Deer broad head talk

A couple of thoughts.

1) you hit the shoulder blade up a little high and the arrow is stuck in him. The arrow will eventually break off and he’ll live with a broadhead stuck in his shoulder. Wouldn’t be much if any blood.

2) your eyes could have played tricks on you and it’s possible you hit further back and he was quartered away. Arrow could have entered near hind legs and arrow went in him and stuck in a shoulder. Wouldn’t be much if any blood.

3) I’d say back whack but a dog would have found something.

As far as broadhead… there’s a good chance a single-bevel with a heavy enough arrow would go through the bone. But that arrow would be slower also and maybe you miss that deer altogether. Who knows.

You’ll continue to think about that deer for a while. If you want, you can always go back tomorrow and search in the direction he ran just to make sure you don’t find any blood. The dog should have found something if there was any though.

How long did you wait before tracking and how long before the dog did its thing?

I waited about an hour yesterday and highly trained dog dog came this am. Unreal how tough they are

For a lower draw weight bow, you’re going to have better penetration with a heavier arrow and a cut on contact broadhead. A two blade will give you more penetration than a 3 blade, but a 3 blade can produce a better blood trail. Your setup should have worked fine if you hit where you think you did, unless your shooting a super light arrow.

First off don’t swap to a Xbow, bad hits happen with them.
I don’t think it was the broadheads fault but a bad shot. I’m not saying your a bad shot but bad shots happen. It’s crazy how tough they are and what looks like a good hit is only 1-2in off from being a dead deer and instead the deer lives.
I have seen three different deer with broadheads inside the body completely healed up with scar tissue completely covering them (scapula spine) those shots some ol boy from his naked eye just knew he had made a good shot. I know some people argue there is no such thing a “no man’s land” but I have seent it.
One thing that has been a game changer for me the last few years is a video I watched a few years ago by dr grant woods. He shows why you should shoot at a deer when his head is up and how fast a deer can suck if it’s head is down and it uses gravity to help pull it down, also holding that lower third down instead of mid body which is a natural point to aim helps if they duck some.
Go check out the videos and it shows slow speed and a test where he tried to see if you can shoot fast enough to outshoot the “duck” and you can’t .

It ain’t the broadhead, but I hate Montecs. If you’re a three blade guy, throw those cast POSs away and get a better built head. I use the VPA three blades in which I pyramid the tips and meticulously sharpen and strop them. RMS has one as well that is made by VPA. They blow through deer out of a 55 lb longbow and 600 ish grain arrow. Somewhere around 150 fps. Get it sharp and pyramid the point. You very well could’ve had a major tip curl or that Montec could’ve broken in half. They have been known to do both. Better options out there.

1-1/8 glue on:







1-1/4” is my favorite. Haven’t used it on a Whitetail yet though.

Regardless of the broadhead, driving an arrow through a deer hit in the shoulder (front or backside) is going to be a tall task at 55 pounds.

I’ve been shooting 60 pounds for years now and seldom get pass throughs using a 100 grain Rage Hypo. I’m now shooting 55 pounds and do my best to stay away from the shoulder on the entrance side.

I think we also tend to forget that similarly to bullets, broad heads can do strange things once they enter an animal. I’ve seen shots that I couldn’t have gotten out of my stand, walked down to the deer and pushed the arrow into it that I’ve never found. Likewise, I’ve made shots that when the arrow struck the deer I was certain I’d never find it only to see it run 100 yards and fall over dead.

At 55 pounds it doesn’t take much to change the trajectory of an arrow once it enters a deer if that arrow comes in contact with solid bone.

I have two elite e35’s, one is 65 lbs with 125gr grim reapers on Easton FMJ’s and one is 70lbs with 225gr single bevel Stricklands on gold tip XT’s. I have killed deer with both setups. I really like the clean, sharpen, and reuse aspect of the single bevels. The two bucks I killed this year were both shot with the “Heavy” setup and both were dead in sight within 50 yds. No matter the setup, shot placement is key. And from my experience, without video evidence, our recollections of the shots are always better then the actual shot.

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And from my experience, without video evidence, our recollections of the shots are always better then the actual shot.

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shot a big 10 in Jansas last year. Slightly quartering away. Hit it way far back. Deer ran off w half arrow out

Got down, blood everywhere. Lost it immediately. Went about 50 yards and found arrow. Deer was 15 steps away laying dead. When cleaning we found the arrow had destroyed the liver, lungs, and sliced the heart.

Arrows can do some crazy things