TeeJay

Now what kind of spine shot are we talking about? The one that is out there 20+ yds or the one that the animal is with in ft of your tree? If it is a straight down shot I am taking it every time! I have succesfully done this more than once. As far as it beeing unhumane, how? There is many vanes and arteries around the spine no different than the above listed heart shots is there? As far as little room for error, I dont see it either. Now shooting straight down 20 ft in the air I am going to put my arrow through the spade on the Ace of spades playing card EVERY time without fail. How big is your double lung shot on a quartering away shot at 40 yds? I guess about a 4" target. Hmmm....a 4" at 40 yd or a 2.5"X3.5" at 0 yds. I will take it without a doubt!

big ol bucks

one of the bucks i shot this year bowhunting actually was literally at the base of my tree and stopped. I did not take the shot and he started to run away and got him to stop at 20 yards and smoked him. 145" 10 pointer. I am all about a 100% good shot and no risky shots at all thats what i'm all about

west_hunter21

I personally don't know how anyone can justify a spine shot in the first place...and especially when it is intentional! I personally have not shot at a deer yet with my bow, but every experienced bow hunter, as well as many on the television shows, very much discourage an intentional spine shot. I have no idea why anyone would purposely attempt such a risky shot, when they could just as easily (if not easier) shoot for the 100% success double lung shot, which is a much larger target than a spine @ 20 yards!

jayuu

no, i usually take head shots instead.

Bols

That is usually what head hunters do. . .

Scott/IL

I would never do it on purpose. There have been 2 cases where I have shot a deer in the spine. One was when I was shotgun hunting, a doe stopped at 50 yards from me and I shot her once in the vitals and as she started to run off I hit her in the spine. The other one was when I was bowhunting from the ground and my release broke into pieces when i was 3/4ths the way drawns. In result my arrow flew off early and lobbed into the deers spine. I quickly ran over to it and finished it off with another arrow.

In my opinion a spine shot is a VERY risky shot and I would never aim for it.

DaveH

I have never AIMED for the spine, but several of the deer I've killed over the years were spined. It's a horrible thing to witness as the deer struggles with it's front legs only attempting to get away from you as you grab another arrow to finish the job.

I was fortunate and have always been able to quickly dispatch the deer with follow-up shots, but the scene that played out each time haunted me for days (and months) afterwards. It may happen again to me someday, but it won't be intentional.

bassfisherman711

spine shots are not smart in my opinion, yes it usually drops them, but you usually also need another shot to actually kill the deer...i dont risk it

dkbs

I would never purposely pick the spine as the exact spot when I'm aiming. Once I shot a small buck right in the back between the shoulders with a magnus 2 bladed head(from a tree). The buck ran off with the arrow implanted solidly.
Hardly any blood, never found the buck. Eleven days later, hunting on another farm in the area, I noticed fresh tracks going into a corn strip. With my shotgun in hand I eased along the tracks. I kicked up a small buck and luckily it ran straight away and I dropped it in its tracks. Upon skinning the deer my knife struck metal and I found my magnus 2 blade head.The tipcompletely penetrated through the spinal canal and was lodged tightly. The blades were parallel to the spinal cord so it never affected his motor functions or mobility.
I was shooting a recurve so I didn't have the power of todays compounds. So basically a spine shot doesn't always put the animal down. You have to severe the spinal cord.


Dan

wis_bow_huntr

I spined the very first deer I shot with a bow. it was a doe that dressed out at 182lbs. Big dry doe. Im not sure what happend but she dropped like a ton of bricks. This is not a shotI recomend anyone trying since the spine is such a narrow area to shoot at and you have more than a 99% chance of missing that are and only wounding the deer. If i saw a sick deer damned skippy id try for the spine if it was the only shot it offered.