Explaining Post-Shot Reactions by Whitetails

Few things are better than watching a perfect arrow hit the vitals and seeing a deer tip over 10 lunges later. Some hits are great. A straight heart shot, heart and single-lung, or double-lung hit are quick, humane deaths for a deer. It’s over in seconds. These are the shots that good bowhunters always try to make.

But there are bad hits that hunters should never hope for. These include single-lung, liver, paunch, gut, intestinal, spine and arterial hits. Sure, these will likely kill the deer (or lead to a lethal follow-up shot), but these are nothing to be proud of. Then there are the ugly hits. Head, neck, shoulder, leg and other hard-tissue hits often lead to non-lethal wounds and an agonizing existence, if only for a while.

Of course, accidents happen. Hunt long enough, and a bowhunter is sure to miss the mark. Even so, it’s important for hunters to know all about every archery hit, even the worst ones. This will impact the blood-trailing process.

Heart Shot: The heart is located behind the front leg near the bottom of the chest cavity. You know it when you see it — that classic mule kick that signifies a heart shot, or something close to it. If ribs are hit, the reaction is more exaggerated. If the ribs are missed, the reaction might be more subtle. Generally, the deer runs off; and unless it bolts into thick cover, the deer likely doesn’t make it out of sight. It’s death within seconds.

Usually, the arrow has crimson-red blood on it. The blood trail should be painted heavily. Oftentimes, the deer runs less than 100 yards. If the deer does make it out of sight, wait 30 minutes, but there isn’t much need to wait longer.

Lung Shot: The lungs are positioned behind the shoulder and take up most of the front 1/3 of the body cavity (especially when fully inflated). A deer’s reaction to a lung shot can vary. It might mule kick, take off sprinting or even run a short distance and look around. The deer may or may not make it out of sight before expiring.

Still, the arrow should be covered in bright-red or pinkish-red blood. It should also have small bubbles in it to indicate oxygenized blood. The blood trail should be heavy, unless it’s a high lung hit, which might start out slow. Nonetheless, these deer rarely go more than 150-200 yards. There’s no need to wait more than an hour before taking up the blood trail.

Arterial Shot: In addition to heart and lung shots, arterial hits can be very lethal. This is especially true for the aorta, femoral and carotid arteries. While these are very small with low odds of striking, when struck, it typically produces a very fast death. Reactions vary greatly, but deer can bleed out in seconds. You’ll likely see spray.

Usually, the arrow will have a lot of blood on it, and the blood trail will be heavy. It will also likely be quite short. If an artery is hit, long wait times aren’t necessary. Still, these are usually in parts of the body that produce slow deaths or no death at all (near the backstrap, hind quarter and neck muscles). Still, follow-up quickly. Either the deer is dead, or a follow-up shot is needed.

Liver Hit: The liver is located behind the lungs and in front of the paunch. Certainly a lethal wound, the liver-hit deer will likely run off a few paces, stop, and then walk off. Sometimes, it acts similarly to a gut-shot deer, especially if multiple organs are struck. Unless bedding down quickly, most liver-hit deer make it out of sight.

Usually, the arrow is covered with dark-red blood. The blood trail is the same and might start out somewhat promising. However, it will decrease in quality with time. It will be mostly droplets and not spray. Give the deer plenty of time; about six to seven hours should be enough. If you track sooner, you could risk bumping the deer.

Paunch and Gut Shots: These organs are located behind the liver and diaphragm. One of the worst hits a hunter can make, the paunch and/or intestinal (gut) shot is a rough deal. The deer will often bound off a few paces, stop, hunch up, and then slowly walk off. It might bed down within sight, or it could bed down out of sight. But it usually beds within 200 yards of impact. The deer will appear very sickly.

The arrow likely won’t have much, if any, blood on it. It will likely have brown, green and/or yellow stomach matter on it. The arrow will also smell quite foul, and there will be little to no blood on the ground. Hunters should wait 10-12 hours, and sometimes up to 20, before blood trailing. If you can get a follow-up shot quickly to end the suffering, that’s great. But if you move in too soon and bump the deer from its first bed, the deer will likely run off. The recovery becomes much more difficult after that.

