Are any of you guys bow hunters? Any that are can attest that the most effective way to kill a deer or other large game is to put a projectile through one or both of the animal’s lungs. These little points would have been very effective killers.
Archery or at-atl or spear hunting tools are not designed to knock an animal down in it’s tracks. To be effective this type of hunting tool’s job is to cause the animal to bleed out or to die from damage to vital organs such the heart, lungs, liver, stomach, intestines or a major artery or vein. I imagine that native Americans were reasonably effective at killing large game but I bet they also wounded and failed to quickly kill quite often as well. That’s the nature of archery etc. and to be effective a hunter needs to be proficient at getting close to game and then making a good “shot” and lastly good at blood trailing and/or searching for the wounded and dying animal. A perfectly placed point (however small) will cause a deer sized animal to die in well under a minute. Marginally placed projectiles (single lung penetration, liver, stomach, intestines etc take hours or even days but are still effective.
