Deer death

[DC]

I've wondered about this and OO's post http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,61728.0.html
 brought it up. He showed a deer that had been shot through the heart and yet still ran 40yds. I've seen a few stories of deer that got hit by the arrow, walked a few feet, and fell over dead. Any ideas why some would run and some wouldn't?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Heart shot deer always run a bit, double lung deer can fall over quickly at times. Keep in mind a deer can run 50-100 yards in 3-4 seconds with no heart or lung functions. Most good hits are over 10 seconds or less.

[osage outlaw]

Deer can react different to being shot.  Both of the ones I killed this year bolted as soon as they were hit.  They went on a dead straight run and dropped about 40 yards away.  I guess the sudden burst of adrenaline is what causes them to run a short distance.  My first self bow kill was a buck that I shot in the heart with a stone point.  When my arrow hit, the deer flinched and looked around.  He continued walking up the hill like nothing was wrong.  He had no idea that an arrow was sticking through his heart.  After a short distance he started to wobble and then tried to run.  That was an unusual reaction from my experiences.  When I hit one in the heart/lungs, they normally take off in a straight line and crash through brush or whatever gets in there way.  If the shot is less than perfect a deer will find a trail and stick with it.  This is just my observations from 25 years of putting meat in the freezer.  My hunting area is thickly wooded hills with some hay fields.  Maybe deer react different with other terrains. 

[BowEd]

Most times they run.Some farther then others.I found to hit them completely relaxed is best.I hunt thick vegetated areas also.Had the same experience as Clint with an eight point too.A pass through ground level from a blind.The buck just hopped once and continued just walking away slowly.It was confusing a bit.I usually watch exactly where the fletching disappears and this time it disappeared completely quickly.I thought I might have missed.Things happen fast.I waited and waited saying to myself there's no way I could have missed since it was around an eight yard shot.I finally went out and looked at the crime scene after around an hour.I found my arrow 30 feet beyond the deer red from tip to tip.I found him 40 yards away later after following a blood trail on both sides of his tracks.
This is what I like about quiet self bows.A deer gets stung and bumped by many things as walks along.A well placed arrow from a good quiet selfbow with a very sharp broad head could feel no more upsetting then getting stung by a big bee or getting poked by a sharp stick for all they know since they have no idea it came from the bowhunter.They don't realize they are dieing from blood loss far as I'm concerned in my opinion and really can't do anything about it.

[DC]

Is it possible that the ones that run actually hear the arrow leave the bow but it takes a split second to tense up and start running and by that time the arrow is there. So they are in running mode as the arrow hits and it looks to the hunter like the deer ran as it was hit. The ones that don't hear the arrow just keep on walking like nothing happened.

[osage outlaw]

I hit a buck in the shoulder blade once with a modern bow.  I don't know what happened but that deer dropped like it was a spine shot and didn't move.  It's legs were locked up straight.  I have no idea why it reacted like that.  It took a follow up shot to finish it off.  That's the only time one has ever dropped that wasn't from a spine shot.   

[osage outlaw]

I don't believe so DC.  The first doe I shot had no clue I was there and my bow set up is very quiet.  Even a deer that is shot through the heart or lungs with a gun will take off and run a distance before going down.  There is no way they heard that bullet coming.

[bjrogg]

I think it's like Ed said, they don't know there dead. Their flight instincts take over until their body can't go anymore. Much like a chicken with no head.
Bjrogg

[DC]

Thanks guys. I'm not a hunter so I have no way of answering these questions myself. It just seemed odd that some run and some drop dead. I'm thinking the "drop dead" are pretty rare.

[BowEd]

DC....I should have been more explicit.Just because the shot is dead silent does'nt always mean they just walk away.Most will be startled by the arrow contacting if they are relaxed.Some won't.I just gave a for instance episode,and I don't quite see the comparison of a noisey gun compared to a bow really though.I shot a buck once with a self bow that was lopeing past me in the stand and he bolted hard for 50' and stopped.Then walked away slowly and fell over.Spined a doe that dropped in it's tracks too.There's all kinds of scenarios out there.I've shot dozens with a muzzle loader before taking up the self bow challenge.Noone that I know of can predict whether a deer flees hard or slow.
All in all if hit in the vitals correctly they only have so long to live and in some cases hard flight might even hurry up the process like BJ said.Trick is to get a good blood trail to follow in thick cover and that'll happen if hit correctly,and a humanitarion end to a successful hunt.

[bradsmith2010]

dont think there is a way to predict,,
I once saw a hunteer shoot a bull elk with rifle, and it didnt even flinch,, i thought he missed,,  but then fell over dead,,
all the deer except spine shot ,,,ran at least a little,,from my experience,, some would stop,,,and others would run till out of gas,,

[Danzn Bar]

Every and  I do mean every bow kill has been different for me.  I See no pattern except if after the shot the deer see you it could run for a mile or more.  I preach you must be as quite after the shot as you are before o

[mullet]

I've only killed one deer with a bow but several with a rifle and muzzleloader. The only one's I ever shot with a rifle and dropped where they were standing were the one's I hit with a .300WinMag.  i've shot others with 30.06, muzzleloaders and shotguns that ran a long way whether shot through the heart, lungs or liver. The only deer I shot with a bow ran 70 yards after being shot through the liver and one lung and a complete pass through.It ran straight down the logging road spraying out of both sides.

I have killed a lot of hogs with a bow and the only one that fell on the spot with legs in the air was one I hit over the left eye with a stone point and it traveled down into the neck, instant dead.

[osage outlaw]

I did have one deer almost drop instantly from an arrow in the heart.  It didn't actually hit the heart but it sliced both main arteries going into it.  It disconnected the heart from the rest of the system completely.  That buck didn't make it 10 yards. 

[RAU]

Clint I shot a buck with compound in late 90s high in shoulder and it too dropped like a rock and needed a second arrow just like yours. Acted just like a spine hit, no idea why. Every other arrow killed deer of mine besides a handful of spine shots has travelled I would say average of 75 yards maybe a little less. Most rifle kills of mine that don't hit the shoulders have run a fair distance too. The only way to consistently anchor deer where they stand, not including brain/spine hits, in my experience,  is to smash the shoulders with a rifle (you lose a lot of stew/burger that way tho)