. In any case and as usual I find myself in agreement with you and hope all is well in your area.....I hope your call volume decreases and above all I hope you stay safe out there. 👍

I have the same beef as well.

That's "A WILD AND CRAZY DEER"!!!

Then pick up a bow and hunt.

That is a crossbow bolt.

So many unethical hunters out there. Gives the rest of us a bad name. Shame on the unethical!!!!

You guys should see a moose wounded by a locomotive after it has recovered.... all its ribs on that side had been broken and healed, and the lung grown into the ribcage.

Animals can recover from some pretty amazing stuff, but yeah - hate to see them injured from anything, especially poor shooting.

Some years ago I saw a Canadian report about firearm hunters level of competency. IIRC only about 30% of the hunters met the test's level of competency - and that wasn't all that difficult. I doubt US hunters are any better on average. Bow or gun.

I suspect bow hunters may do better than gun hunters, however.

Obviously, whoever did the shooting above was a complete idiot, probably unpracticed, and certainly uncaring.

Didn't watch the video, only saw the image. If that is Colorado, that isn't a bow hunter, that's a poacher with a crossbow.


And what big advantage do bowhunters get? Isn't easy getting within bow range. I see far more game bowhunting, but see is the key word. A big advantage would be sniping a deer from 800-1200 yards away like you see in many videos these days.

F u c k ing dickhead taking a head shot
With an Xbow to boot....

Trying to be a hotdog with a awesome hunting tale.....
Trying to poach it and drop it in its tracks.......

Definitely not trying to take out the airbags and shut down the pump with that assclown shot.

or, could have been shooting broadside and a bit too high, when the deer heard the string release, and looked at him. i had a shot much like that once with a recurve. a boilerroom shot ended up in the back of the head, as the doe did some ninja style leap. it was a 5 hour, tracking job, and a lost deer due to a property line and a nonhunting owner. sometimes, no matter how sure you are of the shot, chit happens.

Big bow hunting advantages? How about hunting the rut (midwest deer, and western elk hunts), whereas rifle hunts occur post rut, unless you draw a rifle rut hunt, at VERY long odds. Unlimited over the counter tags for elk, when they are draw only for rifle (many/most units here in Idaho). Longer hunt duration than rifle, as a rule.

If you look at the success percentages, most elk hunt areas in Idaho are very similar, comparing archery to rifle....roughly 1:8 on general hunts. Rifle success IS much higher on draw hunts.

Not many archery hunters want to hunt bull elk in November.

I do agree with the sniping at 800-1200 yards, with a rifle. But the same is true with archery hunters, but with the 10x factor......800-1200 yds with a rifle roughly equates 80-120 yds with a bow. Plenty of bad "ethics" to go around.

The way I see it....When it comes to "hunting" advantages, bow hunters have more. When it comes to "killing" advantages, rifle hunters have more.

BTW, the last 6x6 I killed had a 125 gr muzzy sticking out of his back. A 200 grain accubond pill made the hurt go away!

Andy3

Aren't X bows legal in gun season, or for handicapped in archery season?.

Years ago, I had a doe take a hop up and sideways at the sound of the string. She left at a high rate of speed. When I went to retrieve my arrow and check the spot, I found handfuls of white under-fur - no blood whatsoever. The arrow obviously passed right along her side without touching her skin. A very skillful shot if I do say so myself.

I have shot 3 deer that have been wounded by other hunters.
All had bullet wounds.

Buddy's brother in law shot a doe w bow and lost it. Another hunter shot her the next yr. Broadhead and couple inches of aluminum shaft inside of her (sealed off in a pocket). Dunno if in front of one lung or in it. Deer looked and acted fine, was in good health (by appearance and weight). Freaked 'em out when gutting.............buddy was there and goes "I know who that belongs to!"

Thing is, farm is good sized, 3 fields, ditches, small spots of scrub trees. Wound was from ladder stand in small patch. Death came from same stand (arrow killed it).

ohio, crossbow is legal for all bow season, and all hunters. i use one.

Time of projectile flight can burn ya.
It is possible the head shot deer was hit not where aimed.
Guy I know has a nice 8 pt with broadhead traingle in middle of skull.
Not intentional. Killed it on the spot.

