Maybe I can get a better opinion on what happened.

Sorry for the long read. First year my wife has hunted. She doesn’t care for guns so we got her a bow. For shooting only a couple months prior to opening bow season, she’s pretty darn good and picked up a lot faster than I did when I first started shooting. Anyway, her bow is well tuned and 35lbs not much I know but I figured the muzzy x3s would help with penetration at the lb. note that we don’t have a range finder. Friday night she shot at a doe 3 times and missed due to the fact her first pin is 15 yards, second is 20-25, and third is 30 yards. She is a bad judge at distances and I think her dad is too. Well yesterday morning she got a fourth shot off at the same doe and nailed her. Her and her dad claimed it looked like a good shot but a little high. Arrow sticking out she takes off. She was so excited at it being her first deer she convinced her dad to go find her 30 minutes later. I suggested an hour but she was to excited. Where she was standing to where first blood was roughly 25-30 yards. The first 10 yards was good blood for no exit whole. (Light red) some of it almost looked watery to me. Find the arrow. decent blood for another 5 yards. Then it just vanishes to pea sized drips every 5 yards. Then nothing after 30 yards of blood if that. She was running through stuff we had to get on our hands and knees to get through. We gave up. I take one of her other arrows and compare to broke arrow. 3 1/2 - 4 inches penetration. Wife says she was very slightly quartering towards her at 25 yards. We measured and marked trees for her “range finder”. Now I was thinking that maybe the arrow stopped after hitting bone? What are y’alls thoughts? I gave her advice on maybe try to get a quartering away shot for more penetration. Correct me if I’m wrong please. She’s so upset and I’m upset for her because I know what it’s like to loose a deer

She’s using 100gr muzzys. With beeman arrows. If that helps with thoughts

Unfortunate for her. However 35lbs us a bit light for draw weight hunting. Maybe 15 yards or less and avoiding the shoulder. Would need to be a good broadside, double lung shot to get enough penetration.

Ok thanks for response. I never thought to tell her that.

For that light poundage she will get much better penetration with a true cut on contact broadhead like Magnus Stinger 2 blade or G5 Montec. Like Passthru said keep the shots short range 15 20 yards max. I know a lady shooting 37lbs from an Infinite Edge using Easton arrows and Montechs that in her first 3 years killed 8 all inside 20 yards with a few pass through shots.

Sounds like she might have only gotten one lung, with either of the heads above I would expect a few more inches of penetration. I know several lad hunters that have gone to Easton FMJ 500 spine arrows with Magnus 2 blade 100 and 125 gr heads that are having success as well but are asp keeping shots inside 20 yards.

A dog probably could have found the deer for you if it is in a location tracking dogs are legal if she got one lung it can take them a while to die. Then again she might get a chance at the same doe if it didn't get into the lung.

Also a well tuned bow will get more penetration putting the full force of the arrow straight behind the broadhead.

3rivers archery sells weight tubes that could also increase arrow weight which will give an even more rainbow trajectory but increase penetration

[quote=kmon1]For that light poundage she will get much better penetration with a true cut on contact broadhead like Magnus Stinger 2 blade or G5 Montec. Like Passthru said keep the shots short range 15 20 yards max. I know a lady shooting 37lbs from an Infinite Edge using Easton arrows and Montechs that in her first 3 years killed 8 all inside 20 yards with a few pass through shots.

Sounds like she might have only gotten one lung, with either of the heads above I would expect a few more inches of penetration. I know several lad hunters that have gone to Easton FMJ 500 spine arrows with Magnus 2 blade 100 and 125 gr heads that are having success as well but are asp keeping shots inside 20 yards.

A dog probably could have found the deer for you if it is in a location tracking dogs are legal if she got one lung it can take them a while to die. Then again she might get a chance at the same doe if it didn't get into the lung.

Also a well tuned bow will get more penetration putting the full force of the arrow straight behind the broadhead. [/quote this may be flying over my head but what do you mean putting full force of arrow straight behind broadheads?

Well I messed that up. What do you mean by putting full force behind broadheads?

These are some heavy arrows and a little higher poundage in this video but impressive penetration, notice they are using a rhinhart target as the backstop.

For the most penetration think heavy arrow with cut on contact 2 blade broadhead.

And San Augustine county. Illegal to track. I looked/ gave it the thought

I’ll look into the two blade broad head. She should shoot more than she does to get them muscles built up but she’s short on time. What’s the cutting width on those heads? I honestly think we will see her again. There was no bubbles in blood. It wasn’t a pinkish red it was just a bright light red. I’ll post a pic of it if I can on this iPhone when my wife gets home.

The better tuned a bow is the straighter the arrow flies. When an arrow is flying very straight all energy is directly behind the broadhead, also an arrow that is a little off straight flight creates drag on the shaft cutting down on penetration. Hope that makes sense.

Wow, thanks for that video. I will definitely check to see if my local bow store has them before this weekend.

The bow was bought brand new, paper tuned before leaving store. Think we bought the bow in June.

If papertuned with her shooting it should be good to go on that. Griz sticks are not in that many shops that I know of but doesn't hurt to check.

http://www.magnusbroadheads.com/categories/Stinger-Broadheads/

One of their 100 or 125gr 2 blade are a good way to go and though not as heavy as Grizzly Sticks and their broadheads. Easton FMJ might be the heaviest in many of the shops There is also a 75gr brass insert for them that ups weight for better penetration.

