Heart shot ?

[lokidog]

Not a fan of the bon jovi method huh?

Sorry, I'm too old and uncaring about that kind of music to know the reference.      

[Stein]

Lungs are bigger and don't make good tacos.

[Smossy]

Unlike other organs of the body the heart is actually a cardiac muscle.  Just striking the heart doesn't necessarily mean it has holes in it or that there should be massive blood loss.  Especially in the ventricle (compression) region of the heart where the muscle is thicker and stronger.  You have to break through the endocardium and reach the ventricle chambers for massive blood loss to happen at the pointed end of the heart.  That's tough if the head is dull, traveling slow or the cuts are shallow.

In that area of the heart there are no major Nodes.  Only Purkinje fibers.  So while a strike like that will effect cardiac conduction it can not shut it down like a strike to the SA node, AV nodes or the central bundles.

This shot would undoubtedly collapse the pericardium.  This effects rhythm to some extent and definitely make the animal weak.  And since the wounds would be great enough the heart will begin to work harder trying to maintain a strong flow of blood to the brain.  The pericardium usually controls the pressure around the heart so the extra blood flow does not over expand the heart.  Without it there the heart could possibly tear itself and eventually the small cuts could become bigger and more lethal.  Hard to tell without inspection if that really is what happened here.

The pointed area of the heart is not surrounded by major lung tissue either.  So suffocation would take a very long time and blood loss would be slow.

IMO, you were very smart to wait until morning to try and recover this animal.  Deer likely died from either cardiogenic shock from the damaged Purkinje fibers and damaged pericardium, or hypothermia.  Neither being extremely fast killers.  But by backing off and waiting he should have gone without undue stress and with minimal discomfort.  By far the best of the possible scenarios under this unfortunate situation.  And much more humane than the average death in the wild.

What the hell. Why are you not doing bigger things in your life 

[Curly]

Lungs are bigger and don't make good tacos.

heart is too tasty to go blowing it up or putting holes in them.
 

[kentrek]

Unlike other organs of the body the heart is actually a cardiac muscle.  Just striking the heart doesn't necessarily mean it has holes in it or that there should be massive blood loss.  Especially in the ventricle (compression) region of the heart where the muscle is thicker and stronger.  You have to break through the endocardium and reach the ventricle chambers for massive blood loss to happen at the pointed end of the heart.  That's tough if the head is dull, traveling slow or the cuts are shallow.

In that area of the heart there are no major Nodes.  Only Purkinje fibers.  So while a strike like that will effect cardiac conduction it can not shut it down like a strike to the SA node, AV nodes or the central bundles.

This shot would undoubtedly collapse the pericardium.  This effects rhythm to some extent and definitely make the animal weak.  And since the wounds would be great enough the heart will begin to work harder trying to maintain a strong flow of blood to the brain.  The pericardium usually controls the pressure around the heart so the extra blood flow does not over expand the heart.  Without it there the heart could possibly tear itself and eventually the small cuts could become bigger and more lethal.  Hard to tell without inspection if that really is what happened here.

The pointed area of the heart is not surrounded by major lung tissue either.  So suffocation would take a very long time and blood loss would be slow.

IMO, you were very smart to wait until morning to try and recover this animal.  Deer likely died from either cardiogenic shock from the damaged Purkinje fibers and damaged pericardium, or hypothermia.  Neither being extremely fast killers.  But by backing off and waiting he should have gone without undue stress and with minimal discomfort.  By far the best of the possible scenarios under this unfortunate situation.  And much more humane than the average death in the wild.

What the hell. Why are you not doing bigger things in your life 

"Bigger things" are over rated....esp as viewed by the general public

[RadSav]

What the hell. Why are you not doing bigger things in your life 

"Bigger things" are over rated....esp as viewed by the general public

Glass a mountain goat from the top of a mountain all by yourself.  Find yourself 200 miles off shore surrounded by a pod of whales on a glass water day.  Suddenly "bigger and better" becomes relative to the wild experiences of life. 

Plus I think slowly, test poorly, talk goofy, look stupid, dislike most people and hate alarm clocks.

[Wetwoodshunter]

Here is the shot I took on my deer this year. It went  down very quick. I watched it jump up and double kick then sprint over a cliffs edge and rolled down into a canyon. The deer went about 70 yards from where I shot it. I would guess twenty yards of this was on its feet.

