Shot to vitals, bolt deflects into the guts!

[longbow joe]

Dont try to figure it out l had some wacky stuff happen over the years very similar to yours . Chaulk lt up to experience. Congrats!

[mr meat]

Congrats on the doe!

[nchunterkw]

It's hard to say exactly what happened as the blades opened. If the deer was at a slight angle, one blade started opening before the other ad maybe encountered a rib before the other and all of that could have helped deflect the arrow. There are many BH videos on line where they test heads on a quartering shot and many heads (not just mech. heads) don't perform that well. But a large 2 blade like the Killzone or Rage with the small razor tip generally don't do too well. I too used to shoot large mechanical heads but have since changed to fixed heads because of "weird" things like what you saw. With these bows and a good stiff arrow, it's really just not very hard to get 6 arrows to group at 2" or less at 40 yds with a good fixed head. My 2 cents? Your arrow is a little lighter than I like to use on deer. I like to be over 400gr. Momentum and higher FOC really help penetration so I would change to a fixed head that is at least 25gr heavier than what you are shooting now. If you are at 100gr BH go to at least a 125, and if at 125 go to a 150. This will bump you up to over 400 and increase your FOC some. I love Ramcats, but Slick Trick Magnums or Xbow Tricks are good too. Just make sure to spin test each arrow if you go with STs to make sure the head and washer etc are all assembled good. Probably take you 30 minutes to re-sight in after you switch over. You can look up the thread "RAMCAT Terminal Performance on a Buck" to see what kind of damage a Ramcat does. That deer was qtr away and arrow exited right through the shoulder blade. Total arrow weight was about 413gr, deer was 20 yds.

Good luck, have fun and i'm really glad you found that deer. Keep us posted on your next result!
Keith

[papabear1]

Jus a tip i learned thru the yrs while Bowhuntin tick toters. This method has stood many yrs n has not failed me yet. I seldom shoot a deer standin still, i prefer to shoot them as they are walkin slowly by me. While they are walkin n any other deer wid'em their hooves make noise crunching leaves n sticks. They don't react near as fast to the sound of an arrow or the crossbow when its shot. They hear their n other deer's foot falls in the leaves

Great tip Mike !!!

[papabear1]

Dont try to figure it out l had some wacky stuff happen over the years very similar to yours . Chaulk lt up to experience. Congrats!

I like your way of thinking Joe !
don't over think things ,,,,, it will wear your brain out >>>

Dave

[sproulman]

No expert only what I seen happen..Fixed blades have such better results on deer in my opinion than the expandable..
Brother did not listen and took angle shot on nice buck and wounded it with my favorite Spitfires ..He got mad and has not talked to me lately..Sad isnt it ..GASTLY is what it is..

But not your question....You said broadside shot so I cannot say it was not sounds like angle shot to me to do that...

[longbow joe]

In my longbow days l shot a simmons intercepter lt has a concave edge on it if you shot a deer quarterig away the concave edge would grab and go in and go all kinds a ways. Mainly banking in the deers body. A crazy concept l killed about 75 deer with this head only lost 2 to a bad hit.what a deadly head.

[Boo]

You could have hit a twig changing the direction of the arrow.

[Bcwn]

Congrats on your harvest, wish I had a solid answer for you, but thats why there are plenty of folks on here that will have an educated guess followed by some practical application.
Brad

[scope422]

Or the deer was not actually broadside but angled towards you n the B-head followed its aimed course. I have been fooled many times through the yrs about the exact way the tick toter actually was when shot or it moved jus abit before the arrow made contact

X3 on this answer. It's also more likely to deflect on an angle with a mechanical broadhead. It's in the freezer, that's what counts. Congrats, nice job!

[Smong2000]

Congratulations on your deer.
I just had almost exact scenario this morning, I was on the ground at base of a big tree, deer was slightly angled toward me, about 40yds, relaxed and feeding on acorns. Hit the edge of the scapula and exited through front of ham wit 2.125" Swacker. No blood but I saw her stagger and fall 50 yds from where she was hit. I mean zip, nothing for blood. Big blob of intestine blocked exit. Just finished processing her, nice eating 121 lb cleaned out, dry yearling. Sometimes what you think is a slight angle turns out to be a lot more, or the body is twisted...