But...........the OP frontal and high hit..........looks (to me) to probably be a poaching attempt.

video stills 1&3 look like crossbow quarrels. can't see 2 well enough to tell for sure, but looks like arrow. (proportions).
however, video does say "this is not hunting season". so poaching is most likely.

Hunting partner killed a big old Roosevelt rag horn that was real narrow through its haunches. Gutting him out I felt a mass up under the tenderloin. Cut it away and found 4” inches of shaft and attached broadhead all encapsulated in scar tissue. Tough bull both enduring the wound and eating...Happily made sausage out of him though. 😎

I hunted with a fella once, new bowhunter. Left him on a stand for the evening, and when I went back to get him later he was walking around. He was telling me what a great shot he'd made, right in the chest. As we tracked the deer, it was zigzagging uphill. Falling down, tripping over logs and getting up, running into trees. When we found it he had hit it in the head.

Gotta admit, funniest damn bloodtrail I ever followed!

Yeah, I’ve had a few newbies learning their way up to master hunter tell me they’d nailed a deer “Just right over there” with a frantic finger waggle over a vast clear-cut..Tracking hours with little blood to finally catch up to see a limping deer dragging a hoof.

I don’t complain much anymore about archery guys or newbies for that matter, as long as they recognize the learning curve can be steep and they work to improve their abilities in the off season.

I don't mind MOST archery hunters, My dad hates them! He lives in prime hunting territory, and we've found many deer carcasses with arrows in them, on the ranch.
I just figure some more are killed by bad rifle shots - but they're not as obvious.
That said - for whatever reason NM has deemed to keep crossbows out.

I went to crossbow for most bow hunting (not all)due to the fact I get two holes, a fine bloodtrail, and a short tracking. with my compound, i often get only one hole, plugged by an arrow, and while it is also fatal, it is harder to follow.

Even with the rut in some areas and longer seasons, it's still much harder than hunting with a rifle. And even if you can get in range, it might not be enough. This past elk season I had elk within bow range six times in the last four days, including a big herd bull. Due to vegetation I wasn't comfortable taking a shot, just not big enough openings. With a rifle I could have killed an elk every single time.

If rifle hunters had the same seasons it would be a slaughter. If you want to hunt those seasons, pick up a bow and enjoy. I see a lot more game, but dont have as much success. I do have more fun though

Mummumum, mama said xbows are the devil.

Field cleaned an elk, a female friend of the family shot.. she's handicapped...

there was a big hard lump on the heart when I took that out.. since I was going to cook and eat the heart, when
I cleaned it at the cabin, I cut out the lump and then washed it off real good.. was a bullet that hadn't penetrated the heart
just part of the side of the muscle wall....

a Customer over in Coos Bay, who owned the local oil company over there, had a bunch of elk head mounts in his
office... in a glass cabinet, he also had multiple parts of elk backbone or neck...

he had kept them, as each one had one or more arrow heads in them, and that the wound had been grown over
and healed at the time each animal was taken by him...

one particularly large bull's neck spine had 5 different arrow heads, embedded into it....

guess the animals are too dumb to know what pain is, or just learn to live with it and keep on truckin....

didn't impress me much about bow hunters... but then, that is why he kept that stuff..

he didn't care for bow hunters much either...

In MN the gun season is during the rut.

I am have no problem with folks wanting to bow hunt. Its just not my thing.

I do think the seasons(OTC tags, rut, dates, length, areas) are very slanted towards bow hunting.

Bow hunting, in my opinion, is a choice. I just dont like that fact that I dont get the same opportunities because I chose not to bow hunt.

I agree!

FWIW I usually blow through my deer, compound or recurve.
But I have good gear tuned to perfection.

Lots of bowhunters half arse it.

Lots of gun hunters do too.

Which one allows for more chance of miss or lesser wound?

mama needs to read a little history. The crossbow is a noble weapon with an impressive history, that has been melined and decried though out history.
It has been called "The Devil's weapon" , it was claimed it would destroy civilization, and was a bandit's weapon. it has been used to guard castles, fortifications, and was even used in combat against American troops just a few wars ago. there was even a repeating crossbow that would fire semiauto as quickly as you could raise and lower a lever.
a great deal of what is known of long gun design, was worked out in crossbow design, and it is as old as 400BC (Belly-Bow). It deserves more respect than is commonly given. a crossbow is not an imitation long gun, but the long gun could be called an imitation crossbow, as it's roots clearly grow from it's stock.

