Arrow penetration on game

[leadcounsel]

A question for bow hunters:

In movies, when people are shot with arrows, the arrows seem to only penetrate a few inches or up to 1/2 way, sticking partially out of the back of a person.

In reality, how deep do arrows typically penetrate medium and large game? Any go completely through?

Does game typically run for a few seconds, or just drop?

 

[charby]

On deer, with a broadside shot into the Heart/Lungs/Liver area, most of the time the arrow will go right through the animal. I've never shot my bow at any other animal other than whitetailed deer.

If you do a rear/back/quartering shot into the vital area, more than likely the arrow will penetrate until it hits bone. Sometimes it will exit the deer too.

Arrows will penetrate until they hit a large bone or run out of energy.

Movies have it all wrong.

 

[~z]

In my experience, nearly all pass throughs on deer (>95%) with shots taken into the ribcage from within 35yds. Shoulder shots on 1/4ing deer (1 scapula hit) the # is about the same. Hit a leg bone on the opposite side and results may vary. With hogs at the same distance, in my experience, it depends on the size of the critter. I rarely get complete pass throughs on larger hogs due to the gristle plate. However, for hogs, I usually use much heaver arrows which therefore fly a bit slower. I have never had a well placed arrow do the Hollywood thing on a deer, and even with larger hogs (200#+) the fletching is generally buried on the inside.
Curious to hear others results.

And if it matters, 52# draw weight, arrows around 350gn, I believe velocity was around 270fps but have not chronographed in years.
~z

 

[MutinousDoug]

Of the two elk I harvested with my bow, neither arrow exited the far side. Both were broadside shots that broke (or split) a rib going in and stuck in a rib on the far side. Lung shot on one and lung/heart shot on the other. Bow was a Darton compound at 57#.
First one jumped out of the gully he was in and walked behind a bush before falling over and sticking his feet in the air (heart/lung). The top of his heart was nearly sliced off. The second one (lung shot) saw me after being struck and ran downhill about 40-50 yds before she piled up.
I must confess to gut-shooting an elk and the arrow only penetrated about 1/2 the body's thickness. She ran about a mile and a half before bedding down. Just by chance I found her and my arrow the next year. Not much of a trophy by then.

 

[Kman]

Broad-head choice greatly affects performance/penetration. I've had results ranging from "pin cushion" to "pass through"

 

[koja48]

Most deer/antelope have been pass-thrus (unless heavy bone was encountered), whether using a longbow, recurve, or compound. Elk, bear, moose, etc are a different story. Unless you happen to hit the spine (and that would typically be a "miss" by a knowledgeable bowhunter), depending on both the hit & the animal, they usually run a ways. It's important to know where you hit, know what the various hair colors/texture is on various parts of the body, know the difference between lung, liver, arterial, and venal blood . . . all of this dictates not only the distance a critter may travel and how it may react, but also the time you should wait before beginning to track. The bowhunting craft isn't just about practice with the bow . . . there's a lot more involved. Ya gotta be able to find them.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I shot one deer from about 15 yards distance. A lung shot, it penetrated the right side body and the broadhead exited to about an inch or two into the left foreleg. It ran about 100-150 yards before dropping and in the course of running, tore up the foreleg.

BTW, there are numerous accounts of the Indians shooting an arrow right through a buffalo. They'd ride alongside the running brute, lean over and let loose at close distance.

 

[TxPhantom]

I apologize to good bow hunters, but.....

I know I'm going to piss most bow hunters off but this is how I feel.
Accurate bow hunting is a lot more difficult to master than hunting with a adequately powered rifle. I, not being a bow hunter, don't understand why people with very minimal skills will go off into the woods and shoot sharp sticks into animals, in non-lethal areas so the poor creature can run off in the woods to die a painful death by infection or bleed to death. I'm sure there are some very good bow hunters that can actually hit their targets but I contend most can't hit the broad side of a barn while standing inside it. If you have to hunt with a bow you should be a very good shot or a very good tracker so you can hunt the poor creature down and put it out of it's misery.
If you want to hunt with a bow and arrow practice at the range until you can hit what you are aiming at. Please don't practice on animals!

