I do not know how many of you recall that after Foot and Mouth in the early "noughties" there was debate about wounding rates. The BDS ran a study involving surveys of professional stalkers, contracting stalkers (killing large numbers), recreational stalkers and larger game dealers. I cannot remember exactly when but the results were published in about 2003. As I recall the shot, wounded and lost rate was under 0.5%. Those requiring a second or despatch shot was around 1.5% at that time. The American Bow Hunters were also asked for their wounded and lost rates and their located but not dead on hunter's arrival and the respective figures were around 2% and nearly 4%. This says to me that on humanitarian grounds we should not be permitting bow hunting in the UK.
@Charles S-J may be able to verify these figures.
I used to teach on DSC 1 courses and explain that it is actually very difficult to extinguish all four vital functions without using a cartoon ten ton weight falling on the victim. The vital signs are: Consciousness (brain function), the Central Nervous System ( the spinal column and limb control), Circulation, and Respiration (breathing). The nearest one can get is by a shot at the atlas joint (where the head joins the neck). A shot here reduces consciousness almost immediately, mucks up the central nervous system by detaching it from the brain and breathing is also interrupted because the wound channel usually interferes with the nervous system sufficiently to stop breathing which is controlled from the brain. The heart will continue to beat (increasingly sporadically) for up to 20 minutes in the larger species - incidentally assisting with bleeding out the carcass if "stuck" and drained quickly.
A heart/lung shot usually interrupts the Circulation and Respiration (breathing) functions fairly efficiently and because blood pressure to the brain is reduced the animal will also usually lose Consciousness within 3-9 seconds (in my experience usually in the early half of this time period).
As slow-motion video usually shows the animals reaction to the bowstring is quick and the very different velocities accentuate this as the range increases. I remember watching a video where the (white tailed deer) sank down slightly on report of the bowstring before straightening its legs again to stand up and receive the arrow perfectly in the heart/lung area. The wound channel from arrows and bolts is indeed large and fatal - my problem with it is that it usually takes longer to die than from an appropriate rifle bullet.
I have no difficulty with the skill levels required to kill an animal with a bow and I, like many on here, I have played with bows as a younger man. I have never shot an animal with one. Bernard Horton-Corcoran claimed to have shot the"big five in Africa with a (cross)bow of his own make together with Grizzly and Black bears in Canada. He told me that the bolt exited from the grizzly, having passed through its spine, as it towered above him at a not very great distance (under 20 yards).
My gripe, a matter referred to in other threads, is that too few folk practice enough their shooting and are too busy playing with their range finders and other gizmos to be efficient deer killers. It takes time and practice to acquire skills but those of range judging, seeing a firing position (whether in the woods or on the hill), are skills which can be practiced when walking the dogs with a stick. I used to shoot just under 4 rounds at paper for every 1 at a deer for many years. I shall await the incoming from those who love their technology. Technology is good, but so is speed of thought and action.
The 3 primary rules for a good stalker are Safety, Humanity and Legality in that priority order, I suggest.
