Talk about a dead zone

[jerseyhunter]

 

 

I just butchered a deer for a friend and he made a perfect shot, through and through. Deer ran less than 70 yds. He dragged it out in the rain, brought it to me and we looked it over, just a 4pt maybe a 5 as it had some damage. Some of the damage we seen was a hole in it's neck, seemed to be 3 days old. Didn't see anything glaring at us on the other side. So I skinned it that night and pieced it out the next morning putting it in my cooler. Upon further review of the neck while trying to salvage some meat I found someone shot it in the neck, above the spine and caused no damage what so ever. I thought it might have been an antler wound but found the tell tale signs of blades. So there are dead zones on deer , just depends if you hit it or not. I hope the hunter missed bad or hit a twig cause who would take a shot at the neck with a bow. So who ever missed, thank you as both my friend and I will enjoy some great meals.

[Rusty]

When people talk about a void or dead zone they are referring to an empty space between the spine and lungs.  This "void", below the spine, does not exist.

 

Shots above the spine, like you described, only hit muscle and are not lethal.  The confusion comes when someone hits above the spine but thinks that the shot went under the spine.  The spine is much lower in the body than most people realize. 

[Matty]

I'll admit, I used to believe there was a void. I actually shot a doe above the spine with Rusty watching once. He was the one that explained to me there isn't a void. After looking more closely during necropsies, it's obvious there is no void between spine and lungs, but there is plenty of backstrap to shoot through above the spine.

 

So you're right...the "void" is above the spine. 

[jerseyhunter]

I'm referring to a shot through the neck no where near the back.

[smoking gun]

The neck shot is one of my favorite shots it's a tricky shot you gotta hit close to the shoulder the lower part of the neck that's where the jugular vein is.the void spots I think are just bad hits that don't hit nothing more then muscle that's it..

[smoking gun]

If you hit square center with a firearm it's a sure knockdown shot with a bow I don't know I haven't done that and don't wanna find out.i shot one directly under the jawline one time with a big magnus the deer dropped in its tracks and poured like a running faucet instant kill