Really curious to know just what to expect. Have only shot deer with a rifle and they are within a stones throw from where they were standing when hit. An experienced bowhunter said they can run hundreds or even thousands of yards, even with an arrow through the lungs or heart.
I will be using a 55# compound bow with either G5s or Grim Reaper broadheads at a 25 to 35 yard range.

With good equipment and good shot placement, in heart or lungs, how far do your deer run, on average?

just depends, I've hit them good and had them run for 200-300 yards. Hit a doe in the liver in Nebraska, she WALKED about 15 yards and laid down til she died....the bad hit only went 15 yards and the good hits going 200?? it's just something you have to play by ear!!

Depends on which mark you hit. Double lung they will go down fast. Heart just a little longer but not much.

As stated, it really depends.

Ive single lunged a deer that went maybe 30 yards, a large Illinois doe at that. Ive double lunged a buck a cpl years ago that went 300 yds. Ive heart shot some that went 25-50yds. I had DRT last year under my feeder. I hit a KS buck this past year. Shot appeared(key word is appeared) to be a perfect double lung. The blood on the ground confirmed it was a lung hit and there was A LOT of blood. We tracked that deer for 2+ miles and the blood stopped and we never recovered him.

My personal opinion is the deer itself. How alert is it? Is the deer calm or on alert? If it is calm then I think it doesnt go as far. If the deer is nervous and spooky, it goes a little further.

Mathematically: 37.5yards is my personal average.

The shortest being my buck this season I misjudged range (he was at 47yards) hit a bit high on and spine shot. Went down in his tracks, and I delivered a follow up arrow that split his sternum and cleaved his heart before he regained his senses.

Longest was my mule deer buck at 22 yards that was hit double
Lungs and made it just shy of 100 yards on the rim of a canyon and went down. Terrain may have stopped him from going further.

I have been blessed so far with good shot placement (except the spine shot buck) and short tracking jobs.

Have had one pig go unrecoverable with a double lung shot and good blood trail that faded invisible after about 600 yards in dense spring brush.

Perfect shots don't always happen in the field. Deer often duck when the shot goes off. Or something deflects the arrow slightly off course. Or the excitement gets to you and you make a less than perfect shot. Blood tracking and watching the animal after the hit are very important parts of bow hunting. Most importantly to me is to not push an injured deer by getting out of your stand to early. If you don't see the animal go down, as hard as it is, stay in the stand for an hour. If you think it could be gut shot give it a couple of hours.

If you don't find it within 200 yards...and you think it was a good hit, then don't push it. It will run as long as it feels threatened and pursued.

Personally, I have had them drop after two steps, and have had them go for over 100 yards. Helped a buddy track one once that went well over 300 yards. You never know. If you don't see them go down, or hear them crash, wait before you track to give them time to bleed out. If you don't push them, then they will usually not go far.

Good hit can be defined a lot of different ways... if I loose sight of them in a decent open spot after the shot which im talking about 60-100yrds im letting it sit overnight or through the day...

this one ran 10 steps and was done... high sholder shot with a steep angle..


30yrds


60yrds


Went out of site but was in thick cover.. 35yrds... still let him stay overnight

Iv tracked a deer I "thought" I hit perfect for over 300yrds the next day and found her bedded up in a creek

If you hit one in the lungs or heart with a Grim Riper it will not go far. The key is hitting them in the lungs or heart and DO NOT push them. Always give a deer time to die. One of the hardest things for me to do is shot a deer and then sit there for half an hour to an hour waiting. Since I started using Grim Reapers I have "watched" everyone of them drop. All but one I could sit in the blind and see it on the ground. Had one I watched fall and just could not see it on the ground.

Thanks for the advice and insight. Sitting will indeed be hard to do, but am so glad you told me. Archery may be a sport but bowhunting is indeed a discipline. I could see myself making the shot and, having seen the hit and the deer bolt into the woods, jump up like a jack in the box after it!

I am patient when it comes to both taking the right shot and the right animal. Passed on many last year that were easy shots ( with a rifle). Now with a bow I must be patient and be certain of a good shot ...and patient afterwards as well.

Third time I have heard high praise for the Grim Reapers. Will get a set and try them out. I have been practicing with G5 Montecs and have been told they are good on pigs and deer.

Have a timer with you...after you hit one a minute feels like an hour. Force yourself to stay put...

50-75yds with a good shot is usually about as far as they will go if they aren't pushed.

One thing I will say about Brodhead's is rely on your shooting more than your Brodhead... you can buy the cheapest one out there and still kill deer very quick and clean...iv used just about everything... one of the pigs in the pics was with a reaper, other was a muzzy, buck was with a thunderhead and the doe was with a rage... I don't like buying new brodheads so I will stick with muzzy for now on.. just tough

This deer ran about 30 yards after taking a Grim Reaper in the lungs.

When I center punch one with a rage (or equivalent), it usually goes down within 50 yards. When I hit the scapula with one of them, I am screwed. With fixed (G5 Montec or Muzzy), they seem to go a bit further and I have hit the "black hole" (area above the lung and liver or just clipping one lung)and never recovered them. With the Rages, it seems the blades are bigger and create bigger holes for blood to pour out. However, the fixed seem to punch through the scapula and put them down.

Mechanical- 50 yard average
Fixed- 150 yard average

Looks like the Grim Reaper lived up to its name and put some serious hurt on those lungs! Like they say in the movies, 'I gotta get me one of those!'

Had one buck drop after 20 yards. The majority of my deer have run about 75-100 yards after.

Shortest I've ever had, DRT... literally fell over... Longest Mile and half... My fault TERRIBLE shot, I was proud as heck of that tracking job. I hoof tracked it no joke. It had rained the night b4 otherwise I wouldn't have ever found it.

Average of all mine. 40 Yards, most with 20 but I have some outliers. If you hit the spot you can kill them with a field point.

Dumbest one I have done was putting on the practice grim reaper, the one that doesn't exspand. Got ready in the dark, never noticed. I hit the doe Dead center of shoulder and knew it made a funny noise but it she looked like she got sledgehammered but runs up the creek. I wait 20-30 mins (this is the single most important thing to do no matter where u hit them or what broad head). I find the arrow, start kicking myself, find the doe 20 yards farther. only went 50 yards. that thing put a HURT on her shoulder blade and lung. I think if I had had the exspandible she woulda just fallen over dead cause she bled even with just the practice tip.

I probably average 50-60 yards but have had the odd deer go over 200 yards. Since 2010 I have started recording data in a table format so that I can reference it quickly:

dang dude, nice chart!