How far do deer run after being shot with an arrow??

Yote Newb

New member
I've killed a few deer DRT with a 30-06 but I don't know anyone who bow hunts and thinking of trying it. I know there are lots of factors involved, but how far do deer typically run after a good double lung shot with a bow/crossbow? It'd give me a good excuse to get a crossbow to play with. Thanks!
 
Typically within 100 yards. I've had solidly hit bow shot deer drop within 20 yards and others go 60-80 yards. Occasionally one stretches it out a bit. Make sure your broadheads are scary shaving sharp! Shoot for the exit and make good shots and you wont have any trouble.
 
Originally Posted By: Yote Newb.......I know there are lots of factors involved, but how far do deer typically run after a good double lung shot with a bow/crossbow?.......

Originally Posted By: GC.....Make sure your broadheads are scary shaving sharp!.....

This!!!!!
I have killed a lot of animals with a bow over the span of some 40 plus years. I have also trailed some that went a whole lot further than some of the distances quoted in this thread. Don't misunderstand, I am not saying they wont drop like that and I am for certain not trying to call any one out.
If there is one single "most important" or number one bit of info I will pass on that I have learned the hard way over the years it is this; you must have razor sharp, honed to a perfect edge broad heads or you will not see deer fall over and it wont much matter where you hit them or how good a shot it looked like.
I have seen way too many deer not just double lunged, but a complete pass thru and arrow laying on the ground get away. They probably died, but they were never found because the broad head wasn't sharp enough to cause the deer to hemorrhage. There is a big galactic difference between bleeding from an arrow and real live, honest to god hemorrhage. This will upset some broad head fan boys, but there are no broad heads made currently that are truly sharp enough right out of the pack. Are there guys that buy a pack screw 'em on and kill deer?, sure. One will be along any minute now to tell you how wrong I am. there are probably even more guys that will swear by some brand but this is because they either don't know how or are just too lazy to do it and would rather go hunting.
There's a lot to bow hunting and it is definitely one of the funnest most rewarding things you can do. But the number one thing is a razor sharp broad head. Once I learned/accepted this and figured out how to sharpen them I either saw or {in heavy cover} heard every deer I hit fall over. Best of luck.


 
All I ever shoot deer with is my bow and it honestly depends on the shot placement and the individual deer. I've double lunged deer and had them go 20 yards and i've had them go 200 yards. It seems to boil down to the amount of fight in the deer in my opinion. I second what was stated above about sharp broad heads. Sometimes even brand new broad heads aren't as sharp as they could be!
 
I sharpen all my broadheads until "scary sharp". Sitting watching a football game with my dad, switching field points for fresh sharpened thunderheads. I looked at my dad because he stopped talking, he's staring at my hands, I looked down and there is a pool of blood between my feet, after pressure and ice packs for a good 15 minutes, I could see the bone in the cut on my thumb and ring finger and had a cut on the first finger and little finger. Those clean cuts took a long time to heal. I have shot several deer(2 black bear) that only picked their head up after the shot and looked around, watched them walk for 10-15 seconds, get wobbly and go down. Scary sharp is the only way to hunt. I think the blood pressure will drop in 15-45 seconds with pass throughs of the lower half of both lungs, quicker if you can slice a heart wall. So the speed of the animal will determine length of the blood trail.
 


This video is from my hunt tonight. I shot that buck right where it counts and double lunged it. It ran about 80 yards or so and died.
 
Sharp broadhead, level passthrough that gets both lungs, look at your watch, it will be on the ground in 20 seconds.
 
This is a really good question, and one that is not so easy to answer. I've shot many deer over the years, some run far, some not so much. I wish that I would have kept a record of the shot placement, and distance ran. I thing that a double lung shot will have the deer on the ground in less than one minute. So, how far can a deer run in a minute? I will say the the majority of the deer I shoot, with a good shot, go less than 100 yards. But,some have gone a lot further. I think a lot also has to do with location in the lungs, forward, low, high...also, did you hit heart or major arteries? Some deer will "flee" for a short time then stop and evaluate the situation, that equals shorter tracking job. My 2018 buck is a great example of that...short tracking job for sure.



 
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Originally Posted By: Bernie P.Cool vid.What broadheads are you using?

I use Slicktricks. That one was the GrizzTrick, I've had great luck with all of the Slicktricks that I have used.
 
Hitting a 9" pie plate is a bad practice objective.

Ive taken many deer with a compound bow. A crossbow wont make me more accurate; but it would extend my season. Practice makes perfect. Ive never tracked a deer more than 50 yards. Youve got to know your dead-on maximum lethal distance. If the deer isnt within my lethal distance it survives unharmed another day.

