Deerbuster.com


	I am in the medical profession, a Physician Assistant to be precise. In my training, which took two years after four years of college, I studied anatomy, pathology, physiology and biochemistry among other subjects. In my experience in trauma surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and intensive unit care, I've seen a lot of life. A lot of death as well. Suffice it to say, I understand how various injuries affect deer and how they die. And there is one thing that can be said for sure...... The double lung shot is the unfaltering way to kill a Whitetail with a bow. This hit initiates the most lethal, humane and predictable chain of events leading to death. It also affords the hunter a larger target than trying to target the cardiovascular or nervous system. Targeting the lungs, or more specifically, the pulmonary system is the right way to kill. What happens the moment an arrow passes through the lungs? To understand what happens, a little anatomy and physiology ( how anatomy "works" ) needs to be understood. The lungs have a coating, called pleura. It's like thin plastic wrap. The inner lining of the chest cavity has the same thing. The chest's lining is called parietal pleura and the lung covering is called visceral pleura. When the chest expands, a vacuum is created, causing a flow of air inward through the nose and mouth, down the trachea (wind pipe) and into the lungs. THE LUNGS DEPEND ON THERE BEING NOTHING BETWEEN THESE TWO LAYERS OF PLEURA, THE VISCERAL AND PARIETAL PLEURA. If some fluid or air were to leak into this space, the lungs would collapse causing rapid deoxygenation (loss of oxygen) in the blood and fainting would occur. An arrow passing through the center of the chest would do the following. In order, it would pass through the: That's a lot of stuff, and the most important layer was hitting that potential space four times. On the near and far side of each lung blood and air quickly fills that space. The blood comes from the lung itself and the mediastinum, and the air rushes in from the entry and exit wounds and any large bronchioles (air tubules) cut in the lung parenchyma (meat of lung).
Zoom. The lung shrivels up in seconds and the animal gets faint and looses consciousness. That's humane. I've seen deer just stand there after such a hit, looking around to determine the source of the noise they just heard. Five to fifteen seconds later the legs buckle and they faint dead away. The moments that follow are a rapid progression to death for the unconscious animal. The loss of oxygen has caused the brain to stop functioning normally, leading to unconsciousness. This is followed by further loss of oxygen leading to cardiac failure (the heart stops). So, lets look at what the double lung shot has going for it. Big vital target. Fast death. Good trail (both short and copious). No enteral spillage and associated bacteria. Who can ask for anything more. I once heard Dan Fitzgerald took head shots. Small target on a quick responding animal. Not a good shot to take, unless you are an egotistical moron. The spine shot. I've taken animals this way, but not on purpose. One spine hit animal I hit with a 50 pound recurve fell, only to regain his feet moments later. He survived, but it felt like I would die at the time. The thoracic spine is only the size of the average ring finger. It's easy to miss and the near miss means you hit the lateral spinal processes (bones). That hampers penetration beyond that point, making an exit wound unlikely for a lot of set ups. The one lung shot (acute quartering away or towards). If you have read my article on this shot you know, that critter can go a long way. Collapse of only one lung is not enough to quickly incapacitate and animal. There is even a slight possibility it can live if the lung is only hit peripherally, but I wouldn't advise anyone to give up trailing. He will most likely die and you just have to try hard to find it. Lastly, if you hear the animal go down, it's probably a double lunger. If you see it go down after running, it's probably a double lunger. If it goes down right there......hit it again. It has a central nervous system injury (spine) shot and it may recover function. Center the lungs and make it quick for the critter that gives it's life to you.