Would you take this shot?

[tnt1960]

Me, I would never take that shot, no matter how big the deer was! Too many bad things can go wrong! I respect that deer too much, to risk injuring him with a bad shot! I'd let him walk, and hope he'd come back another day!

[scottflesher]

charlie, i ain't mad at ya. [:)]

The fact that you belong to this forum and invest time sharing your knowledge and asking these types of questions tell me that you're a hunter that cares enough about deer and that's more than I can say for most of the hunters I know.

[SwampLife]

I can't get over how beautiful that big ol' horse of a buck is.

No I wouldn't, I have been having a hard enough time hitting them broadside last couple years.

[buckhunter21]

I guess we can go around and around on this, but if you are 100% sure you can make that shot, and it'll put an animal down quickly, then who am I to say not to take it?  Myself, no I wouldn't take it.  Quartering away, yes.  Broadside, yes.  And that's about it.  Everyone has a different skill level with the bow, so we'll leave it at that.  I'm 100% sure I can make a quartering away shot or a broadside shot, but then again, things happen in the field beyond our control.  Sure that can happen with the shot in question as well....

[DeanoZ]

Nope, wouldn't take it..matter of fact opening day of Earn a buck I had four does come straight at me, pass under my stand and walk straight away offering a straight away shot...I thought about it for s second, but like others have said here, I'm just not confident enough and don't want to risk it.

[msbadger]

I did a mercy kill on a 7pt one year....when I decided to shoot him it was an extreme quartering away shot ...but in an instant he moved and the arrow went up under his spine far back...almost like the pic...he simply kept walking like nothing happened...I nearly threw up...it was a long 30 minutes and i climb down and found the blood trail he was 40 yards away and looked like he just died in mid stride....The broad head severed the artery under his spine....I have a fear of quartering away shots...and would never shoot straight away...watching him walk away with that arrow sticking out along his back stays with me....thats like the time I watched a beautiful buck trot through our woods with an arrow stick straight up out of his hip...never have and never would take a straight down shot...It looked like one of those flags ppl put on motorized wheel chairs if they drive on the side of the road[:o]  

[mightyfofaad]

ORIGINAL: SwampLife

I can't get over how beautiful that big ol' horse of a buck is.

No I wouldn't, I have been having a hard enough time hitting them broadside last couple years.

Well, if you're having trouble with broadsides, why not aim for the back of the neck? [:D]

[charlie 01]

I  knew someone would come up with the fact that the arrow did not seem to have much penetration. Lets start from the begining. It was a give or take 18 yd shot, straight away. He expired about 20 yds from that point. I shoot a 30 in. arrow. Though I did not need it, there was a blood trail. As you can see, there is a good amount of blood from the wound. There is also blood farther up the arrow. I believe his reaction to the hit when he ran off pushed the arrow up to that point. No spine was involved. To get that much blood to come out of him from the top and in such a short time, which was a matter of seconds, something major had to be cut. As I said, there was heart and lung damage. There was no exit wound. There was some back-strap damage but not bad.
 
Mark, you hit it right. Do you have confidence in your abilities. I started this just to see who would have the confidence to take it. I should have put in a shot distance in the initial thread. Hey, I respect the animal as much, if not more than anyone else. Anything beyond that distance and I would have passed on it. I'm not perfect. I've had my share of bad hits for one reason or another over the years. If you haven't, you will, "things happen". But, for the sake of things, I hope not. It's not a good thing if you don't have confidence in what you are doing, is it? In the early years of bow hunting here In Ill. there was talk about a shooting compitency test (shooting ability) to get a lic.. The state had a class you could go thru volentary and acqiure a card stating you qualified for all things involved. I still have the card somewhere. There was mock blood trails, to see if you could follow then and some other things plus the your shooting ability. That was with recuves. One of the areas I hunt is a army training area. In order to hunt there you have to qualify. At 20 yds you have to put 3 out of 5 arrows in a 4" circle. You get 2 tries. If you don't make it, you don't hunt there. Hey, we're all out there to enjoy our selves and have fun of sorts, and to do the best we can. Enough said.   

[msbadger]

Charlie...I  don'tthink anyone was condemning your hunting/shooting abilities or judgment.....most just stated they wouldn't feel comfortable with that shot....Like I said due to an experience I'm not comfortable with quartering away shots...Yet those are the ones every body recommends....just my personal perspective ...Your comfortable with your ability...haven't had a not so good experience...obviously killed a beautiful animal...then hey  then go get-em and have fun and luck[;)]

[JPH]

Charlie 01, you asked us if we would take this shot and we answered. Obviously you would take that shot and on at least one occasion you pulled it off. Great, glad it worked out for you.

I do wonder just a bit if your reliance on confidence is good advice. Maybe I'm reading it wrong but here are my thoughts:

I will begin by repeating that I am a pretty lackluster archer. I will also painfully admit that I have had my share of gut wrenching mistakes in my bow hunting career. I lost two does last year and it was awful. I never want that to happen to me again, although as you pointed out, it probably will if I stay in the game long enough. It is an uncontrolled environment and things happen. But I do not think that confidence alone is enough to get one through an encounter with a deer and come out smiling. If the confidence is not biased on solid practice and field experience, it is more like bravado. Bravado wounds deer and ruins memories. Rather, I think a hunter should rely on prudence. Prudence is knowing more about what not to do and why you shouldn't do it. Prudence is what separates the cowboy gunslinger types from the quiet professionals. Again, I do not claim to be that quiet professional yet, but I think that should be the goal. Prudence.