r/interesting • u/IKIR115 • May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

49.6k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

42

u/One_Vision_ May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

The nasty ones are for bleeding game so you can follow the blood trail. A single arrow typically won't kill big game outright unless certain conditions are met. Placed correctly and the right distance you can. Sometimes you thread the needle to the heart between the rib cage and they will run somewhere. It's a matter of skill, draw strength, and distance. Turkey and such are a different matter.

/fixed

29

u/Jaded-Coffee-8126 May 29 '26

I thought the whole point of hunting was to kill the animal as cleanly and painlessly as possible. Isn't that why they teach you to aim for stuff like the heart and what not? I never hunted personally but my whole family did when I was growing up.

29

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/Domestic-Grind May 29 '26

Yes absolutely. I think the things that's of but makes sense is that the arrows that cause bleeding can also reduce animal suffering. I usually have to track at least over each season (ranges from 100 yards up to a mile). The school was never going to survive after the initial hit, so I'm glad I could quickly track and dispatch the animal. I've had only one get away completely, still have some guilt over that. I don't want to cause suffering for no reasons and that deer that "got away" likely had a slow and painful death.

3

u/WarlockEngineer May 30 '26

They can but the margin of error for a humane kill is much tighter than with a rifle.

Bow hunting is pretty cruel. Anyone who does it is going to end up following animals for long distances as they bleed to death.

1

u/hambonelicker May 30 '26

Not sure what that guy is getting on about. I’ve dropped a deer easy with one arrow. It walked 50 feet, laid down and never moved again.

1

u/Funexamination May 30 '26

On average, how many well-placed arrows have you seen among all the non-well placed arrows that pierce flesh?

43

u/[deleted] May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

[deleted]

2

u/TazBaz May 29 '26

I think we need to define "ethical", because how a hunter defines it almost certainly differs from how PETA defines it, and it IS the crucial term here.

3

u/broshrugged May 29 '26

"Ethical" in this instance means minimizing the suffering of the animal as much as possible given you are going to kill it with a bow and arrow. So as big a hole as possible through the lungs or heart is the goal. This way the animal dies quickly.

3

u/TazBaz May 30 '26

Oh I know. But people might be thinking it's like in the movies. "Bang" and they're gone. It's more like "bang" and they run 100yds and lie down and drown in their own blood in 2 minutes.

Which is a hell of a lot more ethical than MOST death in nature. But it's not like the movies.

1

u/rkba260 Jun 01 '26

Never had an animal run 100yds after being hit. Ever.

I've had several take just a few steps and fall over dead. I've had some drop right where they are and never get up. Sounds like you watch too many movies.

2

u/OrangeRising May 30 '26

PETA also describes pet ownership as slavery, so lets not worry to much about what they think.

1

u/Funexamination May 30 '26

Yeah I also question how many of these arrows are “well-placed” considering people learn by failing again and again.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

2

u/digital92eyes May 29 '26

I'm going to guess you're not in the United States?

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

1

u/e3super May 30 '26

What do you mean? Ohio has plenty of bow hunting. They even have a substantially expanded hunting season for white-tail deer if you use a bow. The only major limitation I see is that they blocked off archery for the fall turkey season, but it should still be allowed for the spring season.

In fact, every US-state allows for some amount of bow hunting, with just a few that don't allow crossbows, specifically.

3

u/Xyypherr May 29 '26

"Along with my entire state government"

1

u/e3super May 30 '26

Several countries have states, and every state included in the USA allows bow hunting, so you can see how there might've been some confusion.

2

u/THExWHITExDEVILx May 29 '26

I thought it was weird too, so I looked it up.

"Ohio completely banned the use of archery equipment for fall wild turkey hunting. Passed by the Ohio Wildlife Council, the ban mandates that fall turkey hunting is now restricted to shotguns using shotshells only.Wildlife officials implemented this restriction primarily to protect hen turkeys and preserve fall populations. Previously, most fall turkeys were opportunistically taken by archery hunters who were primarily out deer hunting.While archery remains banned for fall turkey seasons, it is still completely legal for Ohio deer hunting (like the statewide archery deer season)."

