a bitter taste and sour stomach

[nagantguy]

well it happened, my hunting nightmare, the reoccurring dream about things going badly, this morning I arrowed a doe, a big for good eating one, my new mechanical broad head opened after hitting the mesh on my hunting blind window, made the arrow go low and just crease the brisket, flowed blood on my hands and knees for hours only to jump her up and watch her run 500 yards across a sod feild. first one I've wounded and not recovered since 2001. it's a hard pill to swallow, I hate the felling and always said I'd stop hunting when I could no longer make humane kills. equipment failure , bad luck whatever don't make it any easier. I wish I'd have never taken the shot.

[Morgan61]

A few years ago I shot at a doe, hit her and followed the blood trail until it left the property I was hunting. Neighbor found it dead a couple days later a few hundred yards away from where I gave up following.
Felt pretty bad about that.
My eyes just aren't what they used to be. That experience taught me to swallow my pride and scope my rifles.

[Baja_Traveler]

Mechanicals - Just say No...

Nothing made will keep me from using my G5 Montec broadheads...

[M-Tecs]

Sorry the hear this. It does happen. The import part is minimize it happening again.

I hunt various intensive harvest metro hunts. A lot of deer are killed. Some are lost. Bad shot are always an issue but one that is easily fixable is broadhead selection. Rage and Swhacker broadheads make some very impressive kills but they also have a surprisingly high failure rate due to lack of penetration or skating.

The broadhead that impresses the most is Slick Trick. https://slicktrick.net/

I have killed about 30 deer with them and friends and fellow hunts have killed at least double that number with them without any explained or unexplained issues.

[nagantguy]

these were the new rage broad heads, the new crossbow is fast, so fast it won't shoot well with my g5 monotechs, the new crossbow was a recent gift from wife and daughter for my 40th. it shoots amazingly fast and flat, and I have high hopes for it as a hunting weapon, just learnt his lesson the hard way,

[GhostHawk]

Murphy's law, anything that Can go wrong, Will go wrong.

I have not hunted in years, but I would not use anything that was not one piece.

MA3L's was what was on the front of my arrows. Just about foolproof.
http://www.gnwtc.com/vbhh111a.JPG

[jcren]

Plus one for slicktrick. Use them on my how and t he wife's crossbow. On he crossbow, I shoot the original 1", 100 grain and use brass inserts for front weight.

[Thumbcocker]

Loving exodus fixed blades.

[runfiverun]

I don't think I'd take it all that hard.
you didn't do much more than make a cut,, it will heal.

you did learn to test things a little better, and you know your blades will open at the least resistance.
I'm thinking you just gained what we call experience in the field.

[44man]

ME, I used big old Snuffers and heavy arrows. Seen many heads fail and break in deer. Went to Muzzy one season, shot through deer OK but broke every one in the ground. Bought many that shed blades. Bought the nice ones from Golden Eagle, rolled the blades like a sardine can.
I don't want expandables either, seen them break and stop. They take more power then a fixed blade and arrows are just twigs now. Speed rules today. But arrow weight is what works. Tiny 100 gr heads are a fools errand.

[lefty o]

ive always used fixed blades, but the mechanical opening blades arent to blame. the dang screen they put on blind windows, it can open mechanical broadheads or steer an arrow off course by the fletching if its anything other than a 100% straight shot out the window. have had it happen to me, and cut the screens out of the windows after.

[nagantguy]

these are 125, and I to am not a fan of mechanical heads but it's what is needed in this weapon system, I tryed my fixed, it was dismal, I got myself some dental rubber bands and shot a half dozen shots the rough that same mesh. worked great, no early deployment of blades. as much as I was sceptical on these rages, they do shoot like a Lazer beam, one side of my target has 5 2 inch circles, at 20, 30 40 and 50 I can enter those circles at will, I've never seen anything like it, now that I think I have predeployment fixed I'm hoping for good things.
buy the way this 370 sniper crossbow is a built like an ar, stock grip and trigger, being an old Marine grunt it just fits my hand and shooting style, in a while I fell it will become an extension of my will.
I still feel I'll about wounding and not recovering a animal, I hate it, and will.do everything in my power to never let it happen again.

[tradbear55]

Yeah, it happens. I've lost a couple. I hate it too. However the yotes will clean up the mess. Sometimes things just don't work the way you want. Don't fret too much about it. Good luck next time.

[tomme boy]

It will be fine! Deer are TOUGH!

[44man]

Long ago I figured out how to tune any broad head to any compound in about 5 minutes. BUT it is based on the arrow spine for the power and speed. You can't tune the wrong arrow.
Today bows are made strong so a light arrow can be shot for speed. It is why expandable s came about, to shoot like a field point or target point. Then heads got lighter to prevent paradox.
But I tuned so a broad head hit the exact spot a field point hit.
There is no need for the speed today either and a fast bow can shoot the right arrow even if slower.
You will never shoot an arrow fast enough to beat a deer's reflexes if sound gets to the deer first.
Best bow is still a long bow with a heavy arrow.
No bow needs special heads if the arrow is proper.

[NSB]

It's pretty common knowledge that mechanical broadheads are not supposed to be shot through mesh screens. Most ground blinds have that info somewhere. They will open and the result is as you found......they don't fly true. Take the mesh out. It doesn't do much anyway. That, or use fixed broadheads. My Buzzcut Stingers fly like a field point and I've harvested a ton of deer with them. With my xbow I use the Rage mechanicals and don't use mesh on the windows. They also fly like a field point. Got my 81st deer with a bow this year, so I have some experience in this area.

[paraord]

If you hunt long enough a bad shot happens to all of us. The only thing you can do is learn from the expierence and dont waste it. Use it to make you a better hunter.

Also, I went from G5 strikers (fixed) to try Rage Hypodermics. Took a doe with the hypo's and the blood trail was incredible. Next year shot a hard angle and got a failure to deploy. Very disheartened after a lengthy trailing, we did our best but could not recover.
Since then I have gone back to fixed blades, to Slick trick's.

All you can do is draw from this experience and utilize it to make yourself a better hunter. Get back out there my friend!

[leeggen]

The older I get the less I like tracking without snow on the ground. Hey if that is the only one that has gotten by, you have done well, one in 15 yrs.
CD

[horsesoldier]

I like slick tricks too. This year arrowed my antelope with the blood therapy ocd broadhead. Much better flight characteristics and less tuning than the slick tricks

[richhodg66]

I don't think I'd take it all that hard.
you didn't do much more than make a cut,, it will heal.

you did learn to test things a little better, and you know your blades will open at the least resistance.
I'm thinking you just gained what we call experience in the field.

I agree. From your description, I think that doe will hurt a little while but will heal up and be OK. If she ran 500 yards after you tracked her, she isn't mortally injured.

[koger]

My wife and I have taken 50+ deer with mechanicals, short blood trails. I like the cut on contact kind, Wal Mart sells Carbon express brand, our friends and ourselves have taken over 100 deer using these and Rocket brand Hammerheads, tough as nails, shoot like field tips, and cut 1&1/2 inch to 2 inch holes! I don't like Rage, Punchcutters, Schwacers either. Each year I help butcher about 30 deer locally, for free to help needy familys keep from paying a $100 butcher bill, I dug 3 Rage BH's out of deer shoulders last fall, one was completely enclosed in scar tissue, deer looked healthy.You should never attempt to shoot any kind of mechanical thru any type of netting or material, period! I have taken a bunch of deer with traditional Bh's, with my recurves and longbows as well. I think your doe will be fine in a day or two, stop kicking yourself so hard, you did due diligence, and it is apparent you are an ethical hunter, all you can ask for.