I replied back to GR8, yesterday via PM....and said that the time I had the deer at what I "thought" was 24-27 yds..........I put the top pin a little high on the SPOT I was aiming at.....allowing for a little arrow "drop" (2"?). So, effectively.....(and this was my train of thought).....I'm aiming EXACTLY 2-3" high on the spot (due to the angle from an elevated perch). At that range.....if I'm 2" high.....it's a double-lung shot and hopefully a quick recovery. My "margin for error" was the fact that I didn't know the EXACT yarage. I hadn't ranged that EXACT tree before (he was lifting his head to work a licking branch on a scrape).....but I HAD ranged trees around him. I honestly wouldn't have fared any better if I'd had my rangefinder in my pocket.

"High/Low".....did I hit "low"? Yes. In my eyes it was. "Front/back" did I hit my spot? You bet. I was confident I could.....or I wouldn't have loosed the arrow.

The original premise of the thread was to show that EVEN when we do everything "right" (in our own, individual eyes)......there are STILL times when an animal is COMPLETELY MISSED. As much as it happens.....it's still a little hard to explain, sometimes.

Shot selection is extremely personal and goes back to ethics. I think I took an ethical shot...based on the thought process I utilized. I'm not defending that....because I don't have to. I was wondering what others used as their thought process.....and I appreciate the replies.