Whether you shoot them with an arrow or a rifle, there are no guarantees whatsoever that you will get a blood trail, whether it will last as long as the deer does or not. Out of the last 8 deer, one left zero blood trail until it tipped over. Not so much as a single drop. It made it maybe 50 yards and then at tip over it looked like a slaughter house. Everything within 10 feet was red. One did an excellent job of putting blood on the ground for 300 yards, at which time he ran out of blood and managed another 100 yards. One bled good for 250 yards and then quit for 200. She then bled enough to follow to where she tipped over 300 yards further. One bled very heavily for 300 yards to the point it was stopping every six feet and putting 1/2 cup of blood on each side. But he made it another 100 without further bleeding. All of those were hit with large 4 blade mech heads and double lunged but for one.
I shot one fawn through the bottom inch of both scapulae which turned both lungs into red soup but for a fist size chunk and shredded the top 2/3 of the heart. That damn deer bled for 3 jumps and then not another drop. That deer should by all rights have been DRT, but it departed like i never touched it.
I have had 3 DRT deer with an arrow. I will be damned if I could say why they didn't run, but the they went nowhere. Kind of like the deer just figured I been shot and now I am going to be dinner, and then laid down dead
I guess having seen so many die with such widely varied results after the shot is why I don't have even the slightest bias toward any caliber, mech or fixed heads, bow or rifle.
I will say though that I am just about certain that all of the deer I have killed with an arrow I would have clipped the brain stem had I been using a rifle. Roughly 1/3 of the deer I have killed with a rifle were either head shots or brain stem shots. All but one of them were very close, archery range or closer.
I'd switch broadheads.
I am listening. Like i said above, I do not have the slightest allegiance to caliber, mech or fixed heads,bow or rifle.
I used to have issues with blood trails from a wide array of broadheads, they left blood trails some better than others and some downright miserable. That is until my friends started using rage broadheads. They were using the standard ones and me being me wanted to be slightly different went with the Rage Hypodermics. All I can say is wow! The commercials are right..it’s a red carpet of blood. I’m sold on em.
3 out of four the Rages worked good. All of them though, the blood ne er started much before 30-40 yards. The 4 blade heads, the blood started at 5-10 yards and they bled as well. I did get 1 DRT with a Rage. None with the Hypo. 3 blade fixed were no better and no worse. The 4 blade mechs have thus far been the best. The first 4 i shot with Rages were all through the heart. 1 Drt, 1about 60 yards 1 about a ,ittle over 100 yards and one made it just a litte over 200 yards.. once they started to bleed, they all bled admirably. But...out of two dozen only one deer did not bleed quite well, that one wzs the one that spun toward me.. I personally find it hard to fault a head for a deer that bleeds well until it runs out of blood, nor one which gives me enough blood to follow at a dead run for a mile.
One deer i cannot begin to explain. Facing me dead on. I pot the arrow in just below her throat. I saw it reemerge from under her rump. I found two distinct isolate patches of hair a couple feet apart right where I expected them. When I recovered her I could find no blood in the chest or abdomen. No exit hole. No evidence the arrow ever entered her chest.
I... A DRT in my mind is the animal drops instantly, legs and body are "frozen", it doesn't take a step or get up and run or try to run and is dead almost immediately. ...
...is DRT the same as a 'Bang-Flop'...or 'Bang-Flop and Roll'..etc....?..
something can be DRT but still carry on in momentum like nose diving into the ground , ..right?
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
I find this pic to be distasteful -> that's as P C as I can state it!! Why would WE give the anti's any ammunition to shoot us with ? I agree with Battue !
Originally Posted by battue
Addition: The number of people here who get their rocks off in showing mangled game never ceases to amaze me. Yet those who take a real trophy animal do their best to picture it in the best presentation as possible.
yuck, I agree that is a poor pic to post. and the poster is proud of what exactly?
I shoot 168 VLD's from a 308 and punched behind the shoulder often yields a DRT or bangflop. I try to put it midway between the brisket and top of the back. the majority of critters flop over when I do this, no meat loss to speak of. maybe it was jwall who posted the pic of the inside and the nick out of the backbone, I often see this with mine as well. I firmly believe equal credit goes to the load I'm using and proper shot placement. Of the last 20 or so big game animals we've taken with it I've only seen 1 go any distance and that was my wife's mule deer in 2017, she hit it in the ribs and demolished both lungs. it ran 100 yards and still had his head up 15 minutes after the shot. I have no idea how it was possible, but was an easy recovery.
Youngsters can even do it
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
For those of you that want DRT results, why hasn't anyone mentioned head shots? Yes it's a smaller target, but if you hit em in the head, I will bet nearly everything I have they will DRT. Opening day of doe season, we have a contest to see who can hit closest to the eye. Makes a mess, but, DRT and no meat loss.
