A hit and a miss

[Zambo]

This year while bowhunting I sent an arrow through a deer just under the spine about mid body. We tracked him for two days, jumping him twice but never recovering him. This was in September and I have got trail cam pictures of him on a dozen times after that. He is alive and well. I was told there is a hole in the body cavity under the spine, in back of the lungs and above the liver where an arrow can pass through. Is this hole there or is this just another case of how remarkable the whitetail is at recovery and survival?

[ilhnter]

I did the same thing this year. I hit a doe right under the spine, but i didn't hit any organs or the spine. My brother killed her two weeks later. The entry and exit hole were both healing up very nicely. She would have lived had she not walked by my brother.

[Tominator]

I've heard many stories about this "dead zone" in a whitetail. I've never experienced it for sure, but I have a buddy that swears he did the same thing as you did.

[MCH]

Shot my biggest buck ever this year in the same spot. Followed a blood trail for over 500 yards before it disappeared. Went back two different times looking for buzzards or a smell and nothing.

[rhine16]

I've hit that spot too. Was a couple years back, I shot a doe that was about ten yards. Knew i hit a little high, but i thought i'd nailed her. Followed blood trail for 3-400 yards and just lost it. She was seen later on with a wound, but she was fine.

[Guest ohbowhntr]

Been there, Done that. Quite frustrating. Makes you realize how TOUGH they really are. I've heard MANY guys dispute whether you can actually hit a deer in such a way and it not die, but I've seen it myself, and seen pictures of a deer w/ a BH scar right where I hit my buck I never found. "No Man's Land" does exist, however, you don't completely MISS the lungs, you only marginally cut them, and the deer survives because the hemorrhage is minimized, and for whatever reason, the "pneumothorax" that should be cause is also minimized. I've heard many of the guys who've lost deer to this shot say they were larger deer, which goes to make me believe that their fatty tissue blocked the holes and stopped the development of the pneumothorax. Just my $.02.

[wvhoytbowhunter]

Made the same hit on a buck this past year. Tracked him for 300 yds before the trail dried up. Never did find him. I covered the whole area looking for remains and never did find him.

[Hardwood_HD]

i think i hit that on a buck last year, droped him in his tracks and i was sitting there watching him lay there to make sure he was dead.. after about 10mins he just jumped up and ran off, he fell a couple more times but got up and kept going, never found him

[Guest bigalt78]

I've heard this a lot and actually there was another post on this awhile back, but no there is no such thing as a "dead spot". Someone on that last post had a lot of good information proving that there is no such thing. He had a picture of a dear with one side of its body cut off and all the internals still in it and he also posted other pictures of a deer's anatomy and you can tell that there is no such thing. On the picture of the deer missing on side of its body the lungs were empty and there still wasnt any room between there and the spine let alone when the deer is alive and the lungs are fully expanded. I do think though if you hit a deer in just the right spot and you maybe have dull broadheads or just dont do that much damage to the deer that they can survive.