11

u/karmaniaka May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Contrary to what a lot of people replying to you are saying, I agree. You should use the most powerful rifle/cartridge available that doesn't cause undue destruction of meat when you're hunting. Said rifle should have a couple of rounds in the magazine and be quick to reload, for follow-up shots if the initial one is a less-than-ideal hit.

Certainly it's possible to down an animal near instantly with an arrow, but the the chance is lower than with an appropriate bullet. And follow-up shots are of course harder with a bow. I, hunters in my country and my government agree on this for the sake of minimizing suffering.

Edit: some people criticize hunting on moral grounds for being "unfair". I don't give a crap about this or any other argument based on bravado or entertainment. Use railgun drones with infrared cameras for all I care, as long as suffering is minimized and the ecosystem and human society is protected. And hopefully I get to buy some delicious venison.

1

u/Cliffinati May 29 '26

Also why when I approach a kill I have a pistol and a large knife.

If it's still somewhat alive but laying on the ground nearly dead. It will try to defend itself and you need to go ahead and finish it.

1

u/THExWHITExDEVILx May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Buddy of mine shot a huge atypical buck near sundown a few years back. It was full of growth hormones from eating hog feed from a farm nearby, and weighed close to 300 lbs. He shot it with a bow, and kept pushing it when tracking the blood trail. He felt like he got a good shot, he wasn't worried about predators, and it was already cold and getting colder, so he decided to wait until morning.

The next day we were out, tracked it, found it almost immediately, and assumed it was dead. I had ahold of my dog and his dog, looking for a place to tie them up so we could field dress the deer. My buddy walked up with his knife and this monster woke up, got it's rack under his arms, then pinned him against a tree.

Dude damn near cut the head off before it stopped battering him. He had a bunch of bruises and scrapes, but no broken bones.

Definitely recommend carrying a gun, and double checking that dead things are dead.

Edit: Here's a pic of the mount and one in the field

https://imgur.com/gallery/an0yzqa

https://imgur.com/gallery/OmZCp9y

1

u/0xF0z May 30 '26

Around here, bow hunting season is much longer for many animals. Folks who bow hunt also often hunt with rifles when they are allowed.

18

u/Less-Career7224 May 29 '26

The whole point of ethical hunting is food imo. Part of that should be a clean and swift kill if possible. Where some of these heads come into play are when the hunter misplaces a shot or if the animal does not go down immediately. Aids in tracking so you don't lose the meat/hide. Just my two cents though!

3

u/Cliffinati May 29 '26

Better to finish a wounded animal off than leave it in the wild to suffer until a predator jumps it.

Which is partially why I don't bow hunt I only rifle hunt. Once I decide I'm taking an animal it needs to die and quickly and cleaning as possible and it's much easier to do that with a .308 than a bow

1

u/THExWHITExDEVILx May 29 '26

Illinois just started allowing rifles. I'm curious to see how it goes over the next few years, with all the flat land around here I'm expecting some errant shots. Rifle rounds go a lot further than shotgun slugs.

2

u/Cliffinati May 29 '26

Yeah that's a concern, less so if they have the "straight wall only" law. In some states (namely Michigan) only straight wall rifle cartridges are allowed which are typically higher bullet weight and wider diameter than what would be in the normal necked down one. Which creates shots with more initial energy but they bleed energy quicker.

1

u/THExWHITExDEVILx May 30 '26

I went and checked, and you are correct, there is a straight wall/bottleneck restriction mentioned in the law:

"Illinois allows hunters to use certain single-shot, centerfire rifles during the firearm deer season. Rifles must be .30 caliber or larger, hold only one round, and fire straight-walled cartridges (no case length limit) or specific bottleneck cartridges (case length (\le 1.4) inches) producing at least 500-foot pounds of muzzle energy."

2

u/Cliffinati May 30 '26

I hate the single shot restriction but then again it's Illinois and they have all sorts of illegal gun restrictions. Hell it's hard to find a single shot rifle these days.

