Where do you aim?
 

I know many - many of you are well disciplined hunters and know how to call your shots. For the many new bow hunters - this is a must read>


Where do you put your pin just before you squeeze the trigger? While spending several years managing an archery shop - Ive heard it all.

Most people think they need to shoot 300 fps to deer hunt. The fact is if you aim mid lung on a skidish white-tail - he can still jump (actually duck) the arrow. This has a lot to do with bow loudness and how much pressure your deer herd gets. A whitetail can drop 1/3 of his body height in less than 1/10th of a second.

One of the bucks I shot was at 15 yards, hunting out of an 8 ft tripod. HIgh pressure - pre rut. My bow at the time was shooting around 270 fps. The nervous buck was walking across my shooting lane from right to left. He stopped right in the middle of the lane looking over his right shoulder at a doe. Hiss left leg forward. PERFECT! I place the pin an inch above the Xiphoid cartilage right directly behind the where the humerous meets the radius. The arrow actually came out just behind the right sholder and halfway up the body. It came out higher than it went in and I was shooting down hill. NOW THATS FAST!!

I always aim low and behind the shoulder - if the deer does not jump - concrats - you have a heart shot - if he jumps the string - you still got a double lung.

Shoot at the opposite shoulder on quatering away shots. If the deers left shoulder is facing you - aim as if your were trying to shoot thru him to his right shoulder.

Femoral artery, neck shots, frontal shot, Texas heart shots (up the anus) are just not ethical shots. There will always be another day - taking shot like these show a hunters true neglect for wildlife.

Some of you hunters that tree stand hunt - I would like some of yur input on where your place your pin while 20-30 foot up a tree. We dont have any good straight tall tree down here in south Texas.

.02

RE: Where do you aim?
 

A lot depends on the downward angle, distance and the deers state of nervousness or total at easeness.:D I have aimed as low as 2 inches below the belly line on a deer at 18 yards and achieved dead center hits. I' ve also aimed right where I want to hit. It' s a learning process. We all have to miss once or twice to realize what' s going on. I usually aim somewhere in the lower third of an animal broadside.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I aim just behind the " ELbow" no matter in the the tree or on the ground.
I am not shooting any blistering speeds and I general have seen little action on the deer part...unless its a much older deer they dont come out of that marsh till dark.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

s.texas,excellent post for any new bowhunter.most of us that have been at it a few years have found out the hard way how to anticipate the string jumper.:)

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I usually aim for the dead center of the vitals. However, I have had deer become nervous just as I came to full draw. When I suspect that they are suspicious--and nervous--I adjust my aim point downward to the lowest part of the kill zone. If they drop, they still are usually hit in the kill zone.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

excellent thread.....thanks for postin' :D

RE: Where do you aim?
 

WhenI' m getting ready to shoot I' m thinking ......" Top of the Heart" ......." Shoot for the top of the heart" .

This accomplishes 2 things for me.......
#1 It forces me to THINK about a specific place to aim rather than just blanking out and putting the pin in a general area. The old Aim small miss small thing I guess.
and #2 this location gives me a good bit of leeway for error........if I do my part and the deer just stands there then WHACKO!:D, but if the deer drops a bit within normal shooting distances, that 300fps arrow is still gonna find something good. also if I misjudge yardage a little out to 30 yards either way I will most likely hit vitals.
If I am shooting between 30-40 yards (which I am very confident with), I' ll think " Top of the Heart PLUS a little" When shooting at this range deer are less likely to be spooked into dropping, so I' ll give myself a little extra range estimation cushion by pushing that pin up just an inch or 2.

Works for me.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

Good post, I personnally only shoot for doublelung hits, and thats all I' ve gotten so far(4 deer).

RE: Where do you aim?
 

Ole, Matty ole friend,

don' t be so sure. ;) At 285 fps, I had a buck " jump the string" , duck my arrow at 18 yards. The buck had it' s head down, fore leg forward and I' m thinking, yummmy. I swear I saw the arrow go through it' s lungs at the top of the heart because my arrow replaced my pin...perfect.. and I' m excited...my camera turns to me and say' s you missed.....I said, like hell, it was perfect.....then glassing the animal standing in the field.....hmmmmmmm not exit hole...I' m thinking could my camera man be right......I then watched the film back and sure enough, my arrow was perfect....problem was the deer wasn' t there when the arrow got there...just tuffs of hair from it' s back.....lol Them there animals are fast.

When watching it in slow motion back at the house.....my arrow was perfect at the top of the heart and we watched as the buck dropped out from under it....played it backwards and verified the mark...yup perfect.....

We then shot that buck on video in late muzzleloader season...with a nice scar across it' s back....

This brings up a good tip towards the recovery thread....don' t be so sure of where you think you hit an animal....your eyes can fool you as they did me. Take a pair of binos with you so you can glass the deer, for an exit hole, entrance hole or your arrow on the ground. All these for me, I knew I didn' t have a hit...I glassed my arrow on the ground, it was clean of blood and the video also told the real truth.....

Whitetails can move out on the fastest setups....

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I prefer my pin in the crease and in the bottom 1/3 of the animal at the front leg and prefer it forward [the near leg that is] when I shoot. From my treestand I will most likely aim a little higher and aim for the opposite front shoulder when possible.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

Just back of the (elbow).

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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

>>>---DAVIDP---SILERCITY,NC--->

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

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.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I aim for the exit hole.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I aim for the exit hole or where I want it to be! The lower third of the vitals. This way if he/she " jumps the string" , the first reaction is down. They will drop their entire body depth in a flash. This reaction causes most hunters to think they shot high.I saw an article once about the speed needed to " overcome " this reaction. Now i know that you can' t believe all you read but they calculated a bow speed of like 600+ fps is needed to beat a deer to the punch at 15 yds. I shoot the same setup for 3D as hunting (300+) and have had low aimpoints end up high vital hits at under 20 so I can see the reasoning.This seems to work for me.

RE: Where do you aim?
 

Shoot' em in the heart.

Varmint

RE: Where do you aim?
 

I can relate to that! :D

I almost always aim for the heart, and usually hit there. There is always the exception, but most of my shots tear up the heart. A good majority of the areas I hunt are on the edges of clearcuts and it' s very thick.....the more blood on the ground the better when trying to track into clearcuts. Heart shots give the best volume of blood and very rapidly.