Deer hit, broken arrow question

[Born2hunt]

So my buddy shot a deer this afternoon and I was curious if anyone has run into a similar scenario before. 45 yard broadside shot, and he felt the shot was solid right behind the shoulder and in line with the heart. The buck jerked its front legs at the shot and ran fast straight out of there. My buddy went to where the buck was standing at the shot and the back 12” of his arrow was sitting on top of a bush. No sign of the rest of the arrow yet. I’m wondering if the arrow lodged in the far shoulder, and when the deer jumped forward if the front shoulder might have sheared the arrow? Anyone run into something like that before? 

65 lbs, roughly 30” draw length with a 3 blade muzzy fixed blade. 

We didn’t find any blood at the shot or writhing the first 75 yards. It was getting dark so he decided to pick up the trail in the morning. Thankfully it will be a cold night. Also there seemed to be something clear on the part of the arrow - almost like saliva no clue what that might be. 

 

Any help is appreciated  hopefully we find t early tomorrow  

Thanks! 

[dustin25]

Tough to say.only time I've seen a clear fluid on an arrow is on deer hit in the void space above the vitals and below the spine.the broken arrow is a complete roll of the dice as far as how that'd happen in my experience.sorry I can't be of more help.good luck tomorrow!

[trphyhntr]

All you can do is look and hope for the best.

[AverageJoe]

I have had this happen. Arrow went in the shoulder blade and the cartlidge that makes up the shoulder blade seals the wound from bleeding. The other part of the arrow could literally be anywhere. The deer is dead somewhere, just have to find it. Unfortunately for me, it was too late by the time i found mine. 

[Born2hunt]

Thanks AverageJoe that makes a lot of sense. The way he reacted to the shot it sounded like a solid hit to the vitals and what you said explains the light blood trail. Luckily it’s fairly open country broken up by cuts which I think will help to find him when we spread out and grid for sign.  Hoping he didn’t run too far. 

I agree the best thing is to keep looking which we’ll do in the morning.  The broken arrow seemed odd so I thought I’d ask the group  thanks for the quick responses hopefully I have a better update tomorrow.  

[wildwoody]

Broken arrow are not rare at all, I've killed elk with 8" penetration and arrow broke off, start at last blood and use toilet paper and mark each blood spot so you can look back at the trail direction. If you didn't push him you should find him within a quarter mile. Goodluck

[Duggaboy]

Sounds like a dead deer to me,awesome.........Duggaboy!

[oz31p]

Animal reaction and shooter feel are unreliable,  

sounds like a forward of the vitals meat hit to me. I’d keep looking but with out 2 punctured lungs or a major arterial hit the off of finding hm dead or Alive are slim

 

my reading comprehension is pretty low. Have you found any blood any where. Was there any on the arrow

[Born2hunt]

Found the other half of the arrow this morning and it looks like a clean miss after all. Never found any blood and did a grid for 1/4 mile before we decided to restart and that’s when we found the second half. Thanks everyone really appreciate the help. Good luck this season!

[PRDATR]

What did the broadhead look like? How far apart were the two pieces?

[trphyhntr]

 

Nvm.

[Born2hunt]

The front of the arrow was about 20 yards uphill behind a boulder so we didn’t see it yesterday. The tip of the Broadhead looked blunted and there were some dulled edges on the blades. 

The thing I don’t get is he said the impact sounded like a punch in the stomach, not like an arrow hitting a rock. Also can’t figure out what the clear liquid could have been that was on the arrow. 

Thanks again everyone.