shoulder blade penitration

[recurve shooter]

aint planin to try it, but do yall think a 55# bow with heavy arras could penitrate the shoulder blade of a white tail provied a sollid hit, incase a shot go's to far forward?

[Little John]

Don't know, some parts of the sholder blade is thicker and tougher than others so probably could penetrate some parts and not others. Broadhead design can make a difference.    Kenneth

[hawkbow]

I have shot through a shoulder with bows of that poundage , but would hope you would wait and take only a close shot and ensure to the best of your ability that the arrow goes through the lungs.. the reason most archers don't make consistent harvests every year is they don't take the perfect shot opportunity.. I know first hand that sometimes things go wrong.. last year while hunting with Wolf watcher, i had a shot at a mule deer doe.. about twenty yards and she was directly below me on a steep hillside.. i made the shot and hit her too high at a steep angle and got only backstrap... made me sick to have to tell the ranch foreman who is a friend of mine that i wounded and lost a deer... I glassed the area for weeks afterward in hopes of seeing her again and finishing the hunt. never saw her. even the best laid plans can go wrong.. the most important tool you have concerning a bad hit is a sharp point..a sharp point can kill through hemorage even with a bad hit.. hunt with honor ...Hawk

[Ryano]

I seriously doubt it...I hit a buck in the shoulder blade once and it only the head and about one inch of arrow shaft penetrated the shoulder bone. Needless to say I didn't recover that deer. Someone did shoot it in gun season though, It was a big 8 point, made me sick....Just shoot em where your supposed to and don't worry about things you can't control.

[recurve shooter]

guys, dont think im some idiot thats gonna go try it, im just currious about things like that. hawk, i know to wait for the right shot. it sickens me as much as the rest of yall to lose an animal, no matter how big or small. i aint like most of my generation, uncareing about the woods and swamps. i was raised in them, and know them well, though not as well as the rest of you do. i am a capable woodsman, i just like to further my knowledge of any question that pops into my head. thank yall for your time.

[Kegan]

Do a test. Only way to know. Find someone during season, or make freinds with local game commison (or whoever removes road killed deer) and ask them if you can test to see "what if". My brother and I tested the penetration of our bows on the head of a white tail (the head and skin were given to my brother by a friend, as his friend thought it was cool Kyle was into tanning). We shot several bows and types of braodheads and foudn that the Zwickey Eskimos would penetrate, but could glance badly leaving large cuts, and the home made trades I was using just wouldn't hold up to the impact. It was just a silly little test to see "what if", but at least now we know.

[Pat B]

Read Dr Ashley's report about arrow penetration(you can read it on tradgang). He did his study on big boned African animals but the principals would apply on North American animals as well. His results using single bevel broadheads and fletchings that allow the arrow to spin the appropriate direction for the bevel used has a wedge effect that allows the head to split the bone by torque and not just penetrate.
  I shot a big 8pointer a few yours back with a 55# recurve, heavy ash arrows(over 600grs) and grizzly single bevel heads. The deer was calm and broadside at 14 yards when I made the shot. My shot was off and I hit the shoulder and there was very little penetration but the head stuck fast in the bone. I found only the back half of my arrow and it had broken across the grain of the ash shaft when it was hit by a tree as the deer ran off. Never found the point end...after 10hours of tracking over 2 days and about 1000 yards. The deer survived and was marking his scrapes 2 weeks later. He had a distinguishing hoof print so I could identify him easily. 

[Dave 55]

A couple of years ago I shot a 4 by 4 with a 55# recurve and 2 blade Zwickey and carbon shaft that got about 8 inches of penetration,dead deer,not exactly where I was looking,.I believe arrow flight and shaft diameter have a whole lot to do with it,dont believe Id be as fortunate with the woods I shoot now.

[Olschool]

I like Grizzley heads
The first deer I shot this last season did the duck and turn at the shot, she was about 18yds out and broadside. I was shooting a 55# Osage selfbow, POC with 160gr Grizzley head and the head went through both shoulder blades and was sticking out of the off shoulder 3". She went 60yds down hill and piled up

[recurve shooter]

wow. thats impressive.

[Diligence]

I found a post on a hunting site that shows an arrow pass thru on a shoulder blade...photos too.  The fellow was testing his homemade broad heads.

http://www.huntchat.com/showthread.php?t=47239

D

[Little John]

That is a cool test, I might try to replicate it on an elk if I can get one this season.      Kenneth