I personally wouldn't take that shot. It would have to be VERY special circumstances for me to take it. However, with a rifle, I would. I took my first deer with a rifle this way. Needless to say he didn't go far.

I feel like I am capable making that shot, but there is too much of a risk involved. I'll still take my broadside/quatering away shots.

Very funny, Tony. I think my concern with a shot like that would be the arrow passing back through the body cavity and ripping everything in the abdomen open.

did he shoot it head on in the chest????? If so I would never take that shot!

I think so.

I personally wouldnt take that shot on a whitetail.

I have read that on an elk, it is as ethical as a broadside shot...

To many bad things can happen on a shot like that. Its no way as good as a broadside shot, not even close!

i am a very ethical hunter, I killed my buck this year right through the chest/shoulder the arrow penetrated about 12 inches and the deer collapsed within 60 yards. Most people would claim that also to be a bad shot but if its a close shot, trust your equipment, and if you have enough bow to get through the bone it will do the trick. I have also seen perfectly shot deer not go down for several hundred yards with lung hits, and havelittle blood trail.I just think its pretty much a crap shoot either way. There are way to many variables for any one answer, in my opinion no one will ever be able to answer that question and make everyone agree

When I first started bowhunting I took a buck with that shot he never took another step. I was on the ground and he raised his head to lick a branch while making a scrape, second time he did it a buried an arrow in him middle of the chest, he dropped right there. 15-18 yards away he acted like a train hit him. Reared back on his hind legs and and almost did a flip.

Haven't had the same oppurtunity on another one like that since, but I'll tell you what, it was allmost an an immediate kill.

If you can picture this buck straight on, it's basically the shot I took.


I aimed right where the darker fur stops going toward the neck,basically center chest.

The arrow penetrated right up to the nock.

Just stole this off a guys avator, this basically the shot angle I had.

Not exactly a shot I would take, but if you have enough kinetic energy and can make the shot accurately enough then I would not pass judgement.

This shot is often the only angle you can get on an elk. They are coming in to the call . . . and if they see,smell,or hear something they don't like, thenext shot angle you are going to get is south end of a northbound elk. But it's a lot smaller kill zone than broadside. Basically, it's the area just inside the crease of the near shoulder blade. The arrow is going to pass through the chest, likely only hitting one lung, and wind up punching a hole in the diaphram. You may not get any blood trail at all, at least initially - as the arrow will often lodge completely inside the animal. So far, I haven't taken this kind of a shot. I might, though, if the distance was close and the terrain was more open.