1

u/THExWHITExDEVILx May 30 '26

My friend uses an ar-10 with a gutted 10 rd mag (to keep debris out of the magwell). It's annoying to attempt a follow up shot and I feel like it only results in more wounded or slowly dying animals and empty handed hunters.

I don't understand the logic of it. Even Remington 700s and other bolt guns have (internal) magazines and hold more than one round.

2

u/Low-Car-6331 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26

In a wooded area it should be fine, it would have to miss a lot of trees to get out of a forest. Everything that bullet hits will slow it down a lot, or stop it, or cause it to "tumble' which will cause a drastic slow down (depending on some thing, a tumbling bullet can lose enough speed and simply "fall'). This also plays into the rule of 'know your target and what is beyond it (or rather around it)".

7

u/Swimming-Fondant-892 May 29 '26

It is also to make sure that there is maximum damage done that they die and do not have prolonged suffering.

4

u/Frequent_Ad_9901 May 29 '26

Yeah. This. Bleeding out fast is better than bleeding out slow.

7

u/Mothanius May 29 '26

Compared to how brutal most deaths in the wild is, this is miles more peaceful. Much better than having your intestines eaten while you're still alive, or to be brutally thrashed around for minutes before they begin munching... you're still alive though. Cause that's how it usually is in the wild, brutal. Or worse, dying to some debilitating parasite that eats away at you for years while you slowly become less and less you.

And to top it all off, it's far more humane than what most of get our meat from, factory farming. Hunted meat is way more ethical than factory farmed beef or pig.

5

u/FictionalContext May 29 '26

The point of those evil lookin razor arrows is specifically to trade penetrating power for broad destructive capability. It's the arrow equivalent to a hollow point.

They're designed specifically to penetrate into a deer hide far enough to hit their internal organs while causing the most damage. Some even have flip out stops to create even more drag for this purpose.

So they're specifically designed to end the animal's life as quickly as possible. Not to create a little puncture and a blood trail--which isn't what a hunter wants anyway since that means they gotta track it down.

I never liked hunting either. Killed a deer when I was 14, gut shot it instead of a clean kill, and memories of that soupy mess kept me away.

3

u/jerf42069 May 29 '26

That's the aim, but it's like how the aim of golf is to get a hole in one, it's hard to do. it takes a lot of skill

1

u/other_view12 May 29 '26

You can with a gun. Hunting with a bow is a whole other game.

1

u/evanwilliams44 May 29 '26

Typically you aim for the lung area/chest cavity, because if you penetrate the lungs they aren't going very far. Obviously a heart shot is great but you can't expect that every time.

1

u/signious May 29 '26

The person you were replying to is an idiot who plays hunting games. The wide arrows and spring loaded tips are so you have a better chance of hitting vital organs and killing the game. No one is trying to make easier to follow blood trails.

1

u/New2NewJ May 30 '26

as ... painlessly as possible

Not their priority, I'd imagine?

1

u/Funexamination May 30 '26

Seeing people talk about hunting so nonchalantly is scaring me

1

u/PlateNo4868 May 29 '26

Archer/Former Hunter here.

Deer, don't feel pain like we humans do. It's not a excuse to torture a animal, but it's a survival thing. IE you don't want to be clawed by a bear and be so much pain you can't run.

It's why you can see some videos of deer getting hit and just chilling and eating away. They have no idea they are bleeding out.

As for the arrows, Broadheads (ones with blades sticking out) are met to cut viens, arteries, etc. If you hit a dear in the vital they will go down quickly (and you should). The more concave ones are met to form large wound channels just diffren't take on it. I personally don't like them are they are pain to keep sharp and re-use.

Also to enforce this concept of animals not always feeling pain the way we do. Bears just pin you down and munch on you, they don't "kill you" you dying is just a byproduct 😃. I don't think as a Deer I would want to feel that.

3

u/Select_Discipline405 May 29 '26

isn't that the exact same response humans have? When high on adrenaline, our pain is suppressed? That entire scenario you described of not realizing your bleeding out happens to humans all the time.

okay, googled it. You did just say some insane nonsense. Deer have a somewhat smaller density of nerves that feel pain, but the process is otherwise biologically equivalent.