[RadSav]

Here is the shot I took on my deer this year. It went  down very quick. I watched it jump up and double kick then sprint over a cliffs edge and rolled down into a canyon. The deer went about 70 yards from where I shot it. I would guess twenty yards of this was on its feet.

Nice

[Jonathan_S]

What the hell. Why are you not doing bigger things in your life 

"Bigger things" are over rated....esp as viewed by the general public

Glass a mountain goat from the top of a mountain all by yourself.  Find yourself 200 miles off shore surrounded by a pod of whales on a glass water day.  Suddenly "bigger and better" becomes relative to the wild experiences of life. 

Plus I think slowly, test poorly, talk goofy, look stupid, dislike most people and hate alarm clocks

Great combo to be a med student 

In seriousness though, I'd say you're accomplishing what you were born to do  at least you make it look like it.  How anyone can shoot anything but a Savora is beyond me.  I know, I know...sorry to sound like a Hoyt shooter 

[RadSav]

If everyone could make heart shots like the one Wetwoodshunter posted...it wouldn't matter what broadhead you used.  I had a friend in highschool who accidently pulled a Judo point out of his quiver when a cow elk surprised him.  He made the same shot and experienced close to the same results - 20 yards Dirt!  Miss that spot and blade sharpness makes a big difference.  Hopefully we can be back to Savora level sharpness this year.  For the first time in a long time I'm feeling optimistic about getting there.

Duke Savora encouraged me to interview real doctors and medical school professors.  Ask as many questions as we could think up.  Medical/Clinical research is about the only way you can come up with enough questions to find an honest conclusion.  UW was extremely accommodating and supportive offering up the library and professors for free.  Virginia Mason was also very accommodating!  One of my favorite sayings left me from Duke was, "Only when you know all of the questions can you come up with some of the answers."  For seamheads like me the medical research was some of the more fun, fascinating and rewarding work I've ever done.  But I'd hate to go to school for half my life just to realize I'm eternally in debt for the remainder of my life.  Where is the "better" in that?

My nephew has some real fancy letters at the end of his name after a young life spent at school.  Don't think he has hunted since graduation and he tells me he hardly gets to fish because he is too poor / can't take the time away from work.  Screw that!! 

[Jonathan_S]

I'm glad old Duke told you to interview physicians vs. graphic designers.  Otherwise we'd have another gimmicky meat worm cutter 

I've had one bow kill that took out the aorta...that buck was down in 3 seconds 

[RadSav]

I'm glad old Duke told you to interview physicians vs. graphic designers. 

Oh he did that too!  Even sent me to sales and merchandizing school.

[Jonathan_S]

Well at least you can prioritize then 

[Elkrunner]

Unlike other organs of the body the heart is actually a cardiac muscle.  Just striking the heart doesn't necessarily mean it has holes in it or that there should be massive blood loss.  Especially in the ventricle (compression) region of the heart where the muscle is thicker and stronger.  You have to break through the endocardium and reach the ventricle chambers for massive blood loss to happen at the pointed end of the heart.  That's tough if the head is dull, traveling slow or the cuts are shallow.

In that area of the heart there are no major Nodes.  Only Purkinje fibers.  So while a strike like that will effect cardiac conduction it can not shut it down like a strike to the SA node, AV nodes or the central bundles.

This shot would undoubtedly collapse the pericardium.  This effects rhythm to some extent and definitely make the animal weak.  And since the wounds would be great enough the heart will begin to work harder trying to maintain a strong flow of blood to the brain.  The pericardium usually controls the pressure around the heart so the extra blood flow does not over expand the heart.  Without it there the heart could possibly tear itself and eventually the small cuts could become bigger and more lethal.  Hard to tell without inspection if that really is what happened here.

The pointed area of the heart is not surrounded by major lung tissue either.  So suffocation would take a very long time and blood loss would be slow.

IMO, you were very smart to wait until morning to try and recover this animal.  Deer likely died from either cardiogenic shock from the damaged Purkinje fibers and damaged pericardium, or hypothermia.  Neither being extremely fast killers.  But by backing off and waiting he should have gone without undue stress and with minimal discomfort.  By far the best of the possible scenarios under this unfortunate situation.  And much more humane than the average death in the wild.

Rad, I really need to start hanging with you to soak in some of that brain trust...very informative as always.

[Encore 280]

I would like to do what that 13 year old kid does on YouTube with the frontal shot on the bull. Pumps the blood out right there, keels over, no bloody mess inside I would guess. Game over.