kshunter

Even though "experiences" don't seem to hold much water to some (from the replies read), I would like say that I have had an experience almost identical to Windwalker7. Several years ago, I arrowed a doe (from the ground) in almost the same place. Never recovered her, but was able to see her a few weeks later. Even though the arrow stuck out both sides when she walked off, it was no longer in her during the 2nd sighting.

I've never seen enough credible evidence from either side of the "Void" debate, to prove anything 100%. But I beleive in my experience 100%.

Joey

aeroslinger

I was going to wait until later when I was close to done to post about my deer this year but this topic interests me for personal reasons. So far this year I've downed a 90 lb. doe and a main frame 9 point with 2 stickers on his left. Both of them after I was ready to quit hunting. I missed a HUGE buck a week before I took the doe and. Opening week I shot a nice 8. The shot was a little high and back. No pass thru. He bucked like a mule and ran to my right and circled around me. I heard him stop once for just a second and then ran some more stopping what sounded like right behind me. There was a valley behind me and he was farther than it sounded as he ended up directly behind me but across the valley on the opposite ridge. When he stopped I could here him blowing and assumed he was sucking air and most likely expiring. About 1 1/2 hour later it started drizzling so me and a friend started tracking. As the shot was high I picked up what I figured was his tracks as they appeared to be from a running deer. First blood was faint and at about 70 yards from the shot (this is thru heavily wooded area). The blood was not great but fairly consistant, slightly smaller than a quarter. At one point it appeared there were drops from both sides but then back to one. We tracked him to where I think I heard him stop. The blood continued past that. Then found the fletching end of the arrow, about 8 or 9 inches of shaft and near was a bigger spotch of blood but then it went back to single drops. We tracked for probably 1/2 mile or better before we lost blood. The buck stayed on a ridge the whole time and the last blood we found was heading up hill. We never found him. A couple weeks later I was setting in another stand not too far from the one I shot the 8 from. I can look behind me and see the area. There were 4 or 5 smaller bucks and a doe that came in, all one at a time and for not too long. Then an 8 came in that I was pretty sure was the one I shot. I was trying to get a good look as it appeared to have a black mark on its right side. He didn't really stop but came in turned and backtracked then turned around again and trotted off. I couldn't make out any marks on his left side (would have been exit side) which it seemed there would have been. I never thought much about the 'no man's land' before but after this I've been wondering. Just a note. I was using Spitfire 100's which I've had great results with. I'm not blaming the blade as it was not an ideal shot but somewhat surprising with no pass thru. I bought some Rage Slip Cam 3 blades and took the doe and 9 point with and am very impressed with them. Also, I have a Trophy Ridge Rhino Guide sight. When I got home I shot some outside to try to figure how the shot was high and figured out that the locking tab on my top pin did not lock it down as its supposed to. Apparently it got bumped sometiime and knocked the pin down a bit.

davidmil

There is NO "No mans land". If there were, what would fill the space?? Air???? I think not. That would be like a sucking chest wound and deflate the lung. Lungs stick to the chest walls. Any void is filled with fat, meat or something. It's possible to just miss the backbone I would assume and barely graze the lungs. Blood loss would be minimal because you didn't really poke a hole in them. Shooting above the liver as Justin did could indeed not get vitals, but rather fat and other connective tissue. The liver is not in the chest cavity so you don't hit anything if you hit above the liver. The liver doesn't go from top to bottom. Lungs do fill the chest cavity. One of the problems with my wife's illiness was fluid build up between the lungs and the chest walls. In a normal body the lungs fill this space and are losely stuck to the walls. Fluid in deflates the lungs. When people talk of fluid in the lungs it's usually between the lung and the chest walls causing the lung to not beable to fill or to deflate. In my wife's case the drew off the fluid and inserted a powder to stick the lung back to the walls so the fluid couldn't build up as fast. One thing I've surely learned in over 80 bowkills is that what we think we see is not always so. We teach it in bowhunter ed. classes but until you see the bizzare happenings it's tough to realize how off our visual perception can be. Until the deer is in hand we can NEVER say for sure what happened. I won't go into stories, but I got some beauties. So no, there is no void in a healthy animal. Yes a deer can not bleed and escape with a marginal hit. Marginal doesn't necessarily mean you missed the chest cavity. Dead center it and you're gold. Give it a glancing blow and strange things are almost guaranteed.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Amen! A truer statement has never been written, an example, okay...

I've written this before. I have on video a buck that I shot. When I pulled the trigger at 19 yards, I know for a fact that I saw my arrow pass through this buck just above the heart, both lungs....I know that's what I saw. I couldn't believe when I watched the deer run down the field and my camera man turned the camera on me. I wanted to yell at him and tell him to film the deer go down but I just notioned that to him and he shook his head no...you missed, my eyes popped out "what", I saw a double lung....he handed me the camera and I watched the footage and realized what I didn't see was the deer dropped on the release and my arrow glanced off his back passing under the hide but over the spine. I wouldn't have believed it and if I didn't have it on video I would have been in for a very long fruitless track job and heart break.

We shot that buck in late muzzleloader, 6 weeks later with a huge gash across his back and yes, on video...

I'm shocked at the thinking that there is a void area, I don't understand this thinking for reasons mentioned from davidmil not to mention what we've learned over the years.

24/7 hunter

A few years ago I shot a nice buck but over estimated the distance. I thought he was like 25 yards but he was only 20. I hit about 3" under the top of the back straight in line with the vitals. We tracked and tracked. Put in at least 12 hours looking for the deer. Two months later I got a picture of him on a trail cam checking a scrape. It would have been my first buck and first deer with a bow. You could see the scar from where the arrow entered. I think there must be an area of no vitals or spine or anything there. I don't think people realize it until it's happened to them. By the way, two weeks after i hit that nice buck, i nailed a 5 pointer at 25 yards.

GMMAT

HCH:

Going back....I can see where you might want me to elaborate on my original post (you too, Killer).

I performed a search (ON THE FORUM) for "no man's land". I have NOT injured a deer, "there". I hope that clears things up.

Jeff

bleeohio

I have seen it one time, A buddy and i were bowhunting the same area, One evening he made a shot on a basket racked 8pt and said the hit looked good , had a decent blood trail but not the best i've seen. After awhile it petered out and we finally gave up. Two weeks later one section south, i shot the same buck and watched it go down, I didn't know it was the same buck till my buddy came to help drag it out, that's when he said it was the same buck. He found the perfect scar of his razorback 5 broadhead shaped like a star, a passthrough nonethe less, but obviously not a killing shot. I don't think there is much room between the lungs and spine, but it can happen. HH

GMMAT

I've also butchered 11 deer in the last 1+ yr.THAT is why I asked the original question. I just don't see the area many people speak of.

I'm NOT saying a deer couldn't get hit in that area and live. I'm saying "I" don't think the deer could escape a vitals injury from an arrow launched form an elevated perch.

That's just my opinion. I TOTALLY respect you guys' opinions and your years afield. I hope that fact isn't lost.

Jeff

hardcorehunter

hadn't read others' posts when I made my post. I have never heard of no mans' land; new one on me.

longbowman2

SBGobbler, I have to agree with you and some of the others. If your shooting from a treestand and you are between the shoulders and the hip and above the bottom of the brisket bone and below the spine you have a dead deer. I too believe "no mans land" was created to make up for bad situations that just didn't work out. I've tracked and butchered more than 100 big game animals that were bow shot and too many times I've had the archer tell me the shot was right in the boiler room only to find out it was above the spine, in front of the shoulder, low through the leg etc.. A lot can happen upon the release of an arrow and nobody wants to ever admit that things just didn't work out the way they wanted.