head on bow-shot

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: charlie 01
Practice and being proficient with your bow and equipment is what its all about.

I don't agree. Practice and proficiency with equipment alone are not enough. Good decision making, patience and self-control are as important if not more to me.

[vambo991]

I've taken several deer with severe quartering-to/frontal shots. Only took the ones where i had a close, clean shot right through the crease in the lower neck and into the heart. I have a reasonably fast rig and my muzzys all passed right through. All three were the shortest tracks of my hunting career. I would'nt take just any frontal shot, but I like this particular angle for any deer, any place, and any time of season. I'm absolutely confident in it's lethality.

[charlie 01]

ORIGINAL: vambo991

I've taken several deer with severe quartering-to/frontal shots. Only took the ones where i had a close, clean shot right through the crease in the lower neck and into the heart. I have a reasonably fast rig and my muzzys all passed right through. All three were the shortest tracks of my hunting career. I would'nt take just any frontal shot, but I like this particular angle for any deer, any place, and any time of season. I'm absolutely confident in it's lethality.

Thanks for your input. Glade to know I'm not alone with this shot.

[Marc Anthony]

Regarding the original question, yes, I would take the shot and have taken that shot several times. BUT, (I think it was Patriot who mentioned this earlier) it depends whether you're hunting from the ground or not. It's a very risky shot from an elevated position but from the ground, it's very lethal! You can take out the heart in no time and virtually every other place that is exposed, will do some sort of immediate damage to the vitals. I've never had one run more than 40 yards with that shot. In fact, I shot a buck this year head-on from the ground that had him staggering from the point of impact. If the shot was taken from the tree stand, it would be really difficult!

[charlie 01]

ORIGINAL: JPH

ORIGINAL: charlie 01
Practice and being proficient with your bow and equipment is what its all about.

I don't agree. Practice and proficiency with equipment alone are not enough. Good decision making, patience and self-control are as important if not more to me.

Yes, Joe, those points are important. But I still believe being proficient with your bow and equipment is where you start. Good decisions, patience, and self control should come with hunting experience. When I first started hunting with recurves, it was a common statement, that if you could not put an arrow in a 10" circle at 20yds, you did not belong in the woods hunting deer. And that was instinctive shooting. One had to practice a lot to keep your "eye". In those early years my goal, and I'm sure as with many others, was to just be able to hit a deer to get that first one under your belt. Patience, good decisions, and self control soon followed. I can still remember those first few attempts, being so filled with excitement, and trying to hold that bow from jumping around. Wow, It's been a long and still learnng experience. 

[charlie 01]

ORIGINAL: Marc Anthony

Regarding the original question, yes, I would take the shot and have taken that shot several times. BUT, (I think it was Patriot who mentioned this earlier) it depends whether you're hunting from the ground or not. It's a very risky shot from an elevated position but from the ground, it's very lethal! You can take out the heart in no time and virtually every other place that is exposed, will do some sort of immediate damage to the vitals. I've never had one run more than 40 yards with that shot. In fact, I shot a buck this year head-on from the ground that had him staggering from the point of impact. If the shot was taken from the tree stand, it would be really difficult!

Marc, I'm sure the statements you made of your accompishments of head on shots are as you say, but the buck I did shoot was from a tree stand. Everything worked out fine. Did you see those pics that Joe posted earlier on this subject, of a deers anatomy? That open hole at the front of the rib cage shows the heart lower than that bottom rib cage bone structure. I don't know how accurate those pics are, but to me, a downward arrow would hit the heart easier. That is exactly what my arrow did. It hit the heart first and kept on going till it was buried in the deer.  

[Deebz]

This was a good topic... the deer my wife killed with the crossbow this year was directly head on at about 10 yards. We were on the ground, so I told her to go ahead. The bolt entered right at the base of the throat, traveled lengthwise through the left lung, then exited through the side about 3/4 of the way back. Luckily, it never got into the intestines, so the meat was very clean...

[charlie 01]

Deebz, I believe you said that the next time you cut open a deer you were going to look inside the rib cage to see what things were like at the front of it. I have only seen one anatomy frontal pic and it did show an open hole at the base of the neck with no bone obstruction. Did you, or did you forget. Just wondered.

[charlie 01]

Deebz, I believe you said that the next time you cut open a deer you were going to look inside the rib cage to see what things were like at the front of it. I have only seen one anatomy frontal pic and it did show an open hole at the base of the neck with no bone obstruction. Did you, or did you forget. Just wondered.

I believe you once said you are a biology teacher. If so I was wondering if you had any means of getting a frontal anatomy pic of a deer.

[Deebz]

I'll see what I can find... having gutted and butchered quite a few deer this season between my own kills and helping my wife's uncle, I can tell you that there is a decent sized hole below the backbone and above the sternum/ribcage...