To answer your question in 40 years I have not had an arrow with no blood and recovered an animal.

I am sure there is an exception out there but with a deflection and no blood chalk it up

 

Arrow probably went sideways after hitting stick and only the blades would have cut hair when it hit the deer, with no penetration

 

That's kinda what I'm thinking. Arrow was stuck in the ground kinda straight up tho.

 

I would go with your deflection theory. For future reference:

 

I would go with your deflection theory. For future reference:
View attachment 7526522

Woah, awesome..haven’t seen that one before.

 

I've had thin smeared blood on arrow and fletching and got deer, but that was a lucky neck shot where it didn't go through any wet organs. Even grazing muscle hits for me have the thin smear of blood on spots. I once in my younger days shot a deer and hit it in front leg, breaking it. The arrow had nothing on it but I found a blood trail. I came back next day and followed blood in standing corn and found it alive in its bed and shot it again. a leg shot is like cutting your finger with a knife. The knife doesn't have blood on it as it takes a heartbeat for blood to pump out. So it was either grazing or a marginal, non muscle hit imo.

 

Was it white hair?

 

Couple brown hairs.

 

Smell on arrow?
if it went through the deer you'll know it...it will smell like something; just depends where it hit...if it hit

 

Unfortunately, covid took out my sence of smell.

 

Are the hairs cut clean as if cut by a razor blade? Are you using fixed blade or mechanical? Were the hairs lodged under the fletching or just stuck to the fletching?

 

Fixed, most seemed around the fetching. Maybe 4 hairs total. Here one that runs right along the top of the vane. See pic below.

 

Cant get the pic up....
.

 

IMO. Sounds like a deflection not a pass-through. But do not let My opinion discourage you from looking for more answers.

 

No

 

I have cleanly just missed and had hairs under my fletch

 

I missed a deer once with a recurve, shot over it's back. When the deer turned.to run away, it ran into the nock end of the arrow that was stuck in the ground. Left a few hairs on the nock

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i've seen a pure muscle hit only make the arrow tacky/slight smear of tissue and then hair sticks to that tackiness

if you just hit hair, i don't see how it could be stuck to the arrow unless jammed inside a broadhead

imagine somewhat shooting through a person's hair and just hitting hair..do you think when you find the arrow that human hair is going to still be stuck to it or would it fall off in flight and upon impact on the ground?