PERFECT SHOT - MAYBE NOT?

By Rick Miller – Region 7

Ran into something kind of interesting the other day when I took a walk back to where I shot a bull elk last fall. Used the gut-less method for breaking down the animal, so did not open the body cavity at that time. I did peal all the meat off the face of the ribs, but not in-between (too warm - drying out quicky). I did notice the old wound (black arrow) during the initial inspection of where my arrow hit (blue), but found it nearly healed, so did not investigate further. That old wound should have been a perfect lung shot, so I could only guess what might have happened?

What I found when looking at the rib cage six months later had me scratching my head. There on the same side as the old wound was a chunk of graphite arrow and a broadhead stuck into the spine. The path that arrow took is highly unusual as it had to take a sever redirection to end up where it did. It appears almost 90 degrees to the entrance unless the shooter was standing directly under the bull. Keep in mind that ribs run vertically, so even though they are the likely deflector, it is hard to believe how much one of them changed this arrows path.

The shooter had to have thought that their shot placement was perfect and that the bull was theirs. I know how excited they were to take a trophy bull like this (I certainly was) and how happy they were with the shot. I am betting the shooter spent a ton of time looking for this animal. These are the ones we are sure of, so giving up is not an option. These are the ones that can make you question whether you should continue bowhunting? If you do everything right, and still can’t recover the animal the weight is heavy.

Knowing what I know now, I sure wish I could talk to the shooter. I could let them know that the animal was fine and fully recovered. I could explain the crazy deflection and how it didn’t appear to hit anything vital. That meeting will probably never happen, but this find does provide a possible explanation to those that may run into a similar experience down the trail.

Keep those broadheads shaving sharp and fully commit to recovery once they are used.