Holy cow, 5 broadheads in an elks neck? Poor sucker.

I did shoot at an elks neck once. I know. I know.

I was sitting the convergence of three trails on a stool with my back up against a 6" tree trunk. Had a creek about 40 yards behind me. Rather than the elk walking by in front of me on the trail, they came up out of the creek behind me and headed right by me a few yards away. Cow cow cow calf spike cow cow cow cow raghorn cow cow....I waited for the herd bull to follow them right on by at 10 yards. Nope, he came up right behind me and the tree I was against. When he put his head down in the huckleberries I spun around that tree as I drew my bow all in one motion. He caught movement and threw his head up, eyes wide open, wild eyed! I let fly for his neck but he and I were both in full motion and that arrow sailed right under his neck. He spun and ran down into the creek bottom and stopped, and I drilled him at 40 yards. But I can honestly say I've missed a nice Roosevelt bull at the whopping distance of 8 feet.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, shoot him in the neck...

> I hunt both ways bow and rifle and too be honest bowhunters have to work a heck of a lot harder than I good rifle hunter to get a good bow shot. its almost against law for good bowhunters to rifle hunt we know a lot more about deer hunting after years as a bowhunter,we need more time as a bowhunter before the redcoats come out and scare everything cazy ! with my bow a long shot would be 30 yards if deer isn`t looking, but my custom rifle 257 weatherby with a niteforce scope,handloads,rangefinder and bi-pod shoots flat to 600 yards and it don`t matter if deer is looking at me I still will kill it ! it takes time with a bow with a rifle most just drive around with binoculars and shoot animal close to truck,seen it and done it too myself. as hunters best not to complain about each other ,myself on my land its only for a few close friends and family.

"maligned" professor.

Yeah, the head pedophile banned them at one point. Noble is standpoint that would be hard to prove. But opinions vary.

The arguments against crossbows in archery seasons has nothing to do with them being "devil weapons" lol.

Let's face it, compounds aren't really bows. They've been bastardized even more than BP weapons.

kill 10 wild adult whitetails with a compound bow , no baiting on public land then get back to me. I have killed deer with recurves and compounds both can be difficult to kill a adult deer add cold weather " below zero" and most rifle hunters would not do it.

Pete, I feel the same way. Sometimes an archer can get lucky, but I used to figure 4 weeks to fill my elk tag. That's hunting after work and on weekends mostly. You really had to invest the time and effort to make that one killing setup and shot. Lots of missed opportunities, wind was wrong, cows busted you, etc. But you're right, you learn more bowhunting than you ever do rifle hunting. I don't know who said it but it's true, "The bowhunt starts where the rifle hunt ends".

Now that I rifle hunt exclusively I feel I'm far better for the 20 years I spent bowhunting. The hard part is resisting the urge to revert to rifle hunter mode after while. I admit to flushing and shooting a lot of deer with a rifle out of impatience. The difference is now I know how they think so I pretty much now where they are to flush, I don't have to wait them out like I did when I bowhunted.

Game deserves to be taken humanely. Anyone who hunts in a manner that doesn't stand a good chance of rendering the animal DRT has issues that they need to ponder.

Taking satisfaction from causing suffering is fugged up.

My phone has a better spell check than my tablet. However, the current state of phone access to this site, makes any attempt to converse useless.
The newest crossbow designs are truly impressive, but it is still just a horizontal bow, held by a mechanical release. the product has improved, but the physics remain the same. no different than the differences between black powder rifle and modern rifles. The product has improved, but the physics of what happens, remain unchanged.

You can't have all the same opportunities or there would be no game left. If you want the same dates, length, areas, you will never get otc tags and would have to enjoy your hunt every 15 years. There are more rifle hunters than archery. Shooting a rifle is easier with much greater distance. See a bull on the next hillside, range, get in position, set, and fire. Not the case with bows.

And sometimes the muzzle guys get better seasons than archers, other times we're hunting at exactly the same time. Why not go that route?