If its games you are interested in, may I suggest golf or maybe bowling,anyone that has been hunting very long has seen the results of idiots trying to head shoot deer, and results are often a deer staggering around with their jaws missing
For those of you that want DRT results, why hasn't anyone mentioned head shots? Yes it's a smaller target, but if you hit em in the head, I will bet nearly everything I have they will DRT. Opening day of doe season, we have a contest to see who can hit closest to the eye. Makes a mess, but, DRT and no meat loss.
Szchit nevers go wrong – until it does. I've had to burn a buck tag twice in my life (on deer I wouldn't normally shoot) because some yahoo-never-misses sniper shot the jaw off a deer.
Given Murphy's propensity, and the fact that I'm not at war with the animals, head shots are a hard pass for me.
Ditto....seen that myself. I avoid head shots like the plague unless it's all I have, I have a solid rest and everything "feels" right.
Originally Posted by New_2_99s
Exactly !
+1
& I always figured, blood trailing was one of the most exciting & important skills of hunting !
YMMV
I can see the allure to DRT in many circumstances, but to be honest, blood trailing and especially the anticipation of whether or not the critter is dead around the next tree is one of my favorite parts of hunting. I really enjoy following a good blood trail on an animal I know was hit well, though they're usually very short trails when the shot was where it was supposed to be.
I surely do appreciate an instant, or near-instant kill. Bang. "There's the deer."
My son and I got real used to that happening. Not always, but usually. He had the funniest look on his face a few years back when he chest shot a young whitetail buck at about 30 feet, with his 30-06 and a 165 gr Nosler Partition. The buck showed no indication of a hit and simply ran. He was shocked and thought he'd missed somehow.
Nope - I smiled - said "wait" and then we went and followed a very good blood trail maybe 25 yards in the snow. And had to pull the very dead buck out of an icy creek. Yee haw! That's one of the few that didn't drop instantly, or nearly instantly.
Couple of years back, I made a poor hit on a big muley with my 25-06. He stopped, then lay down, but kept his head up. I couldn't get another shot. Eventually he got to his feet and left! Did some tracking on that one. I'd just hit him too far back. Damn. Hate that. Good buck I'd hunted for three days. Glad to have found him!
I used to think that really fast expanding bullets and higher velocities resulted in more instant kills, but I'm not so sure anymore. Have seen the instant & near-instant death from low-velocity 50 cal soft-lead bullet from my traditional muzzle loader as well as from fast-stepping cartridges like the 6mm Rem & 25-06, anymore... I dunno.
Will definitely lose some meat with the shoulder shots, which I do, but its better than losing a whole deer. Its also nice to drive right up to them. I have to be careful with my ballistic tip loads in my 270 and 708, a behind the shoulder soft tissue shot is not optimal and has made for some tracking jobs I wish I would not have had. I deer can cover a lot of ground before it expires when there is no blood trial you better have a good idea of where it went or a good dog around. I shot a doe straight on a couple years ago, heart was destroyed, dang thing flipped and hit the ground hard, still to get up and run 50 yards, they are tough animals.
I'm glad to not see any mentions of neck shots in this thread. If you have a good rest and the confidence to pull them off, go for it. I just think there are too many factors, being in a tree, weather, rest, a target capable of moving, that make neck shots not optimal...and then you see the newbies come across neck shot threads and think they should try it. I killed a doe one opening day afternoon that had been neck shot I'm guessing earlier than morning. No reason for that mess.
This pic is Self Explanatory. The neck is a BIG target.
Jerry
2017
Yes neck shots work FROM the BACK of the neck. This guy was walking straight away from me and he was @ 175 yds---- I use Shooting Sticks---- DRT Bulged his eyeballs.
The majority of time in my deer hunting history I have 'blood trailed' deer. I don't mind it 'where' and 'when' you have the room and time to do so.
It was ONLY after acquiring confidence in MY shooting AND in the gun, that I attempted and continued CNS shots. NOW I look for the CNS shot FIRST. It's so calming and comforting to shoot and SEE the deer where it was standing.
My boys and I have shot dozens of white tails in the neck for years with a 222. They literally drop in their tracks. Usually from 50 to 150 yds. Tough to beat that.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.postimg.cc/pVnSrLc9/43-E777-DD-2-E82-44-C9-A491-544-D1-EC62013.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/Cf0H3fX.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/sssGrbp.jpg)
coulda been a preacher! ; ]
![[Linked Image]](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1896/43802066285_1708a2d8b6_z.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/cevYfEb.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/KiEWJ43.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://s1125.photobucket.com/user/kleingunther/media/photo-18.jpg.html)
![[Linked Image]](http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/kleingunther/media/photo-19.jpg.html)
