Ch312: I hate to burst your bubble, but if it makes you happy I'll leave that tag unfilled in your honor because you're such a stand up guy. Now I can only shoot four more deer this season (1 buck) counting my bonus tags. One of my kids will be with me and will be behind the trigger from this point onward anyway. They have ten tags left (6 bucks).
BTW: In my area, there is no limit to the number of bonus tags you can buy. Most regions aren't as lucky as we are here in VA. But we also don't see (m)any 250lb deer.
How can anyone miss by 8" at 25 yards? Its easy. Trust me. No one is perfect. That is why we call it hunting and not shooting. The hard part is being dedicated and experienced enough to follow through once you've done the unspeakable.
Not to get too graphical, but this looks a lot like an entrance wound from a mechanical broadhead that opened in flight. That is definately a 1.5" entrance wound.
![Image](http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k268/mayvillej/Hunting010Medium.jpg)
This is the sixth deer taken with my Exomax crossbow this season and the first to have an entrance hole greater than about 3/4". There was no obstruction in the flight path so it must have been a premature opening. The Spitfire 100 head was new and unfired.
It is very likely being 8" off on my desired POI was my error. In my limited history shooting this crossbow I've killed 3 other deer this season with shots of 10-30 yards. All have been perfect double-lung shots and none traveled over 30 yards. Knowing this I realize that this particular hit is an exception to the norm and it is conceivable that some hardware issue could have contributed to the result.
Will I work to correct the issue? Sure. Will I lose sleep? Uh, nope. Will I gut shoot another buck in the future? I can only hope.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)