# Brisket Shot...



## BowChilling (Apr 30, 2003)

I hit one low through the briskett like that a couple of years ago. As crazy as this may sound your best bet in this situation is to track that deer and keep him moving! If he gets a chance he will lay up until the wound clots. He'll probably survive. The one I shot I kept pushing until he was too tired to keep going. I was able to get another shot into him. I know this flies in the face of most tracking methods but as long as you have good blood to follow that is your best course of action with this type of hit.


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## Chupacabra (Jul 10, 2006)

*brisket*

Been there. Sure sounds like it could be a brisket hit. Check the arrow for any signs of tallow or greasiness. That, along with the other info in your post would confirm it. The good news is they usually recover.


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## larrydenise6573 (Jul 19, 2006)

Ok so it sounds like I should have kept pushing him that night but I would have ended up not able to make that next shot sue to darkness. It was 5:05 when I hit him and sunset that day was about 5:00.

I didn't notice any tallow but it was the next morning b4 I found the arrow. Oddly enough the ST it's self was very clean but everything else was covered in blood.


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## larrydenise6573 (Jul 19, 2006)

Anyone else have any ideas/opinions????????


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## spoco57 (Aug 31, 2005)

"* A neck-shot deer will either die in 100 yards or he will recover from the wound. The lower portion of the neck contains the windpipe, neck bone (spine), and carotid (jugular) arteries. If the arteries are hit, the deer will run hard and drop in less than 100 yards. The blood trail will be easy to follow. A shot above the neck bone will give you a good blood trail for about 150 to 200 yards before quitting. The deer will more than likely recover to be hunted again."

I got this from an article on tracking wounded deer. I'm wondering if you found any hair near the point of impact or on the arrow. I'm thinking the hair in the brisket area is kind of distinctive long grayish/whitish hair. 

A number of years ago, I put a brisket shot on a deer (I could see the hit) and the arrow came out like yours but also with a lot of tallow. The rest of your story sounds very similar to my experience. I always guessed that my deer survived.


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## larrydenise6573 (Jul 19, 2006)

*Hair? Oh yeah...*



spoco57 said:


> "* A neck-shot deer will either die in 100 yards or he will recover from the wound. The lower portion of the neck contains the windpipe, neck bone (spine), and carotid (jugular) arteries. If the arteries are hit, the deer will run hard and drop in less than 100 yards. The blood trail will be easy to follow. A shot above the neck bone will give you a good blood trail for about 150 to 200 yards before quitting. The deer will more than likely recover to be hunted again."
> 
> I got this from an article on tracking wounded deer. I'm wondering if you found any hair near the point of impact or on the arrow. I'm thinking the hair in the brisket area is kind of distinctive long grayish/whitish hair.
> 
> A number of years ago, I put a brisket shot on a deer (I could see the hit) and the arrow came out like yours but also with a lot of tallow. The rest of your story sounds very similar to my experience. I always guessed that my deer survived.


Not to make light of the situation but yes that is exactly the color and type of hair that I found at the shot site and in a couple of other places with in 5 feet of the shot site. (Along the route that he took.) And the arrow had white hair on it also. I'm going to have to recheck the yardage, I bet it was a longer shot than 20 yards. I have practiced enough to know that at 20 yards I don't miss by that much.


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## Buckblood (Jun 12, 2006)

I believe your shot may have been a non-lethal muscle hit. LOts of blood to start, then it dries up. Sounds like brisket to me.


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## dietz (Aug 14, 2003)

I made this exact shot on a deer last year. Shot @ 10 a.m., waited 1hr then trailed him for 80yds; no blood at first then good bright red blood. When I didn't find him within 80yds, and had tallow on my arrow and white hair on the ground I backed out. I came back @ 4 p.m. bumped him out of his bed 200 yds away from where I shot him. He got up real sick like; head hung low, painful to walk, ect. I backed out again and came back the next morning. Picked up the blood trail from the bed I bumped him out of. The trail was spotty; quarter sized every 6'-8' then it got worse and petered out to where I was basically following his trail by turned up leaves and a pin size spec of blood every 20yds. I lost the trail in a large opening in the timber. I did a grid search, watched for crows, ect, ect. I routed my trailing on a topo software program and found I trailed him over 800yds with only one bed (the one I bumped him out of) before I lost all signs of blood. While following the blood trail he never went uphill, always downhill or side hill. I told the landowner and friends that hunt the same property and adjoining properties. He never turned up. Good news is a friend found what I believe was one of his sheds the following spring. Keep looking until your sure he survived!

I got pictures of the arrow, blood trail, and hair from this deer on my home computer if you want to compare pics I'll post them tonight.


