I've hit them in varying degrees. Everything from dead center to just catching the thinner cartledge. I've had varying degrees of success... from great to just plain crappy. I've shot them with everything from recurves to 80 pound compounds. From point blank to further out. The total summary of my experiences would lead me to say, don't do it if you can help it. I've had more real successes but it only takes one bad one to leave a bad taste in your mouth. If you stick the rib cage you got your deer. It's really that simple. Center the ribs and go start dragging within minutes. I won't even go into the destruction and the failures I've seen with shoulder hits because I don't want to give anyone a false sense of invincibility. Stick to the rib cage.