Opinions on head on or quartering to shots

[Pathman]

After reading all the replies, I have to ask Why? Why would you take such a low percentage shot when you can wait for a broadside? Just be patient, the deer will move! 

That being said,  I do understand there are circumstances where a deer might have you pegged, and is ready to bust you and bolt out of there. So you may feel that justifies the frontal shot, but you must consider that the deer is now on high alert and ready to jump, so with Archery equipment in this situation there’s a great likelihood that the deer will move far enough after the arrow is released that it will make a very small target area even smaller, and likely result in a wounded or lost animal. 

There are hunters who are very experienced and can pull off those shots “most” of the time, but eventually you will lose a deer if you continually take low percentage shots. 

Firearms are a bit different of course, and your chances for a clean kill on frontals increases dramatically. 

For the guy who mentioned a neck shot, your post was a little unclear, but I hope you’re not advocating neck Shooting with Archery gear! 😱

 

[dlist777]

I would never shoot a doe other than broadside or quartering away.  Also, dead still (learned lesson the hard way); not walking.  Does are not that hard to kill.  I'll wait for a better shot or another doe.  No worries about her getting away. 

If it were a buck of a lifetime, I might do straight on shot if I'm real close.  

[toxo]

Head on shot? We don't need a Deer that bad do we? Wait for another day..................

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

I buried an arrow into a doe i stalked when I was a teen.. quartering towards me. Never found her. My father came to help me track and asked me the famous questions you ask someone you are helping track.."where was she? where did you hit her?, etc"

I explained how she was under 10 yards quartering towards me. He always told me to not take that shot and this time I didnt listen. He also told me I should only ever shoot broadside or quartering away ever since I was 10. I'm 32 now and still listen to my dad lol.

Had this buck in 2013 12 yards away facing me feeding offering a neck shot only as branches hung over his body.

The top of the neck near the skull funnels all the vitals into a small area I know I could of hit. As it got darker I knew it was now or never. I know I could hit my mark at 12 yards. Especially after watching him feed and not move for 15 mins- 0 buck fever, calm as a cucumber.

I almost drew back a few times but my conscious kept telling me "dont do it. You will be sorry"

Well.. he was shot by someone else the next season and I always wondered what would have happened if I tried the shot. But I believe I made the right decision

I know I did.

Cant get greedy. It's not fair to the animal to take low % shots.

 

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[rocky]

I will only shoot at a animal when it is standing still and is broadside or quartering away. Wounding a animal is the last thing I want to do. I do everything possible to make a good clean shot and harvest. 

[birdshotnj]

With the bow, no I won't take that shot, had a bad experience early on losing what still wouldve been my biggest buck ever, and it's made me triple think every shot i've ever taken since. With the gun or muzzy I take that shot all day every day. Twice with the muzzy dropped the deer right where they stood. Took that shot on a big doe a few years ago with the ML, her legs just gave out from under her. 

[Greybeard]

4 hours ago, Pathman said:

After reading all the replies, I have to ask Why? Why would you take such a low percentage shot when you can wait for a broadside? Just be patient, the deer will move! 

That being said,  I do understand there are circumstances where a deer might have you pegged, and is ready to bust you and bolt out of there. So you may feel that justifies the frontal shot, but you must consider that the deer is now on high alert and ready to jump, so with Archery equipment in this situation there’s a great likelihood that the deer will move far enough after the arrow is released that it will make a very small target area even smaller, and likely result in a wounded or lost animal. 

There are hunters who are very experienced and can pull off those shots “most” of the time, but eventually you will lose a deer if you continually take low percentage shots. 

Firearms are a bit different of course, and your chances for a clean kill on frontals increases dramatically. 

For the guy who mentioned a neck shot, your post was a little unclear, but I hope you’re not advocating neck Shooting with Archery gear! 😱

 

May have been a low percentage shot with traditional and early compounds, but that has changed with todays bows. 

 Most front shots will be taken on level ground with the deer, or the head will likely be blocking the shot if shooting down from a tree.   Not too many will have knowledge making this shot since most bowhunters hunt from trees.    From the ground, the target on a front shot is the size of a cake plate, at least.  Most anybody should be able to hit that at 10-15yds. 

There is a good size target to put an arrow in front of the shoulder on a quartering to shot from a tree, and if it is close to the tree the arrow will pass through the heart before exiting between the legs.    Straight down shots between the shoulders is another deadly shot.  These all hold a higher percentage, nearly 100%, compared to my broadside shots.  And from the number of threads about late recovery and lost deer with broadside shots, both on this site and another site I'm on, I'd say broadside shots don't have as high a percentage rate as most seem to think.

I won't wait for a moment to take a front shot at a deer at 10-15yds when I'm on the ground, crossbow or compound.    Waiting for a deer to turn in that situation will most likely be a running deer.   I'm not advocating for anybody to take a shot they are not comfortable with taking, but there are other good angles other than broadside or quartering away, and any shot angle can be a failure if the shot wasn't executed properly.

[Greybeard]

3 hours ago, JerseyJaysTaxidermy said:

I buried an arrow into a doe i stalked when I was a teen.. quartering towards me. Never found her. My father came to help me track and asked me the famous questions you ask someone you are helping track.."where was she? where did you hit her?, etc"
I explained how she was under 10 yards quartering towards me. He always told me to not take that shot and this time I didnt listen. He also told me I should only ever shoot broadside or quartering away ever since I was 10. I'm 32 now and still listen to my dad lol.
Had this buck in 2013 12 yards away facing me feeding offering a neck shot only as branches hung over his body.
The top of the neck near the skull funnels all the vitals into a small area I know I could of hit. As it got darker I knew it was now or never. I know I could hit my mark at 12 yards. Especially after watching him feed and not move for 15 mins- 0 buck fever, calm as a cucumber.
I almost drew back a few times but my confidence kept telling me "dont do it. You will be sorry"
Well.. he was shot by someone else the next season and I always wondered what would have happened if I tried the shot. But I believe I made the right decision
I know I did.
Cant get greedy. It's not fair to the animal to take low % shots.