Shoulder Shots: The shoulder region is a difficult area. If an artery or the lungs are hit, it can produce death. That said, if the arrow doesn’t hit just right, the deer can live. Of course, the scapula (high shoulder) area is located directly above the front leg about 2/3 of the way up the body. It is a very strong bone that is difficult to punch through, especially without a heavy arrow and broadhead setup.

When struck, the deer typically bolts, then slows down, and then makes it out of sight. The arrow will likely remain in the deer, at least for a while, before breaking. The blood trail will have bright red blood, but it won’t be promising. If the deer doesn’t fall within sight, follow-up quickly for a second shot. Spine Shot: This isn’t a lethal shot. However, when a deer is arrowed in the spine, it will likely drop in its tracks. If the spinal cord isn’t completely severed, but the broadhead hits close enough to “shock” the nervous system, the deer might regain mobility and run off.

Of course, take an immediate follow-up shot to the vitals. The arrow will likely be broken and without much if any blood on it. The blood trail will be non-existent to light.

Hind-Quarter Hit: A deer struck in the hind-quarter almost always runs out of sight. Barring hitting the aorta or femoral arteries, disrupting part of the intestinal tract, or infection setting in, the deer will live. Follow-up immediately.

Of course, due to a heavy concentration of oxygenated blood in heavy muscle mass, the blood trail will appear promising. It will likely be bright red, and you might recover a broken arrow. Still, unless it hits an artery, be wary. It will likely fade to nothing over the next few hundred yards.

Low-Leg Hit: A deer struck in the lower-leg region tends to run off with a leg hanging limp. Typically, an impact to this area breaks the leg, and the deer can’t effectively use it. The deer will run out of sight before stopping, especially if the leg is dangling heavily.

The blood trail might start out light to moderate but will fade quickly. A low-leg hit is not lethal in and of itself. Some deer eventually die due to infection or predation, though. All said, follow-up immediately.

Neck Shot: Some gun hunters swear by the neck shot, but it isn’t for bowhunters. This region is not a high-odds shot location for stick and string. If an errant arrow hits the neck, and the deer doesn’t spray arterial blood or immediately drop from a spine hit, the deer will likely run out of sight.

Follow-up immediately. Either the deer dies quickly from an arterial wound, or a second shot is needed. The blood trail might start out with promising bright-red blood, but in the absence of hitting the carotid, it will dissipate over time. A broken arrow is likely.

ANATOMY MATTERS

Ethics remain at the center of everything deer hunters do. Following ethical practices is a crucial element of the integrity of deer hunting. Be a student of deer anatomy. Releasing an arrow without a firm grasp on deer anatomy is unethical. Understanding the positioning of the heart and lungs, and how various shot angles change things, is part of hunting. Knowing where non-aiming-point vitals are located — such as the liver, paunch, intestines and arteries — is important, too. Furthermore, understanding how x-axis and y-axis angles influence impact is part of knowing which vitals are struck.

Obviously, shot placement ethics are black and white. You aim for the heart or lungs. You never aim for another area. However, shot opportunity ethics is more of a spectrum. Obviously unethical shots are shots on moving animals, head shots, animals looking straight away, straight-down shots, stacked shots (another deer beyond the target), sky-lined shots, out-of-range shots and more. Ethical shot opportunities for bowhunters include two angles: broadside and quartering-away.

Then come the gray areas. Straight-on shots are inadvisable for bowhunters. I don’t like that shot angle. That said, some hunters I respect will take that shot at close range (inside 20 yards) and with a heavy arrow and broadhead setup. The same is true for quartering-to shot opportunities. With a heavy setup, they advocate kinetic energy overcomes bone and hard-tissue issues.

Some hunters will also take a slow walking shot at close range. And the same is true for bedded-animal shots. While a bedded animal can have displaced internal organs, at a close range and in the right position, hunters can sometimes still make a clean shot.

In summary, always pay close attention to a deer’s body language. Understand when to wait and when to follow-up immediately. Always give deer plenty of time but take follow-up shots when given the chance. And if things go south, consider alternative deer recovery solutions. Where legal, hire a blood-trailing dog. Or, again where legal, consult a drone deer recovery service. If all else fails, try grid searching. If it’s a non-mortally wounded deer, you might get another crack at it. In time, some wounded deer return.

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