After watching Primos, I have always aimed for the heart. That way, if they jump the string, you' re still in the kill zone. Hasn' t failed me yet.

Rob,
An extra 15fps and you would have spined him.........

I guess when I talk " Normal" hunting distances, for me that has averaged out to be about 13 yards. I have yet to see one even come CLOSE to getting out of the way from that distance........a few have tried........all have failed.[:-]

That' s the reason I don' t concern myself as much with the 30ish yard shots and give myself a little more yardage error........I' ll accept the deer ducking and a clean miss......I WON' T accept me misjudging yardage and blowing it myself.

Great Thread!!! Something that those of us who have yet to shoot at a live animal have thought about. Gives me some things to think about.

Its pretty much a game time decision as to where I aim. If I can I try and keep it higher than lower so as to get a double lung. If I have any reason to think the deer is jittery I' ll drop the pin and aim a little lower. My shots are typically 15 yds or less.

Just back of the (elbow).

I usually aim lower third. I also try to consider where the arrow will exit on the other side.

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KIMNDAVID,
Good job !!! The best advice is to shoot lower than on a 3-d target and ALWAYS imagine where the arrow will exit. Doing so mentally shows you the path of the arrow through the vitals if any. Last year I shot a fat doe at 8 yds form 18 feet up. The deer walked in from behind me, passed under me and was veering to the right. By picturing where the arrow would exit I was forced to aim high on the right hip. The arrow entered a little forward of that mark and came out under the left armpit. It ran about 30 yds and crashed loudly. One of the shortest tracking jobs I ever had.

Also since the speed of sound is roughly 1100 ft per second, the speed of a 250 fps arrow and a 300 fps arrow makes little difference in a deer' s ability to " jump the string" . That is why it is so important to quite down your bow as much as possible.

A good rule of thumb when aiming at a big game animal is to aim at the opposite leg. An animal quartering away for example should be aimed at from your line of sight to the opposing leg to ensure a proper kill.

I always aim for the heart..(ALWAYS)! The lower 1/3 just behind the elbow. If the deer ducks you get lungs if not you get heart and both are fatal. The only exception for me is if a deer comes in nervous instead of calm i' ll aim just a tad bit lower than normal. I' ve always had success aiming this way.

I aim for the exit hole.