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No shot at that deer in 2013 in that position, but he would have been dead in 2014 with that pic being my angle at 12yds.  

[nmc02]

I would take those shots, but refuse to shoot straight down

[Farmshine]

Every situation is different. Trad bow, compound, xbow, ML, slug , on the ground, 18 feet up a tree. Deer head up deer head down. 1st day of eab or last day of winter bow. Doe or BC buck. A lot of factors to consider. I think the bottom line is only take a shot your confident you can make a quick clean kill. And be proficient with your weapon, it’s one of the only factors you truly control.


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[rocky]

4 hours ago, JerseyJaysTaxidermy said:

I buried an arrow into a doe i stalked when I was a teen.. quartering towards me. Never found her. My father came to help me track and asked me the famous questions you ask someone you are helping track.."where was she? where did you hit her?, etc"
I explained how she was under 10 yards quartering towards me. He always told me to not take that shot and this time I didnt listen. He also told me I should only ever shoot broadside or quartering away ever since I was 10. I'm 32 now and still listen to my dad lol.
Had this buck in 2013 12 yards away facing me feeding offering a neck shot only as branches hung over his body.
The top of the neck near the skull funnels all the vitals into a small area I know I could of hit. As it got darker I knew it was now or never. I know I could hit my mark at 12 yards. Especially after watching him feed and not move for 15 mins- 0 buck fever, calm as a cucumber.
I almost drew back a few times but my confidence kept telling me "dont do it. You will be sorry"
Well.. he was shot by someone else the next season and I always wondered what would have happened if I tried the shot. But I believe I made the right decision
I know I did.
Cant get greedy. It's not fair to the animal to take low % shots.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

You are a good man and hunter sir. Respecting the animals that we hunt only makes us better hunters in the long run. I will never be desperate and take a low percentage shot at any living animal. 

[Swamprat]

I wouldn't intentionally take the shot but it happens. Happened last fall. Pre-rut had 3 different bucks chasing does all morning.  My adrenaline could only handle so much lol. 

One of the bucks stopped and i had a slight quartering to me. Nothing extreme. He was 20 yards away. I was 18' up. Easy shot , done it in the past. 

As I fired he turned TOWARDS me. He was that fast that the bolt hit 6-8" forward of where I was aiming.  I saw it hit in front of the shoulder and he spun and ran away. I was sick to my stomach for a few seconds until he started doing the floppy dance after 30-35 yards. He dropped quick. 

Gave em time to bleed  out. Walked up and saw the entrance hole and assumed it was thru his neck and exited.  Nope. Skewered him. The rage hypodermic was lodged in the inside of his rear leg. Insane penetration. Basically it entered and slipped behind the shoulder blade hitting lung, top of heart, liver,  stomach etc. Field dressing was a little messy. Lol. 

 

[Pathman]

Well, far be it from me to tell guys what to do, and I’m not. I do have to say however, that I totally disagree with your assessment and assumptions on this one GB as far as advocating the frontal shot. The “between the shoulders” is even worse in my experience, especially with a vertical bow. 

Yes, the size of the target may be a “cake plate,” but you’re disregarding that on a frontal shot the size of the vitals that your arrow will contact, are not, as opposed to a broadside shot where the vitals (both lungs) ARE the size of a cake plate!

With the frontal,  you’re  only going to get one lung, and if your a bit high or off left to right, you’ll miss the heart, so you then have a one lung/gut shot deer.  

The “between the shoulders” is even smaller, if you don’t get the heart you’ll also only get one lung unless the deer is on an angle to you. If directly below, as you mention,  you’ll only get one. 

So while these shots may be effective (assuming you hit the smaller profile of vitals ), you’re neglecting to mention that the aiming area is significantly smaller as well, (especially the between the shoulder) and your margin of error also significantly decreases.  

What really puzzles me is you mentioning you’ve lost Deer with broadside shots ( with its increased size and margin of error) but then say you would readily take a shot at a smaller POA and smaller vital area. Not getting the logic there, sorry. 

 

 

 

[Pathman]

“As I fired he turned TOWARDS me. He was that fast that the bolt hit 6-8" forward of where I was aiming.”

Swamp-rat,  you got lucky. That’s exactky  the point I was trying to make above. Part of why these type shots are deemed low percentage is because of the Deer moves some, you’re generally screwed, whereas if the Deer moves some on a broadside shot you’re less likely to get screwed! 

Let’s keep one more thing in mind, every time you hear a hunter say “my shot was perfect” or “I know my shot hit right behind the shoulder, how could I have lost that deer?” unless you see the deer, you can bet the POi is not where the shooter thought it was. So that also factors into the effectiveness, or lack thereof,  of a particular POA and its relative kill percentage. 

[dlist777]

I'm honestly a bit surprised as to the wide range of shots guys are advocating here.  I've only been hunting about 5 years so I'm not going to lecture anyone.  I wounded a doe last year on a broadside where she was walking.  I had to take the next day off from work and spent too much of it on my hands and knees getting cut up by branches and thorns.  It was my first non recovery.  I want no more of that.  With a bow, its all broadside and quartering away for me (and now with an emphasis on no walking).  I'll try to stop them with a "meh" if I have to....or let them go.  But, admittedly.....I go home empty handed a lot.