[SFrenz]

I know this has been posted before but, after reading alot of posts during Archery Season I wanted to do this.
This is not intended to start arguments, my only intention is help a few archers and save a few wounded deer.

1. The lungs are the largest target available. Protected only by the ribcage. This shot gives you a great opportunity for a pass through shot.

2. The heart is a small target. It is also protected by the largest of the ribcage bones and also the bones of the shoulder.

I read alot about guys shooting through the shoulder or shoulder blade. This is not only difficult but contains the greatest margin for error. Arrows deflect very easily and many times what appeared to be a good shot was just a deflection away from the vitals. These shots produce alot of blood and many result without recovering your deer.
Most shots from archers are from treestands. This method greatly increases the angles at which an arrow strikes a deer. That fact alone increases the odds of deflection, the greater the angle the greater chance of deflection.
The next largest factor to consider is the position of the animal. Looking at the broadside view you can see that this is when the deer is most vulnerable. The vitals provide the biggest target and the bones are the most avoidable. When a deer is quartering away the spacing between the ribs disappears rapidly and when quartering to you the shoulder blade as well as the head protect the body.
I hope this helped someone, if not for a new bowhunter than a good refresher for the more experienced.

 

[gstiegeljr]

This is a good post, but I think you overemphasize arrow deflection. You say that a good shot can end up a bad shot as a result of arrow deflection. If an arrow hits a deer at a location directly in front of the vitals, there is no way that it will be able to deflect to the degree necessary to miss the vitals completely. Arrow deflection will only become a factor for marginal shot placement.

 

[SFrenz]

Mods. Please move to Archery Hunting Forum. I placed this in wrong forum. Thanks.

 

[308Havoc]

i myself, if the deer is perfectly broadside will shoot an inch or two high straight up behind the shoulder that way, if something does go wrong , i still get heart or lungs. a lung shot is always what i am going for. my favorite shot is a hard quartering deer, that way i can slide it behind the ribcage just in front of the guts and hit more areas on the vitals. mmm...my favorite

 

[Bronzeback]

Keep 'em low. A lot of deer jump the string somewhat which drops the target down as the legs prepare to jump. If you're aiming low, at the heart, and the deer drops down, your square into the lungs. If you're aiming at the lungs and this happens you'll likely hit the "nothing zone" above the lungs but below the back....lost deer. On broadside deer, I start my sight pin at the animals front hoof on the side facing me and bring it up the back of the leg until it gets about three inches into the body/heart area and pull the trigger. Most you'll watch go down. One more variable, I never shoot over 25yds.

 

[dce]

There is no dead nothing zone below the spine and above the lungs.The diagram even shows that.That's simply an old wives tail that has no scientific credibility.

I'll take a perfectly broadside shot over a quartering shot anyday.I don't aim low either.I aim right where I want to hit and can't remember the last time I had a deer jump the string.

 

[Sykotik]

I like a broadside presentation. I try to put the corresponding pin just right above and to the side of the little tuft of hair on the deer's "elbow"

I have killed quite a few deer with the bow. not all of the arrows hit exactly where I was aiming, but I have recovered them all.

I just feel that this aiming point gives the shooter the largest margin for error.

And I would never take a frontal shot or a quartering to shot. Texas heart shots are out of the question.

 

[fishkrane]

With a bow,I always aim a little lower,I'm convinced most deer do jump the string.I shoot just about every day,and do a lot of elavated stand shooting with broadheads,and I'm dead on.yet,almost every deer I've shot up until this year had been hit a little higher than I aimed.since I started aiming lower,I've been hitting dead center.I don't believe in the dead zone either.

 

[SFrenz]

No Mods here?

Please don't make this a "dead Zone" debate...

Dead zone....there is none.

 

[Born2Hunt]

I aim for the bottom 1/3 of the chest area also when shooting at a reasonable angle. But not because I think the deer will jump the string. It is because a lower opening in the chest cavity will allow the blood to exit the chest cavity leaving a blood trail much quicker than if the opening is higher in the chest.

One should aim at the chest cavity with careful consideration of the exit location.