Durability of Deer

Ski

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Coffee County
Trail cam pics showed this guy wearing a nice new scar on his right shoulder. I figured it was either an arrow that bounced off his shoulder or possibly a gore from fighting. While peeling his hide yesterday afternoon I saw that it was indeed a big two blade broadhead that made the wound, but it didn't bounce off. He had an exit wound under his opposite leg, meaning the arrow passed through, inevitably double lunging him. The first and second pics show the wounds and he is very much alive and well in those pics. Somebody made a perfect shot but that deer didn't die. While gutting him I did notice his lungs were deformed and odd.

After skinning him down and removing head, the taxidermist began caping out around the skull and antlers. Before cutting the skull plate I noticed he had an absses between his bases, so I started digging. Embedded in his skull was the broken antler tip of another buck.

If not already wondering how this deer was even alive, while carving meat from one of his front quarters my knife sank into a puss pocket. Inside was a the broadhead with broken arrow in the last pic. It had a tough, firm, almost sinew like encasement that my knife could barely cut.

I have no idea how this deer was alive. He'd survived two very serious, usually quite fatal arrow wounds, plus an antler puncture in his skull from fighting. My arrow was the third time he'd been shot, and that's what finally brought him down. I feel grateful, sad, fortunate, and amazed all at the same time. He left two hunters before me completely heart broken. What a monarch.
 

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Ski

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Nov 18, 2019
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Makes me rethink the deer I've not recovered. When it happens I always feel horrible and begin beating myself up because I screwed something up. But now I'm not so sure. It is now blatantly obvious to me that even if you do everything exactly right, the animal doesn't have to die. Some things are simply out of our control. And there are no stone set rules.
 

Gone Hunting

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Joined
Sep 6, 2015
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221
Trail cam pics showed this guy wearing a nice new scar on his right shoulder. I figured it was either an arrow that bounced off his shoulder or possibly a gore from fighting. While peeling his hide yesterday afternoon I saw that it was indeed a big two blade broadhead that made the wound, but it didn't bounce off. He had an exit wound under his opposite leg, meaning the arrow passed through, inevitably double lunging him. The first and second pics show the wounds and he is very much alive and well in those pics. Somebody made a perfect shot but that deer didn't die. While gutting him I did notice his lungs were deformed and odd.

After skinning him down and removing head, the taxidermist began caping out around the skull and antlers. Before cutting the skull plate I noticed he had an absses between his bases, so I started digging. Embedded in his skull was the broken antler tip of another buck.

If not already wondering how this deer was even alive, while carving meat from one of his front quarters my knife sank into a puss pocket. Inside was a the broadhead with broken arrow in the last pic. It had a tough, firm, almost sinew like encasement that my knife could barely cut.

I have no idea how this deer was alive. He'd survived two very serious, usually quite fatal arrow wounds, plus an antler puncture in his skull from fighting. My arrow was the third time he'd been shot, and that's what finally brought him down. I feel grateful, sad, fortunate, and amazed all at the same time. He left two hunters before me completely heart broken. What a monarch.
Wow tough for sure!
 

WilcoKen

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Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,602
Makes me rethink the deer I've not recovered. When it happens I always feel horrible and begin beating myself up because I screwed something up. But now I'm not so sure. It is now blatantly obvious to me that even if you do everything exactly right, the animal doesn't have to die. Some things are simply out of our control. And there are no stone set rules.
I was thinking this same thing. Tough animals for sure.
 

FLTENNHUNTER1

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Nov 21, 2007
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32,945
Location
SE Tennessee
Tough buck no doubt. Doesn't look like the mechanical broadhead opened. I've never used them for that reason. Also, you have to make sure your broadheads are razor sharp. Even though the arrow went through both lungs, doesn't mean the blades cut arteries/veins. Arteries/veins are elastic and will move if the blade doesn't slice them. Appears as though either the broadhead blades missed the arteries/veins or were not sharp enough. Speculation on my part, but if the broadhead properly cut arteries/veins he would have bled to death quickly. We owe it to the game we pursue to do our part to make a clean, quick, ethical kill.

You know your blades are sharp enough when the hair pops off of your arm or hand. Not shaving sharp, hair popping sharp. It's like when you think your hunting knife is sharp after using a stone or other means to make it razor sharp. Then strop it with a strap and it goes from shaving sharp to hair popping sharp.

Congrats on a beautiful buck.
 

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