Straight down shot
 

Last year while hunting a nice buck slipped in behind me and stopped a mere 10yds directly in front of my tree facing away from me. I normally climb 25-30 ft so he was essientally straight down. New to bow hunting and unsure of where to place the shot,I passed hoping he would move farther out to another clearingfor a better shot, which he didnt. What Im wondering is that is there a good shot to take in this situation?

RE: Straight down shot
 

No, you risk a single lung hit doing this and then they run forever and die in the woods wasted. Wait for them to move further out.

RE: Straight down shot
 

Nope not really a good shot IMO... AND a very Difficult shot to pull off if you did try it... You would need to practice it for sure... I think you probably did the right thing by passing, especially if you had never practiced that shot prior...

RE: Straight down shot
 

I agree. Not a good shot. At most you are going to get one lung, and forget the heart. Not gonna happen. You have made for yourself a much smaller target as well. Now, you could get lucky, and spine shoot it, but not likely. I got away with that shot last year on a doe, I caught the very top of one lung, and punched straight through the liver. Had it not been for that, I doubt I would have ever found her.

RE: Straight down shot
 

Last year, I had 3 bucks come right to me and the lead buck was a 9 point bruiser. I was shaking worse than a leaf on a tree. Sure enough, he first ended up underneath some limbs preventing me from taking a shot. Then he proceeded to walk right underneath my stand. He was jumped from other hunters I suspect as he was very jumpy.

I couldn't take that shot either but he slowly moved from under my stand and revealed a between the shoulders shot. I drew back and remember thinking "how much do I have to arc down just to make this shot happen?"

Finding my peep in that capacity was very difficult. Anyway, I thought I found it, lined up the shot, and took it. I have practiced this shot but not quite like this. I missed his whole body by a couple inches. Of course in hindsight, I thought I should have waited for him to move further out. Thank God I missed him. Injuring any deer especially one of his stature would have really sucked.

So the answer is to always wait for a shot you know you can take. I know sometimes it's very tough thinking you might only be provided what is given to you since they could bolt at any second. Not worth it, wait it out.