Stupid iPhone won’t let me post the picture

So I’m guessing a muzzy is not cut on contact beings it has the screw on tip? I can see how at 35 lbs that pencil thick tip could easily slow that arrow down before the blades even went in. Thanks guys. I referred the message to her and she said thanks and she feels better about shooting at another deer now. Hopefully the same one

Muzzy has some cut on contact heads as well but I have no experience with them. The magnus are what I use for traditional archery, my arrows for my 50lb recurve weigh 542 grains as they are setup and flying in the mid 180 fps range.

Confidence goes a long way. Get her setup and like Passthru said broadside or slightly quartering away shot and I think she will be fine on the next chance.

I sent the pic to you kmon. I gotta hit the hay. 445 comes fast and 12hrs at work will drain ya. Thanks for the input and I’ll check back in in the morning

My girlfriend is shooting 37 lbs right now and the guys up at CCR recommended the 2 blade stinger in 85 grain. Cant comment on their effectiveness yet but will very soon we hope.

also give it more time before tracking. I found my doe an hour and a half after the shot. She took off 60 yards but took me another hour 1/2 to find her the 2nd time as it was well after dark the 2nd time. I had a lung/liver shoot and she bleed into her cavity so there was no blood trail.

Sorry to hear. You could always get some Gold Tip Warrior 35-55 pound arrows and get the Gold Tip F.A.C.T. weight system to add some weight to the inside of her arrows for better penetration. They have all different grain weights so you can mix and match till you find a good match. They screw in to the back of the point insert and you use a really long allen wrench to install them. You can find those Warrior arrows at Lancaster Archery, 3 River's Archery and all those other online stores. Just type in Gold Tip Warrior Arrows Sale as the key words and you will find them for a good price. Lancaster Archery has them fletched for $5.83 each but they go on sale a lot. Also go with some 85grain G5 Montec cut-on-contact broadheads and get her a set of their Pre-Season 85grain practice broadheads because they fly exactly like the sharp ones and won't chew your target up. She will get a lot better penetration with that set up. But if you end up adding a good amount of weight behind the insert, then go with the 100grain broadheads for better flight. Also look in to one of those surgical band archery strength builders for building up those muscles so she can pull more poundage over time. Hope this helps you out.

If you live near West Houston then I could have you as a guest at the archery club I belong to and she could try out the Gold Tip Warrior arrows that I have and add some weights inside it to see what works well for her bow set up. Just thought I would offer so you can try them out before buying some to see if they work well for you. I shoot them out of a couple of recurves that I have.

This is how we learn. I'm sure she is disappointed but there is a big difference in shooting archery and hunting. A deer that is quartered to you is an extremely difficult shot with very poor chance for success. Understanding the anatomy of a deer , you have to visualize the shot in 3 dimension. I seriously doubt this was a lung shot. More than likely front muscles and bone. Deer are tough so she probably will survive this hit.

Tracking is also a huge part of bow hunting and probably the hardest to master. We loose blood trails because tissue swelling will minimize profuse blood flow. Now the blood is running down the leg and will only show as droplets. Check the vertical for smears on vegetation. In this case she probably outran you anyway.

With your wife's setup she is more than capable of taking a deer and I suspect her next attempt will be successful.

Thanks guys. Went to bow shop yesterday. They had the original stingers. I was trying to get her to get them in 100 grain. That’s all they had. Then the guy insisted her in getting nap thunderheads in 85 grain for faster arrow speed. “We did tell him what happened” she’s in the woods now but hasn’t seen one deer yet.

main issue.. you need to be using mechanical to make up for the light lbs pull

I don’t trust mechanicals with a 70lb bow. I’m not gunna have my wife shoot them with 40lbs. Way to much resistance on empact to open the blades.

Navasot what mechanical other than possibly the low KE from rage will open and penetrate well from a low poundage bow < 45lbs draw?

Saw a picture yesterday of a proud kid with his first deer, spike double lunged at 24 yards arrow dropped the exit side at 20 yards of the run, deer went 40 yards. I setup his bow 2 years ago when he was 8, adjusted it for him before this season. In those 2 years he went up 1.5 inches on draw and 15lbs on weight to 24.5 and 37 lbs respectively. Setup Easton 500 spine arrows with 100gr G5 Montec. It was a very proud Grandpa showing the picture.

I have seen enough of those type pics and stories using 500 or in some cases 600 spine arrows with either Magnus Stingers or Montechs to recommend much else. Combination works if they can shoot

Any banded type mechanical will open up fine with low poundage bows just don’t plan on shooting over 20-30 yards.. which i don’t like doing on deer anyway. Penatation is something that is misread. From the outer skin to the vitals of most deer your talking a few inches.. shot placement is key

Don’t trust them on a 70lb bow...

I’ll just leave lol

Nav I do not disagree with you on the rubber band held ones or magnetic ones opening easy but penetration is what I worry about with them. Tracked one with my dog over a quarter mile for a kid that used a mechanical with the rubber bands, by the time it went through the skin and 2 ribs it only got part of one lung. We got her and it was easy for the dog but not sure I could have worked out the blood trail and they had given up when I got a call.

It was a good shot slightly quartering away and looked like if more penetration would have been there they most likely would have seen her fall after running almost 100 yards across a field. The kid was 12 and IIRC shooting a little under 40 lbs at a 24 inch draw.

That’s fine, you can leave. I don’t like them do to the fact I’ve lost a deer one a mechanical. Why add something that very easily can fail? I’ve had them open during flight, completely missing my target, have had them not open, or just flat out brake. I’m glad you like them and work good for you. Me personally won’t ever use them again, nor recommend them. I think people jump to them just because they can’t tune a fix blade, or don’t want to mess with there sights out of season to shoot practice tips instead of Broadheads. Just my opinion not trying to pick a argument