How far will it travel...for as long as it knows youre on its trail. When you hit a deer with an arrow, Sit and be still for a minimum of 30 minutes. Let it go lay down quietly and bleed out. Then get to tracking. Have a small spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide in you bag. Blood fizzes, whether wet or dry when sprayed with H2O2; just in case your 50 yards becomes 200...400 yards or more. Even those times Ive felt certain the deer died nearby, I still sit that 30 minutes. Ive waited for hours to take the shot, 30 more minutes is time for a sandwich, coffee and reflection.
 
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I have killed several, as others say there is a lot more to it. I have shot from a tree stand hit the spine and they drop where they stand. I also have shot and found the deer one hundred yards away and when field dressing found the broad head in the left ventricle of the heart. Plus I think it has some to do with how scared the deer is. If they are hit and just surprised they seem to calm down walk and fall over. If you shoot and they really spook I think they tend to run harder and longer.
But lots of times it seems they drop just out of sight, as long as you don’t push them to quick and give them a chance to bleed out.
 
Yote Newb, not sure if your monitoring but you've gotten some great information here. I'll echo Gryphon because it can't be stressed enough. Wait a minimum 1/2 hr if you feel it's a good shot. If your not sure wait longer, if the trail doesn't look great, wait longer. When you bump one that hasn't expired your chances of recovery drop dramatically. The other two points I always stress to new archers is keep reminding yourself to stay calm and take your time on the shot and wait for broadside or quartering away. Check out archerytalk lots of good information. Good luck!
 
About 45 yards on average for me when hit right and the deer didn’t know what what happened. Do yourself a favor and don’t yell yes! Like they do on the hunting channel alerting your deer and making it aware of your presence so it runs a country mile on a death run. I have watched 99 percent stop within sight to look around what happened, stand there for a few seconds looking confiscate and then lay down or fall over. I use expandable 2” cut heads that throw blood trails as wide as the deers body when hit right. It all depends where you hit them and if they don’t know what happened. Normally dead in seconds...can watch them drop. I hit a branch last year and hit one to far back...in the liver. Three drops of blood where I say the buck stand last at his 150 yard run. After a few minutes he leaped across the top of the ridge front one side to the other...about another hundred yards. Through the brush where I saw it last I thought I saw his tail starting to twitch frantically and lay down permanently. Lucky I paid attention to where I saw it last because it bled internally and the only blood was the solid red arrow in the ground and where it stopped at 150 yards. I walked in where I saw it flipping it’s tail. No blood, no deer. I followed the main deer trail and found it dead laying directly on the trail about another 50 yards from where I saw it last. New expandable broad head I tried (nap)that will be going on the trash. The old Rocky Mountain gator 100 with the original chisel tips would throw blood trails a blind man could follow. The updated version with the thin blade inserted in the tip was too fragile and cause the tip to bend and brake off keeping it from pass throughs. I tried the rage and shot two deer within minutes and the broad heads never opened. Apparently rage told me I shouldn’t have lined the slots in the collars up with the blade tips so I might try them again this year. I tried the 2” grim reaper whitetail specials. They opened up in flight and deflected off a 12 pointer. I found it 500 plus yards later dead with a large slit in its side that slit its lung. Depends on the broad head used on how well and quick a deer is harvested with a crossbow. I posted pics here a few years ago with the impacts of both failed rage and grim reapers if you search my posts. I’ve had more spined deer drop and then get back up and run never to be found again than dropping on the spot. Do yourself a favor and do not try backbone shots.
 
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Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeA truly spine shot deer will never get up and run away.

Wanna bet, I hate to admit but I’ve shot several in years past and have recovered two different deer dead in my fields a month later with the arrow lodged in between the vertebrae's of their backbones. There was enough power to knock them off their feet but both deer recovered and walked away. I can remember the one buck laying on the ground having spasms and shaking fit about 2 minutes. It then walk back-and-forth three times rolling over to its stomach, got up to its feet and walked away. If I knew it was going to do that I would’ve put another arrow threw it. I have back boned a good half dozen that dropped and never got back up. It just depends if you hit the deer between it vertebrae and cut the spinal cord paralyzing it...or if you hit it directly on a vertebra and not completely penetrating or braking it.

This was with a Horton crossbow shooting 310 FPS.



 
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What I should have said, hit solid to do spinal cord damage.
That said any deer not hit in the vitals needs a follow up shot quick.

To many people watch the deer flop and roll around , thinking its a done deal.
 
I still have an ulcer thinking about a good half a dozen that did this and forgot back up. I now own a 400 FPS model with more knock down power and flatter shooting so It zero to 35 yards. The slower, back boner was zeroed at 35 yards so it hit about 3.5” high, at close range causing the high shots. I was also using light, aluminum bolt at the time causing lack of penetration vs Kevlar bolts now.
 
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