A double-lung shot doe that went further than expected

By Andy Bensing

These lungs show how tough a deer can be and how far they can actually run on even a perfect shot. This doe was arrowed at 10 yards from a low tree stand with a crossbow. The deer was at full alert and had been grunted to a stop before the shot. With the loud crack of the crossbow and being at full alert before the shot the doe took off up hill like a bullet. There had been a very light rain during the evening hunt but immediately after the shot it began pouring and when the hunter was out of the tree there was no blood to be found except two small splashes at 60 yards down the trail the deer ran off on. A two hour body search in the ram at night did not turn up the deer.

I tracked the deer with my Eibe in the morning. We found the doe rather quickly even though the night's downpours washed all visible blood away. The scent was still there. Amazingly the doe had run very hard for 150 meters and would have gone even further. When we found her she was impaled on a box wire fence in the woods. It was quite clear she had hit the fence still going full speed 150 meters from the hit site. Look closely at the lungs and you will see it was a double lung shot and If you look real close between the lungs you will see the aorta was severed as well. Interestingly I was only able to collect barely 10 ounces of blood from the chest cavity. She must have bled out as she ran but the pouring rain washed it away very fast. The area she was in was very thick with vegetation and it would have very unlikely the hunter would have found her that far away just by grid searching even in the daylight. It is sometimes incredible how tough these animals are.