Post by Eulenspiegel on Oct 10, 2006 18:31:15 GMT -5
I killed one at 45-50 yrd.s Sat according to my rangefinder. I'm feeling both a little cocky and a lot lucky. I had figured 35 yrds. was about my max. effective range with the crossbow, but a near-perfect broadside shot was presented and the herd of four was leaving the area. I thought I had chosen a yearling, but it turns out that the lead doe was so big that what I thought was a yearling was a 100 lb. doe. I won't get back to that place before gun season but I'd like to get a crack at the big doe again just so I could get her on a scale. She must be huge. I was surprised by the behavior of the bolt. I heard the dreaded ting...thwack that meant I'd hit a blade of grass or something I hadn't noticed in front of the deer. The bolt hit the deer in the ribs but about 6-8 inches aft of where I'd aimed and at an angle that took it though a lung, the diaphram and stomach, though the body cavity almost lenghtwise, through the far hind quarter and somewhere out into the field. Instead of the three-corner entry wound I expected I got a glancing entry. I had seen that sort of deflection years ago with a bow but I guess I thought a bolt was going so much faster it wouldn't be so easily deflected. Seen any similar wound paths? 