Would I enjoy taking my rifle after a bull late September? You bet! But it's not going to happen, nor should it.

Yeah you better know who you're talking to, I've bowhunted since 1982 and have bowhunted in 9 states taking whitetail, mulies, antelope, elk, bear, turkey, mountain goat, in that time. Will go moose hunting in WY next year...I hunted compounds until the mid 90s, then went exclusively to recurves and am now using both.

Compounds aren't really bows, that's just my opinion. I like them though.

I've shot a couple of elk in the neck, one went about 5 or 10 feet and the other was DRT.
That tends to happen when a 30-06 is used.

The arrows are gonna start flying now...Watching through my fingers.

Just cause you don't wanta invest practice time with a bow as much as before
And got an xbow now which ya can zero in a hour or less
And be out hunting that same day. Doesn't mean your great
Historical snapshot means much.


It was a line from the waterboy movie
Used in jest...
And you got upset........

It's boils down to the discipline of the bow
Versus the easy convienance of the xbow......
X bows need their own limited season
And not share the woods with archers who put time into practice to aquire
the skill......
Guaranteed if xbow had it own limited season outside of archery
Sales of them would plummet and sales of archery permits would drop also back to pre xbow levels
And xbow permit sales would not even come close to making up the current combined season number
if they had their own season.
Some states have the sense to not allow em
Some states have the sense for their own season for em
Some states have archery and xbow combined
Some states have any weapon all season

All driven in ways by license and permit sales and ease of use wpns
for harvest.

Prior to the xbow revenue scheme
Only people with a docs note could hunt with em in this state........

Now cleatus gets himself a xbow , a bag of corn
Zero,s xbow that midday puts out his corn that evening on land in city limits And telechecks
It in late the next day.

Cleatus weighs 350 is 63 yrs old
Never shot a bow in his life
But now he is out "archery " hunting......


Multiply that statewide in all age groups

All about ease of harvest
For permit sales.....

90% of bow hunters I talk too around here despise xbow hunters
and that is a fact......
areas include
Fort campbell Kentucky
Numerous Twra wma,s
State Forrest tracts
Army corps of engineer tracts
And private land owners




Next!!!!!!

I never said I was upset, now did I? And when you can take a 4 point buck from a pit blind with a bent sapling, a bootlace, and pocket knife at 7 yards, (as I have ) we can discuss skill levels.

Insert applause smiley ......
True or not......
Pics or it never happened...
What season was that In????
Do I need to get my boots on for the detail,s ????

Truth.
I, and a friend of mine, wanted to know how primitive we could go, and still get meat. we tried spears on rabbits, self made bows, and slingshots. I still hunt small game with a slingshot.

I have killed stuff in f u ck ed up ways also.

I'm deadly on small game with a slingshot. nothing f u cked up about it.

Amateur ! A guy I worked with when I climbed utility poles for the cable company killed a spike buck with a hand thrown pipe wrench from 20' straight above it on a utilty pole in a corn field. I've killed rabbits with a hand thrown rock and several species of birds and small game with homemade slingshots and bows when I was a kid.

sound familiar. i throw knives and often use large screwdrivers!

Dude I grew up with a wrist rocket after stopping making homemade
Ones for c hrist sakes
Stop taking things a personal affront....

Get a room.

The people that did that are not archers because they're not shooting bows they're shooting crossguns.

Stop assigning emotions or motives to me I have not expressed. (You are making chit up in your head).

Ya ever hear of a home made pod arrow with a 20 gauge slug
Land version of a shark stick.
BTDT
not proud of it either
Different lifetime long long ago.

Really?

Hahahaaa!!!

yes, there are a few versions. fires a shotgun shell on impact. qualifies as a firearm, and only legal to use during gun season.

https://youtu.be/WK_jkPhrddc

here is one based on the .357 or .38 bullet

New tech stuff their.....
78 tech for 15 yr olds was small nail with tip rounded off in insert of an aluminum
arrow and duck tape to hold shell in place
Bout 10 -12 Yards was pushing it for range with a 40 pd fiberglass bow.

yep, and it was low enough quality that someone decided "Gee! i could make these and SELL them!! and if you watched the video, you would see the results of the improved version. I have no interest in such a poor design. If I had designed it, it would cock and lock with a true firing pin, nd only be triggered on impact. as is, I'm not impressed.

