mauser06

willing to bet it was a high backbone hit...above the spine. though that sounds REALLY high it isnt as high as you may think. the spine is pretty low on a deer above the vitals. i hit one there this year when he ducked the string...3 inches of penetration with a 3blade muzzy. 60lbs of KE...20yd shot. good red muscle blood for a long ways...dried up....GIANT hardcore manhunt with me and 5 buddys..walked a good 1/2 mile 5yds apart not leaving any leaf unturned..hes still alive. definently sounds like thats what you hit.....that or possibly the shoulder.

Lefty26

When you think of an mechanical head not working it's because it didn't open. If a head doesn't open it should slide right through and you would probably end up with a less than ideal blood trail. If you hear a loud thud and got no penetration you hit something thicker than a rib bone.

Arthur P

Thorneswift, you're pretty new to the forum so I guess you haven't learned the unwritten rules yet. There are certain products you can'tcome on this forum and say theyhave failed on you, or that you simply don't like them. For example... Tops on the list are whisker bisquit rests, followed closely by mechanical broadheads and scentblocking clothing.

If you have any thoughts about how rotten you think those products are, just keep 'em to yourself or you'll raise the ire of the true believers and have to deal with the consequences. They'll jump on you like a flock of chickens going after a june bug.

According to the true believers, it is most definitelyalways YOUR fault the whichever-product-it-was screwed up on you because they are perfection. In their mind, if it's perfect for them, then itcan't be any less than perfect for you. If you have problems, it's because you can't shoot, can't tune a bow, can't pick a decent stand location or... Well, you get the idea. Bottom line is, since you are obviously aflawed individual, any of yourexperiences and/or preferencesthat runcontrary to theirsdon't count.

It took me several years before I figured it out, so I'm just passing on my observations to you. Nowadays, unless I'm feeling like stirring the pot, I normally leave these guys with their fantasies. [8D][8D]

MichaelT.

The facts are that sometimes malfunctions do happen, and sometimes we ( bow hunters ) do make bad shots. When they both happen at the same time it is disasterous. No one wants to wound an animal. And wheather it is because of equipment malfunction or poor shot placement is irrevelant. We still don't want that to happen. But we can " fix " one aspect of it. If a mechanical can once in a blue moon fail, then switching to a fixed blade can correct that. If someone does not have faith in a mechanical broadhead, then it would be best for that person to switch to a fixed blade. Then if it happens again, we would know that it is the fault of the hunter, not the equipment. I was not there to see the shot, so I cannot say it was the fault of the hunter instead of the broadhead, but if it is as you say, then go back to fixed, and eliminate that possibility. I do not shoot mechanicals, simply for that reason. Not that one would fail to open, but if I shoot a fixed blade, then I know that will never happen.

Good hunting and God Bless.

mauser06

Arthur....not to start a pi$$in match.....but im not a mechanical shooter. dont make a bit of diffrence if they work or open or not to me.....my bows good n tuned and i got no reason not to shoot a fixed head. i dont need a 2 inch cut..no need for mechanicals for me. not a lover nor a hater.........just from his story it sounds pretty identical to my high hit i had this season.

i was actually impressed with the mechanicals i did try. traditional jackknife style..1 1/2 inch cut. blew through my BH target...made the muzzys look like a joke. but i just dont like blades being held on by a screw getting smashed with 60lbs of ke...

just wanted to clear things up.....

Arthur P

I know, mauser... It's just that I've played the game before. I shot, heard a loud whackand gotminimal penetrationon a solid rib cagehit - and yes, it was with a fixed blade.

Luckily a friend rifle shot the deer a few weeks later and I got to do an autopsy. Found outthat the broadhead had hit just right (or just wrong, depending on your point of view), wedged intoan overlythick part of a rib and stuck there.It looked likethat rib had broken there before and laid in a lot of extra bone when it knitted back together. A half inch either way and I would have gotten the deer myself. It was just plain bad luck that I centerpunched that exact spot.

Like I said, stuff happens from time to time. Just this time stuff happened to poor Thorneswift onhis very first try with mechanicals. NOT a good way to develop confidence in a broadhead. I'd consider it an omen. [:-]

It's sad, at least to me it is, that people are sooo quick to poke fingers and blame the shooter and shot placement rather thanentertain the slightest possibility that maybe a certain product didn't perform, or eventhat maybe ol' Murphy really did win this round.

Part and parcel of the mechanist mindset that's taken over the greater part of archery and bowhunting, I guess. "It can't be the equipment so ithas tobe the shooter."