This is taken from the march issue of Petersons. Page 113, entitled Shot angle-heresy, and I quote.

" I once illustrated a point that todays carbon arrows are stronger and more dependable than shafts of the past. I related how I was once inclined to shoot a trophy qhitetail in the shoulder because of tight brush, seeking to penetrate the facing shoulder and pierce his heart."

O.K., how do you shoot through shoulder and get heart. I took an arrow out to my 3-d target and started playing with angles. Either Pats idea of shoulder is different than mine and hes calling the whole upper leg shoulder, or he was willing to take an extreme quartering to shot and or,from right above the deer. Either way, not high percentage. Bone does bad things to arrow paths. Just cause we can, dont mean we should. Now for the next part.

" Extensive testing-asking more of it than any real hunting situation could possibly provide-had instilled unwavering trust in my attached broadhead. My arrow went through both shoulders and split a sapling beyond. That buck didnt make it out of sight."

Now wait a minute. How did we go from the original shot thinking, one shoulder and heart shot, to putting an arrow through both shoulders.Something doesnt jive.Thats totally different angles. The deer would have had to move farther away. He says the deer went down. Im sure it did, eventually. The question being, and he leaves that part out, but how clean of a kill was it. Im gonna bet not very. I have been around my share of shoulder shots. Not a good deal. Can it be done. Sure. Just not at a higher percentage than both lungs.We owe them more than that. Im not dissagreeng with the basic jest of the story. Modern equipment has extended our average max range. Everyones max range will of course be different. The thing to remember is your max range should be configured on the days when your standing on the line shooting " YOUR WORST" Everyone has bad days. How do you know what kind of a day its going to be when your sitting on stand at five in the morning, and havent loosed an arrow yet. You dont. The days your on fire, and shooting like an archery God, dont count. Bad days give max range.Be honest with yourself. No one cares what you did yesterday, what can you do at this moment. Another question, if the deer he talks about would have been a little basket 8, instead of a " TROPHY," would he still have taken that shot. Im going to bet not. We need to treat every deer, like it was a trophy and give them the respect they deserve. In regards to the article I wholeheartedly agree with the basic thoughts behind the story.I also respect and admire Pats writing, and damn sure dont think Im a better shot or hunter than he. The point being, he either took a really bad shot, and is trying to justify it, or hes leaving something out of the story.Of course I could be an idiot, and am not understanding it. That has happened before. O.K, quite often. Anyway, bottom line. Modern equipment still overall doesnt make up for bad shot choice or placement.