Ren and Kel: I once killed a fly with only a straw and a spitball...Imagine what I could do on a rabbit with my straw. 😉

https://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/Primary/397/397027.jpg
try this. might improve you kill ratio....

i use hex nuts. if you want more mass, fill the center with lead.

Ya ever see those little plastic pistols that shoot salt for flies.
I might pick one up the next time I run across one.
Post up some pics of results. Shyts and giggles type of stuff.

Metal political buttons back when we were kids.
Pop pin out backside and use as little frisbees.
Killed chipmunks with them.
Farthest was over 30 yards.
They fly with a rolling arc so it takes a while to get the knack.

AT MY AGE OF 65 YEARS and have bowhunted since about 10 years of age I have seen plenty and killed many animals,whitetail deer,mule deer,turkeys,mnt. lion,bear,caribou,buffalo,elk "largest bull elk with a bow 374 B.C."antelope,russian hogs,,many predators,i started with a used longbow when I was 8,then recurve back in the 60`s and then compound bow in 1973,won a few archery tournaments including a state title in the harder class free style. so have bowhunted now over 55 years,raised a son who won many many state titles and some national titles too in the harder F.S. class,son has killed plenty animals too and this year he beat my bull elk with a bigger bull with his bow but you won`t read about this giant bull elk I raised him to be humble.>> archery ? ya I know archery and its by far much harder even with a compound bow than rifle hunting ,but I do enjoy both rifle and any bow to hunt with !

I shoot a recurve and use paragraphs/spaces.

I'm a super badass.

Natural progression....the conservatives leave and the anti-hunters move in.

I'm not here to compare hunting bonafides with you and what you seem to miss is that we're in general agreement. Hunting with a bow is harder and takes more time. However compound technology is making 100 yd shots doable, I see it on Bowsite all the time..,which is why I think some changes are going to be made regarding season length...as it should.

Mehhhhh....I was changing spark plugs in my plum crazy 72 dodge challenger.

I zinged a spent R44xls approximately 23 feet across my shop and drilled a mouse on the run. Lead him by 2". DRT!!!

Btw....who the F UCK has not heard the quote from The Waterboy?

gawd....don't be such a Mannlicker.

Alright mighty hunter. Let's see you skin it and eat it! (Waste not, want not) (sarc)

Congrats to you and your son, sir.

Feed pile outside someone's window. Probably shooting them at night with a crossbow to the head, a good shot would drop them in their tracks. This is result of stupidity.

This is getting good now...It’s the Fires 🔥 version of “Alone”....Last week Renegade was about to eat his kids gerbil...While Kellory had
Just returned from Band Camp with a Flute and a pocket of rocks to make into a cool weapon...Popcorn 😂

Had a Navajo cook a giant gerbil he caught over a trash fire in Iraq in pz posture for 21 days after the cease fire from desert storm
Supposedly no Americans north of some latitude lines. Per terms...
Whole of 1st brigade 327th IN was ghosting as a reaction force
Tobacco products running low
Chow running low
Water running low
Yazzi kept us entertained with his trip wire wrapped roasted gerbil
For awhile
Yes he ate it...
Yes he did offer some to all
None of us acceppted

HAHAHAAAA!!!

Hmmm...a flute and rocks? Can you say potato cannon? (I did take a survival course after Boy Scouts. Wire snares and automatic fishing jigs hold no secrets from me. bird poles, squirrel sticks, deadfalls...They have all Bourne meat. Carved and strung bow in the Boy Scouts for that matter. Guns are not your only tools available.
It's one of those things that never make sense about Survivor, no one ever makes a bow, for hunting or fishing.

Yeah Beaver....Renegade was in the boy scouts, The Rakkasan regiment i believe was the name of their den or something like that, troop 187. Webelo badge, arrow of light, fire makin and sheeit. Lots of camping.

lmfao

Any one ever tried dog ?????
Rope around the neck
Tie it off on the handrail of an over pass
Tie a cinder block off on the rear legs
Heave ho over the edge

Dinner later on at a relations building event after a 30 day feild exercise
With the south Korean tiger brigade in sonjuri


Pissed me off , but I ate like a "gracious" ally......