What ?????

Not sure if this comment was directed at me, but my response is still the same regardless. Of course you should know the biology, but you should also know which shots are high risk (of missing because it's a small target) and avoid them. High angle (ie. straight down) shots are high risk because of this...yeah, you if you nail it you're a hero and drop the deer on the spot. You miss it by an inch or two, however, and you have a wounded, possibly non-recoverable deer.

Appreciate the responses even though I regret letting him walk. But I knew at the time the shot presented itself that I might regret taking that shot even more than letting him walk so he got a pass.

I don't practice that shot since it's not something I would normally take. I usually have success letting them walk by and then get them quartering away with the arrow buried in the opposite shoulder.

I spined shot a doe last Saturday, not on purpose, the shot was way high. It only took a minute or two of thrashing around before I made the decision to put another in her. From now on, I will be a lot more careful on making a better shot on a deer cause I don't want to go through that again. It's one way to make a deer go down, but I would much rather have a pass-thru every time.

I took an almost straight-away shot at a buck in 2008. He walked right underneath me (I mean directly underneath me) and I stopped him @ about 5yds.

I leaned to the right to give myself AN angle into his vitals......and released my arrow.

Was I 100% confident in the shot? Yes.

I watched the blood spurting out the entrance wound as he bounded away. He was down in 60yds..

I've also passed shots where the deer was further from my stand (but in a similar position). The further from your stand - the less chance of creating an angle.

If you can get your arrow into the vitals of your quarry....and you feel confident in your shot.....I don't understand how anyone could judge your shot selection.

I would never intentionally aim for the spine of an animal.