Blood Shot Meat

[Swede]

I lost the meat outside of the front left side of the rib cage plus nearly all of the left shoulder of a five point bull one year. There was no spoilage. My arrow passed through the body and lodged in the shoulder. As the bull ran off the broad-head ground most of the shoulder to a pulverized mess. There was a lot of the side and shoulder just blood shot. I have hunted deer and elk with a rifle and bow. I have used high speed light bullets and slower heavy ones. Ditto arrows. Though there were other incidents of bloodshot, that was the worst case I have ever experienced.
What have others experienced with bullets or arrows?

 

[F M]

I have had a couple of whitetails that I hit the shoulder like you said and lost the far shoulder. The worst I have seen was a doe my daughter shot running at around 10 yards through the front shoulders with a 30-06. The front of the deer was mostly shot.

 

[cnelk]

Swede
I have experienced plenty of blood shot meat, and other times not very much.
Below is a pic of a deer I shot with a RAGE Broadhead ....
Just kidding.

This is the exit hole of of a 225 gr bullet form my .340 Weatherby.
A classic \'over-gunned\' result

 

[elky McElkerson]

relatively less damage with my arrow kills. having said that, i am still surprised at how much IS lost due to an arrow. i kinda cut around it pretty good now.

a few months ago, i sharpened my knives and went to help a friend break down a deer. he shot it in texas and the landowner essentially broke it in half and they stuffed it into two HUGE ice chest. rifle shot. one of the shoulders was obliterated!! the bullet hit solid bone and turned it into this bone crumb/dust and perferated it throughout the meat. if you rubbed a piece of meat between your fingers you could feel the grit. we lost a lot.

that \"jelly\" meat from a bullet hole is pretty substantial as well.

 

[elkmtngear]

I\'ve lost a portion of shoulder with an arrow hit (both entry side and offside), but nothing as bad as what you\'ve described, Swede. If I can clean it up, I keep it, and the front shoulders get mostly ground anyway.

If anything looks sketchy around the site of exit or entry (as in the case of a very long recovery)...I\'ll simply cut it out.

Classic pic of \"blood shot\" tissue there, Brad! :upthumb:

 

[WW]

Blood shot meat is exactly why I never shoot for the shoulder. That is almost a guarantee for meat loss. Even with archery I avoid the so called V shot endorsed by BB. If at all possible, I go for the crease in the lower third of the body. Anything blood shot in the ribs is no big loss at all.

Bloodshot lungs are perfectly OK! :mg:

 

[bowhunter]

Swede
I have experienced plenty of blood shot meat, and other times not very much.
Below is a pic of a deer I shot with a RAGE Broadhead ....
Just kidding.

This is the exit hole of of a 225 gr bullet form my .340 Weatherby.
A classic \'over-gunned\' result

Deer.....225gr from a .340 Weatheby. Way over-gunned. You are not trying to obliterate a prarrie dog :mg:

 

[bowhunter]

Usually from an arrow I just cut around the hole and discard a small amount of meat. I notice that most shoulder shots cause bleeding into the clear stuff that lubricates the shoulder. I take a knife and scrape the meat which removes most of the clots soaked into that clear stuff. I then cut into pieces and soak it in water to remove blood. I then drain the water and grind the shoulders for burger.

I didn\'t get a deer with my bow this year because I let a lot walk by earlier then saw nothing later in the season. This is easier done with a freezer full of elk . I did manage to get one in the Muzzloader season. I had him at 25yards and didn\'t want the blood shot shoulder so I opted for a clean quick kill which caused good blood loss and clean meat. :shh: