| SHOT SELECTION FOR DEER HUNTERS |
Knowing what represents the first good shot will make you a more aggressive and successful deer hunter. Knowing when not to shoot will make you a more ethical deer hunter. The maturity of a deer hunter can better be judged by the kinds of shots he passes up than the size of the bucks he has taken. These tips will help you evaluate every situation.
Sometimes decisions can be really tough, but knowing a good shot from a marginal one, and sticking to your choices, is a critical skill in doing the right thing. We can all sit in our easy-chairs and hold forth on exactly what we would have done differently if it had been us in the tree instead of another hunter, but in reality these decisions have to be made fast - often under great personal pressure.
Making the right moves at the right times requires pre-planned actions. The remainder of this article deals with several scenarios in which the buck of a lifetime presents difficult challenges. By thinking through each of these now, you'll be ready to make the most of the coming season. What will you do? |
| SCREENED BY BRUSH |
| These shots can be ethical under two conditions. First, the range was very short - ten yards or less for the bowhunter and well under 100 yards for the gun hunter - and the brush was close to the buck not close to me. When the brush is close to the deer even a slight deflection would still produce a good hit. Second, you have to have some kind of opening to work with. The opening should be slightly larger for the bowhunter. Never try to plow through the brush with an arrow. A heavy bullet, however, is a different story. You can get away with a lot more brush busting with a heavy slug than an easily deflected arrow, but again, the brush must be very close to the animal to reduce the amount of deflection that can occur and you should start with some kind of opening. |
| STRAIGHT ON, STRAIGHT DOWN AND STRAIGHT AWAY |
When a whitetail is walking straight toward you several choices exist for the gun hunter but none for the bowhunter. From the frontal angle the brisket is well designed for deflecting any but the most perfectly placed arrow. I've talked to several bowhunters who admitted that they tried frontal shots only to see the broadhead skip off the ribcage. Don't do that! Even a good hit will puncture only a single lung, which is not recommended by most experts because it isn't quickly fatal.
Gun hunters can either wait for a good broadside shot as the deer comes closer and offers a bigger target, or if the setting requires fast action he can place the sight right on the center of deer's chest and squeeze the trigger. Either course of action will result in an ethical high percentage shot.
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| Sharply downward shot angles are to be avoided by bowhunters. This angle produces a high likelihood for insufficient penetration and a single lung hit at best. |
The best course of action for the bowhunter is to simply wait for the animal to offer a better shot. In open woods settings, a buck walking straight toward you will likely turn off at some point within bow range, offering a bread-and-butter quartering away or broadside shot angle. Patience is a virtue when dealing with a straight-on buck.
A straight down spine shot as the deer passes under your stand is good if you can make it. This shot carries a high degree of risk for the bowhunter because the target is small and full penetration is often difficult to achieve if you miss the small target. A miss will create a single lung hit, at best. Most bows impact high when shot almost straight down, so if you are determined to try this shot in the field make sure to practice it beforehand. By aligning your bow with the spine of the animal when aiming, you can eliminate the affects of a high hit.
Gun hunters can ethically aim right for the spine in a location that will produce an entry to the vitals. The shock of the impact will bring the deer down offering the opportunity for a very quick follow-up shot.
Even after a deer has gotten past your stand and is walking straightaway, there remains little ethical grounds for any type of shot. What opportunity you have consists of a shot that enters to the side of the spine, back near the paunch and angles through the liver and then one lung. It is a quickly fatal shot, but you had better know the anatomy of a deer so you can instantly determine where to aim.
Some experts advocate aiming for the anus and taking out the femoral as the bullet or arrow angles into the vitals. I don't know about that one. I've never wanted an animal bad enough to try that shot on purpose. I will say that I have hit the femoral a couple of times on deer that moved just as I released. Both of them went down very quickly, but to try the shot on purpose is something I just can't bring myself to do. |
| MOVING SHOTS |
Trying to stop a walking deer by grunting or whistling is the best approach if the cover is open. The only downside to this strategy is that you must be at full draw or have your finger on the rifle's trigger and ready to shoot as soon as the deer stops, or you'll have yourself a string jumper or possibly spooked deer.
