Kobear, I don't understand that statement!![:@]

if in question dont take the shot. dont ruin a fine animal with haste or impatience. its not worth it .another day will come. do some research and you will find that for years a broadside shot has always been the most wanted and most dependable shot.this is not my opinion but proof from years of great hunters in the past. dont be a killer!! be a hunter. and know your gun or bow. and dont rely on them to do all the work . its up to you.
ronnie

When shooting medium or big game with an arrow.....hemorrhage is the mechanism that kills. And that is the reason for "double lunging" an animal with a broadhead. Deer, or other game, can run a long time with one good lung.

When shooting that same animal with a bullet....particularly from a high powered rifle....and using a cartridge and bullet of suitable construction and power......tissue damage to vital organs and shock are what kill. If you are confident that your choice of bullet can penetrate sufficiently to cause that damage to those vital organs.....the origination of the bullet entry and the angle are not significant. The only issue that matters.....was sufficient trauma to the vital organs accomplished. If in fact that trauma is inflicted....the animal will die both quickly and humanely.

It doesn't matter to the heart and/or lungs which direction the bullet came from! It could have came from behind the ribs, transversed the chest, and exited the front shoulder. It could have came from 180 degree opposite direction. It could have came from either side. It absolutely does not matter. All that matters....is that organs vital to life function were significantly traumatized. Medium and big game can be humanely dispatched with a bullet from any angle....as long as the vital organs are disrupted! (Failures in that regard come from a misapplication of appropriate bullet, and or caliber to get the job done correctly.) I've done it....and seen it done.....far to often to believe otherwise! I've seen animals the size of moose, shot "through and through" with bullets that transverse 3/4 or more of the length of the body. Use enough bullet and enough gun.....and you will humanely kill animals from any angle. (Except maybe elephants?)

Here it is: http://www.whitetails.com/shot.html

I agree. That is exactly what I want to accomplish. Thanks everyone for your help and input. I appreciate it.

kobear, I agree with NYbowhunter if you only will take this shot on an animal of a certain status to be mounted or considered a trophy confuses me as well. Not only should any shot you take exude confidence of a clean harvets, it is the absolute worst shot to take for a shoulder mount, as it will make a mess of the cape.

To the orginal question, I don't take head on shot due to many reasons, but I will sum it up as they can only be considered marginal at best. Why I say this is too many horror stories both heard and seen to even consider it!! The quarter to depends on "how much" a quarter, but I have taken a good number of animals with quartering shots all resulting in clean kills. I prefer and have taken more with the slight quarter away shot angle though. Plain and simple the only guy that can determine if the shot presented is acceptable to a good result/outcome is the guy behund the crosshairs and trigger. If your not comfortable best wait and possibly not shoot. 3-P's are very important with hunting and shooting.
Practice
Patience
Persistance

i shot my buck this year rite behind the last rib an the bullet traveled up into its kneck it walked bout 15 feet a dropped a head shot with the 243 makes horns wiggle all around

here is the deer shot this year http://www.whitetails.com/art354.html

Ditto to what skeeter said!

Try checking this link out for your future shot considerations

http://home.mn.rr.com/deerfever/Anatomy.html

Some head on and quartering shots can and will sometimes bust the guts. Know your deer anatomy. If you regularly butcher your own deer your shot placement will automatically get much better.

Cool link, 8mm/06.

Ok after reading it I agree. If you shoot "Head on" in the center of the chest it will end up in the guts might even make it to the back hams. I've done it before. They wont take another step if you hit them where your aiming, but there's not much to stop the bullet. Kind a reverse Texas Heart shot.

I misunderstood what you meant totally. I thought you meant that they said not to take a broadside shot, and you should only take head and neck shots.