rybohunter

Please don't ever try and shoot a deer in the head with a bow. You should also not try neck shots with a bow as they are too risky.

Broadside or quartering away is the only way to go. Broadside means the deer is standing sideways to you. Not facing, not going away. Quartering is a slight angle to or fro. Don't attempt quartering to shots. Too risky especially for a beginner. Also don not attempt a straight on facing you shot with a bow,as well as a rear going away shot. When you pick up a bow and take it into the woods, YOU WILL HAVE DEER IN RANGE BUT NO SHOTS ARE PRESENTED. That is the nature of it. Understand early on that self control is paramount to not wounding deer.

As far as the notion of deer running off goes, unless the central nervous system (brain, neck or spinal cord) is disrupted, the deer will run. With a bow they will run off, 30-100 yds and you will have to follow a blood trail. It has nothing to do with poor shot placement. If you hit the spine and drop a deer with a bow 99% of the time you madea bad shot. Guns kill by shock, arrows by bleeding out. A gun can miss the spine but have enough shock to still put a deer down. An arrow is going to require the deer bleeds out, many times this takes less than 10 seconds, but sometimes it can take a short time. NEVER get down and trail a bowshot deer in under 30 minutes unless you see it fall. There's a thread in the bow section about tracking....read it. Most valuable piece of information on this site.

stretchhunts

I shoot for behind the shoulder. I`ve taken 2 bucks by shooting them high in the hind quaters. There`s a main artery that runs there(dropped them both in there tracks)

DoctorDeath

Like my ole pappy always told me ..hunt with the wind in your face and shoot'em where they are the BIGGEST !

dd

Scott/IL

Paul Mohr,

My dad has mounted 2 big 10 pointers, both were shot in the neck. One he shot oncein the vitals and shot it again on the run in the neck. Another he jumped up at about 30 yards and shot it through the neck dropping it. You can only tell they were shot in the neck if you get up close and really look for it.

Rebel Hog

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BowHuntingFool

Nice one Rebel!

TimberCreek

I like to gut shoot them cause I like the mess and smellKidding!
If you can't hit it in the vitals don't take the shot.

Rebel Hog

BHF, you see the deer in the scope how his chest, tail, back and stomach istouching the largereticles pointsevenly. If youhad a life sizedeer archery target and measured the distance untill you see exactly that,you would know the yardage he is standing at. If they don't touch, it's farther and if it's over the large reticle points, it's closer.!I have been using a Duplex Reticle scope for years and was shown this many years ago! Do it with the magnification you normally use!

Pawildman

Paul----If the taxidermist you take your neck-shot deer to says it can't be mounted, you better go to one who knows what he's doing. They can get replacement capes if ABSOLUTELY necessary, but a good man can work wonders with even a pretty messed up hide. My buddy shot a small 'yote with a .300 Wby.Mag a couple of years ago while bear hunting. Darn near blew it in half. You should see it now--- mounted and perfect in all ways. This is a taxidermist who is a craftsman, not a form stretcher-overer.

hoyt3

I've always shot them behind the front leg. (I don't mind trailing at all either) I read in a magazine this month that if you shoot them square in the shoulder they drop (with a rifle). I am a bowhunter first, so I won't be taking up that practice. I don't want to have to retrain myself after two months of gun hunting.