In thick cover, where you're forced to wait until the deer steps into a narrow shooting lane, it may be difficult to stop it right where you need it. I'll personally take the walking shot under these conditions with gun or bow. It is much easier with a gun because the lead required to make the shot is minimal. However, with a bow it must be considered very carefully. If you shoot a relatively fast arrow, (250+ fps) aim at the middle of the shoulder on a deer that is walking slowly at a range of 15 to 20 yards. An inch or two farther forward is perfect for a slower arrow. However, if you've never practiced it or don't have the experience to believe in this shot, you're better off trying to stop the deer regardless of cover, and then taking your chances in finding a clear shooting lane.
It may be exciting to listen to stories and watch videos of bowhunters nailing a running deer with an arrow, but for 99.9% of all bowhunters, myself included, the shot is clearly unethical. Always try to stop a running deer. Don't risk a shot at anything moving faster than a medium walk. |
| QUARTERING TOWARD SHOT ANGLES |
This is another tough choice. The only good thing about a buck that's quartering toward you is that if he holds a steady course he'll soon be quartering away. Your best strategy here is to wait for the angle to improve. But, if brush, the wind or some other factor forces you to take a quartering-on shot, there are some strict guidelines that should be followed.
First, if you're a bowhunter, only take a quartering-on shot under one condition. The angle must be nearly broadside, much less than 45 degrees. A sharply quartering animal promotes a hit that is too far back. Even if you glue your pin right to the back edge of the front leg, you won't catch even one lung solidly, let alone both. Second, only take a slight quartering-on shot if the range is very short, allowing you to place the arrow with precision. Aim for the back crease of the lower front leg bone. This will result in a quick kill. Be careful not to get too high or you'll run into the shoulder blade.
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| Aggressive shot selection during the moment of truth requires that you be able to recognize a good shot developing before it occurs and be ready to shoot when the instant is right. |
I've taken bucks with slight quartering-on shots during past seasons. In one case the shot was only 17 yards, but I couldn't wait for a better angle because he was walking toward a screen of brush that would have covered him up. The arrow nicked the back of the deer's "elbow" on its way into his vitals as he walked slowly past. On that shot I actually aimed for the elbow. The buck fell within sight, 75 yards away.
Another buck was angling toward me only slightly. I aimed for the bottom of his shoulder, for the leg bone actually. The arrow took him right through the meaty part of the lower shoulder, missing bone and passing all the way through his chest. He also fell within 100 yards.
This brings us to the final condition on quartering-on shots. Never take this shot unless you're shooting heavy poundage and a heavy arrow. The margin for error is too small to risk hitting the leg bone with an arrow that doesn't carry enough energy to break the leg and still take out both lungs. I wouldn't even attempt it with less than 80 ft-lb of energy, which translates into a 70 to 75 pound cam bow shooting a 600 grain arrow. The quartering-on shot should best be reserved for bowhunters with plenty of bow and plenty of experience.
Rifle hunters can easily handle a quartering-on shot if circumstances force them to shoot fast before the deer draws close enough to offer a broadside or quartering-away shot. Aim for the crease between the near side shoulder blade and brisket. This will put the slug right into the buck's boiler-room.
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| QUARTERING-AWAY |
It's a green light on quartering-away shots up to a 45-degree angle. This position is the best you'll get and produces the largest possible margin for error in vital area shot placement. Beyond 45 degrees of angle, however, you have to be a lot more precise because the gap between rear hip and front shoulder becomes small.
The only mistake I see hunters make on quartering-away shots is not adjusting for body angle when choosing an aim point. Move your aiming point to correspond with the animal's body angle. What you see on the outside of the deer is never your target, it's what's inside that counts. In general, the more the animal is quartering, the farther back and the higher you have to aim. |
| BROADSIDE |
Broadside angles are almost as good as quartering-away shots. Take these anytime the deer's in range. Pick your aiming point close to the front leg and below the shoulder. It is much better to be too low than too high so favor the lower 1/3 of the animal.
The proper attitude toward shot selection will guide your actions. When the first good shot presents itself you have to be ready to take it.
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