best shot placement on a deer
 

hey guys, i would like an opinion or two on this. in october, i took a 25+/- yard shot from the ground. i had snuck up on the deer, and it gave me a quartering towards me shot, head to the left. i chose front shoulders, and watched my arrow drive it home, heard the crack of an impact. never found the deer, even with use of a tracking dog. this saturday, bow season starts again, and i still think i took the right shot, better than a gut shot, and would do it again. the tracking guy says that my arrow probably hit the shoulderblade, and never really got through. would you have taken this same shot, or places it someplace else. i know one thing, i was that i could have shot it, at that range, with a gun. the freezer would look a bit better.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

I'm sure some people will disagree with me but in my opinion a quartering towards you shot is not a good shot with a bow. I would have waited for a broadside or quartering away shot. Your goal should be to get a double lung shot.
You need to study deer anatomy and learn where the vitals are and what major bones come into play with different shots
Check this site out, it will help alot.
http://home.mn.rr.com/deerfever/Anatomy.html

You cannot compare a bow with a gun, just hitting the deer is not good enough with a bow. This is part of the challenge.

A good bowhunter can be judged by the shots he passes on... not the shots that he takes.

If I can help you in anyway just give me a shout. Have a great day :)

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Quartering to are low percentage. I have killed a few that way, but they have almost all been one lung/liver hits...which can sometimes result in a long tracking job. If you hit far forward and heard the crack...you probably didn't get the penetration you needed (especially with not finding him even with a dog). Personally I wait for broadside or quartering away shots only now. Much higher percentage shot.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

A quartering towards shot leaves a much smaller margin for error, most likely you definitely hit a shoulder.....tough as nails. In my opinion a quartering away shot is best followed by the broadside shot.

I am gonna catch heck for saying this but, I would rather take a frontal shot than a quartering towards shot.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

have to agree with the rest, quartering away or a broadside shot are the best, a shot with the deer coming towards you has too many variables.

i'm going to let cougar man off the hook and not comment on a frontal shot.[:-]

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RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

I can't stand those shots! I wait for the deer to turn.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

You would do it again? Didn't you learn the first time?

And FWIW, a one lung hit is tougher to track then a stomach hit. Not that either should be intentially taken.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

It s one of the worst shots to take I did take one this year that way but he jumped the string went in right behind the shoulder and out just in front of the rear leg striking the rear leg dead canter leaving the arrow in the deer he ran about 250yds I almost didnt find him. Nope I wouldnt take it.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

THat's not a good shot to take. You've seen it fail, why would you attempt it again, that is irresponsible. [:@][:@]

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

You hit bone, that's why you didn't find the deer. He may even still be alive if the arrow didn't penetrate too far beyond the shoulder blade and into a lung. If you wouldn't have hit the shoulder blade, you would have more than likely taken only one lung and guts on a pass through shot. Good luck trying to find a one-lunger! Like the others have said, don't take this shot again, learning is a good thing.

Broadside or 1/4 away. Stick with that. JMO because that's what I do.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Here is another link that has different views of a deer's vitals from both the ground and elevated positions. Reading the explanations that accompany them, you will find that the "quartering toward" shot is not recommended with a bow.
I personally, will only take broadside or quartering away shots with my bow. Anything else gets to walk away and only get logged in my journal.

Bow/gun shot placement, with angled view and explanations.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

:( Sorry about your lost deer/learn from it. You will get another chance and when you find him, gut him and drag him out remember about the lost one. It will always keep your shot selection within your skill level.;)

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

now wait a minute, let me clear a couple of things up! this is not my first rodeo, i have shot deer before with my bow, and found them quite easily. in this case, the deer knew that something was up, because it had seen me coming through the trees, it just didn't know exactly where i was, or what. this deer was ready to run. if given the same chance again, the thing i would do differently is place the shot just a little farther back, so that it went diagonally through the vitals. if i thought that it was going to go back to feeding, however, i would have waited for a different shot.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

if you try to place the shot further back, the second lung is nearly completely covered by the front shoulder, and you risk once again the one lung shot.
[RacHunter]/[A good bowhunter can be judged by the shots he passes on... not the shots that he takes.]

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

So because you felt that was the only chance for a shot, you took it. That is no reason to force a bad shot.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

You gotta stay away from that shoulder bone, man.
An arrow is no match for it.

It can be done, but the chances are slim and it won't be clean, quick, or sure.
It's no reflection on a hunter's shooting skill.
It's all about choosing what shots to take and when to let them walk.

With a gun it's a fine shot, but with a bow, well, youv'e seen what happens.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Kinda reminds me of a retarted buddy I had who shot a deer in the neck, saying it was the only shot he had. Deer ran off with an arrow sticking in his neck, never recovered. I no longer hang out that retarted kid...mainly because he does retarded things.

Shooting farther back wouldn't have helped you any. You would have totally missed the vitals in that regard and ended up with a mile long track with a gut shot.

Find yourself some anatomy photos of whitetail deer, elk, horses or anything with four legs...they all are pretty much constructed the same...study those pictures...then think three dimensionally. Where will the vitals be in relation to a quarter too shot, a quarter away shot, etc. We live in a 3-D world...you can't aim for the 10 ring on quartering shots because you won't put it down quick.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Hmmmm, place the shot a little further back on a quartered at you deer. Now, you will definetely only get one lung and probably liver. But, do you think that is very ethical with a bow? Although it is lethal, I would never intentially take a liver shot. I am agreeing with what others have said and would highly recommend that you get to know the deers anatomy better. If you need any good sources let me know and I can direct you to some excellent sources.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

with a gun i try to hit the shoulder, a lot of people dont think it is a great place to aim for though. I shot a deer this year a few inches to far back and he ran at least 300 yards, but he was in a big old field so i could see it.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Head on shots are risky because the vitals are not gonna be where you expect them to be. You can easily shoot in front of them or into the opposite arm. Or you can hit the arm bones like you did. If the arm was forward at the time you shot, thenyou could easily have hit in front of the lungs. Over the spine would also make the smack noise because of the bones above the vertebrae.

If you found any blood then you should know what you hit. You know how it goes: bright bubbles is lung, plain blood means... etc.

I've had a few bad experiences shooting animals while they were quartering towards me. I figured out that it's way more satisfying just letting them walk if they don't give be a perfect shot angle.

And 25 yards is a pretty long shot. Yeah, I know that people shoot deer at 40+ yards but my shots are taken from point blank to 20 yards. Rarely do I take longer shots than that. If I ever took a quartering towards shot, it couldn't be more than 30 degrees quartering towards me and would need to be much closer than 10 yards.

It's always best to wait for the perfect broadside or quartering away shot. You never really know what you are gonna hit when it's quatering towards you.

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

I look for broadside shots. Quartering away is good and quartering to is ok, but you can't ever shoot the shoulder no matter what shot gets presented. Thats the surest way (shooting the shoulder)to give yourself a tracking nightmare.

Good luck on the next one!

RE: best shot placement on a deer
 

Vtbuckrulrss: It might not be your first rodeo but you still have a lot to learn. Listen to what these poster are trying to teach you. trouble with quartering to you shots is that you don't generally find the deer...