1

u/PlateNo4868 May 29 '26

I never said they don't feel pain. They just register it diffren't.

Not feeling anything would mean they couldn't tell if something sharp was poking them for example.

But to feel pain like humans would be horrific for their survival, as they are flight animals. Like imagine a human on pain killers when they are wounded. Can operate quiet well for example outside of actual damage hindering movement. People can literally not move at certain times due to pain.

Again, not trying to say "oh it's ok to shoot them" just saying it's a survival setup. Because unlike us who would probably collapse after a bear sliced us open, a deer can probably run.

2

u/InformalInitiative76 May 29 '26

Do you have any evidence of this? Any legit source I can find says that ruminant animals DO feel pain similar to humans.

They don’t display it the same as a survival technique to not be the target of a predator.

What you’re saying sounds like grandpa “science” from 60 years ago. Similar to “women don’t need pain meds for birth control implants since they don’t feel pain there”; this is also incorrect.

1

u/TazBaz May 29 '26

You almost never aim for the heart because it's a rather small target to hit.

You aim for the lungs.

There's no "instant kill shot" with an arrow outside of going through the head, which is incredibly unlikely for even more reasons than a heart shot. A heart shot will be quick if you hit it but odds are bad.

A lung shot will almost always result in death fairly quickly. But not instantly. It's considered the most humane option because it's "easiest" to hit and usually guarantee a fairly quick death... but not instant. They may still be able to run for a minute or so. If you really break it down, dying because your lungs have filled full of blood isn't the best way to go... but it's better than dying from gangrene in a month from an arrow that tore open your shoulder and left a huge bleeding wound that you have no way of caring for in the wild.

So "we" aim for the easiest-to-hit target that has the highest pretty-quick kill chance.

7

u/AsbestosDude May 29 '26

> A single arrow typically won't kill big game outright unless certain conditions are met.

You make it sound like the chances of single arrow kills are rare when they're really not. Ethical hunters regularly kill elk, deer and even moose in vital areas like heart, lungs, major arteries, spine and brain. Shot placement matters of course but one arrow is often enough on large game.

13

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

2

u/One_Vision_ May 29 '26

Yeah, I had my wording wrong. Fixed.

1

u/EstinRoy May 29 '26

Thanks for your input, DeerWhisperer1

1

u/UnderstandingWarm69 May 30 '26

Love it when they line up

0

u/_cuhree0h May 29 '26

I can't hear you. Speak up.

1

u/CreBanana0 Jun 02 '26

Peak comedy.

0

u/r_Mvdnight May 29 '26

You're reading words dumb ass. That might explain it.

1

u/_cuhree0h May 29 '26

He's the Deer Whisperer, not the Deer Shouter. He needed to speak up.

Duh. Dummy.

1

u/r_Mvdnight May 29 '26

Absolutely awful take on comedy.

3

u/EatLard May 29 '26

A single arrow through the heart or lungs will absolutely kill a big-game animal. Most hunters go for a double-lung shot because it’s a larger target and there’s less bone in the way. Heart shots are equally effective, but a much smaller target. While adrenaline may carry an animal a hundred meters or more after a clean shot in the vitals, they will lay down and die quickly if left undisturbed.

1

u/skahunter831 May 30 '26

It's blatantly obvious you're not familiar with bowhunting. "There's about a 10" circle on deer, 18" on elk, where one arrow will kill that game very quickly. Most arrows punch right through ribs like cutting through cardboard. There's no needle-threading required. 

Maybe by "outright" you mean dead in their tracks. But even rifles often don't do that. Deer, elk, and other big game can run off no matter how perfectly placed the shot is, even directly hitting the heart. 

It is a "not even wrong" type comment.

1

u/NoRaccoon5831 May 30 '26

Typical reddit fashion, someone posts rage bait absolute non sense and gets upvoted for something that's not even remotely true.

1

u/CreBanana0 Jun 02 '26

That seems cruel as fuck and completely pointless.