 

[koja48]

Didn't piss me off at all. Unfortunately, be it bow, muzzle-loader, slug-gun, or conventional firearm, there is a percentage that can't shoot, don't practice, don't sight-in, have zero tracking skills & fewer ethics. I've always described these as "arrow-slingers/gun pointers/slob "hunters" (and that's being gracious)." As stated previously, there is a plethora of skills/knowledge/ability that make one a competent hunter beyond having a license and a tool capable of harvesting game. Equally unfortunately & perhaps more so, such people can buy a license and a gun/bow/shotgun/etc . . . they can't buy ability, skill, or knowledge.

 

[Thin Black Line]

K48 +1.

As far as arrows had them do it all: go all the way thru the deer and exit,
stick 1/2 way thru the deer with fletching on one side and point on the
other, or bury the point somewhere in the middle of the deer.

Like firearms: practice, shot placement, and actual damage done make the
difference.

 

[matrem]

For bow hunters who fully understand the weapon in their hands,broadheads are EVERY BIT as lethal as any firearm!(and usually as quick)
I've not killed an animal any bigger than a "big Ohio buck" with a broadhead,but nearly every one that I have,I had to pull the arrow out of 6-8 inches of dirt after complete broadside pass through.

 

[Sunray]

"...seem to only penetrate a few inches or up to 1/2 way..." Looks better on camera.
"...Accurate bow hunting is a lot more difficult to master than..." Absolutely. Shooting a bow, any bow, uses muscles that are used for nothing else. If those muscles(back and shoulder if the archer is doing it properly) are not up to pulling a bow of hunting weight, the archer will hurt himself. Upper body tone and practice are essential.
There are just as many rifle hunters who don't sight in, don't practice or don't practice with their hunting ammo too. Mind you, shooting skill is not a requirement to buy a hunting licence.

 

[ishredinmysleep]

bows

well part of it is the kind of broadhead and the draw weight. most bows carry about 1 ft lb of kinetic energy per pound of draw weight with that being said it depends if u hit a bone or anything like that i shoot a 65lb compound bow at deer and it passes through every time. as for the head some are designed not to penetrate all the way through the animal these are primarily used for small game

 

[MAGNUM44]

Arrow vs gun ?

I saw a show years ago on tv called "YOU ASK FOR IT"I am showing my age some one asked the question does an arrow penetrate as well as a bullet? here is what they did they had a 100 lb bag filled with sand, hanging from a stand, and a guy using a 30-06 rifle shot it into the sand bag, then another guy with a either it was a long bow or a recurve traditional bows, as the compound bows werent around yet this had to be in the early 1960's, any way the guy with the bow shot an arrow into that same sand bag, the arrow went almost compleatly through that sand bag just the end of the arrow where the nock and feathers are were still inside of the sand bag, they shot at this bag from about 25 feet away, then they cut the bag down and sliced it open and the 30-06 bullet was buried in the middle of that sand bag, they pulled it out it was mushroomed but it did not penetrate through that sand bag, point being an arrow has greater penetration than a rifle bullet, then the show's host explained about Kennetic energy etc. I didn't mean to bore you guys with this long story just at the time it left an impression on me about hunting etc

 

[Archery Ham]

I watched a video of a complete pass though on two small feral hogs that were standing close together. This was on You Tube, posted by a former High Country Archery employee.

Current compound bows are very fast. I have a Pearson that slings arrows at 300 FPS and a heavier hunting arrow at 285 PFS. I will soon have it doing 340 FPS with a cam upgrade.

Regarding that sandbag story, I have wondered how efective field points or fixed blades would be on body armor like the bank robbers used at the Bank of America robbery in California.

 

[MountainWalk]

I shoot a long bow and a recurve. I have recieved nothing but clear pass throughs on blacktail deer, elk(two subspecies) black bear and whitetails. Most drop within 50 yards.

I agree that animals arent very good targets to get practice on. But in my exp, especially traditional archers, practice much more with their tools than 90% of gun hunters. Most western bowhunters I know tend to be better hunters than their gun using opposites. Out here, treestands arent used much, so killing means getting closer ie- better woodsmanship.