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## PatriotDually (Oct 14, 2005)

I had this exact same thing happen to me 2 years ago, I shot him low in the brisket cutting the arteries. the deer hopped and then just started walking off slowly. I left him alone for an hour and started tracking, blood was everywhere i walked along at full speed following the blood trail. I trailed this deer for 700 yards or so and jumped him up out of his bed, that sucker ran about 50 more yards and just collapsed dead. Oh the part i left out was the last 80 yards of tracking the blood was hard to find and i happened up on him laying there and there was a ton of blood where he was laying. Man i wish you could get back out there and put a grid search on him because i would guarantee you he is dead. IMO


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## KSNimrod (Dec 14, 2004)

My brother put what sounds like a similar shot on a buck this year. We followed a decent blood trail for nearly 700 yards to where the buck bedded for the night. He clotted up there and we couldn't turn anything up after a careful search of the area. There was actually less blood in his bed than in some of the places where he stood closer to the site of the shot.

It stinks, but that deer is most likely still running around with a little soreness and a bad attitude.


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## larrydenise6573 (Jul 19, 2006)

*Trail ended...*



PatriotDually said:


> I had this exact same thing happen to me 2 years ago, I shot him low in the brisket cutting the arteries. the deer hopped and then just started walking off slowly. I left him alone for an hour and started tracking, blood was everywhere i walked along at full speed following the blood trail. I trailed this deer for 700 yards or so and jumped him up out of his bed, that sucker ran about 50 more yards and just collapsed dead. Oh the part i left out was the last 80 yards of tracking the blood was hard to find and i happened up on him laying there and there was a ton of blood where he was laying. Man i wish you could get back out there and put a grid search on him because i would guarantee you he is dead. IMO


I hear what you are saying. But when the blood trail ended he was leaving the woods and entering a 25 acres cut open field. And that is where I found the last few pin head sized drops. I also took my hound dog out there and put him on the trail and he came up with nothing. On the other side of the open field there is a small swap, less than about a 1/4 acre. I spent over 2 hours walking back and forth through that mess and there were no signs. Oh by the way the distance across the field to the swap was another 250 yards. And the last few drops that I found put him heading in the direction of the swap so that made sense.

I truley think that he'll be fine and after checking a few anatomy charts I can see how you could get a pass though and not hit vitals. I just hope that he comes back by this w/e, it's gun season now. LOL


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## semobow (Feb 27, 2006)

I shot a doe thru the brisket early this month and your story could be used for mine. Same exact thing, same blood, same lose of blood later on. Sounds like a brisket hit to me.


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## larrydenise6573 (Jul 19, 2006)

*Thanks Everyone...*

i think that you guys have confirmed what I was thinking. That buck will be just fine. And when I get the time I'm going to use the range finder to dbl check the yardage on that shot. I did do some preliminay yardage checks as I was setting up for the evening but of course not in the direction that he came in...

Once again our great AT family coming together to help out. Archers helping archers. It's a beautiful thing. Thanks all and good luck.


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## Sask Riverrunt (Aug 18, 2006)

Dido. I had this happen two weeks ago on a nice buck and even had my deer laydown for awhile 150 yards from were I shot him. I watched him till dark and left him for 4 hours on a remote chance I caught part of a lung. I came back and the deer was gone with no blood trail to follow. Didn't sleep much that night. I even came back in daylight and still no luck...


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## 1goodarrow (Jan 26, 2010)

I just had this happen to me 6 days ago. I usually hit high
so i have emphasized aiming lower this year to account for
Drop. When i hit it, i thought i had my 1st ever heartshot. Great bloodaayear
For 100 yds. A bloody bed with a couple of thrown clots. Little blood after, 
6 hoeurs of tracking, no deer. Made me want to quit for the year.
Good thing i didnt, the next night i made a perfect shot on my first
Ever deer that is almost 130 inches. I am still sick though and cant really
Enjoy my buck.


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## QuietMan (Mar 25, 2009)

Sounds like I doe I hit last Friday...Hit her a little high and forward on the shoulder but got a pass through she ran for about 20 yards then just walked slowly away...Gave her about an hour and a half then me and a buddy statred tracking her...Really good blood to start then it got to be less and less until we were looking for pin point dots in the dark...Thank God for snow...Followed blood for about 200 yards then she went into a deer bedding area with trails criss crossing in every direction imaginable and no blood to follow...No recovery...

The arrow had blood BH to knock and white hair stuck to it...I now think it went in in "no man's land" and out through the brisket without hitting any vitals...When I cleaned the arrow it was greasy.
Been a long season and the worst one in 4 years...


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## Bowhunter328 (Aug 10, 2012)

I shot a buck like this too. I made a pass through. It had white hair on the arrow and it bloodied up except the broadhead didn't have any blood on it. I tracked good blood for 1000 yards and it trickled out and stopped. I looked with a couple buddies for 5 hours the next day and didn't find him. My buddy saw him 4 days later chasing does, but he had a slight limp.


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