In most cases, whitetails seldom live long nor travel far after a broadhead or bullet damages their heart, but not always. The 160-class 13-pointer that Jerry Hadel from Rock, Michigan, arrowed in Illinois on November 8, 2021, is a perfect example of an exception. That buck was still alive two days later when it was located in a cornfield where it took refuge, as the corn was being cut. Not only was the deer still alive, it attacked the harvester, and it took three more well-placed arrows to finally kill the whitetail.
This buck illustrates how tough whitetails can sometimes be and the importance of expending every effort possible to locate a deer you’ve shot. This example also shows how aggressive some wounded whitetails can be and the importance of being cautious when attempting to recover deer you’ve shot.
Hadel is an experienced bowhunter. He’s been bowhunting whitetails since 1979 and collected his first deer with bow and arrow in 1982 at 16 years old. Last fall was his second year of bowhunting in Illinois and the 13-pointer was his first kill there. Jerry’s sister lives in Illinois and he was hunting property near her house when he arrowed the buck about 10:00 a.m.
Jerry had seen three smaller bucks earlier in the morning, one of which was an 8-pointer that he
