Best and worst weekend hunting for me.
Got a shot at the biggest deer I've had the opportunity to shoot. He was standing 30 years broadside. Got the crossbow up, got him in the scope and let it go. I was looking through the scope and the little bit of scope jump prevented me from seeing exactly where I hit bit I could see the glow of the Luminock as he left the scene. He didn't jump, or run, just quickly walked away. I waited about 5 minutes to make sure I couldn't hear him any more before climbing down and walking over to my buddies stand 40 yards across the way. (yeah it close but thick and we face different directions)
After about another 25 minutes we headed over to look for blood. We found quite a bit. About 25 yards in we found the arrow hanging from a tree, totally intact but only showing about 4-5" of penetration. Also noticed that the broadhead was still closed. From as much as I can tell from inspecting it and looking for blood under the blades, it never opened on impact. :x :x :x :x :x
Another 10 yards and still quite a bit of blood. The next spot was a bit harder to find, only a little. it took over an hour to find the next single drop. Four hours later following every conceivable route, walking a grid, etc. and not a drop. As a last resort we even jumped ahead to known runways in and out of the area to check for any blood on any of those. We found nothing on the long grass or on the ground.
In almost 30 years of hunting this is the first one I've lost. All I can guess is that I hit a bone and/or it did not penetrate because the blades did not open up. I hope it was just a flesh wound and he'll survive, I would much rather of flat our missed. It sickens me to know I hit one find it. I was using a NAP Spitfire, which my buddy has used to take several deer without issue.
Needless to say I won't be using the Spitfires any more. I'm going back to the Rages until I can find a fixed blade that will fly true from my bow than I'll ditch the mechanical for good.