posted
I have always considered shooting an animal quartering towards me something to avoid. However, it seems to me that a heavy arrow setup (650 grain, 2 fixed blade broadhead) might take "quartering towards you" whitetails consistently.
What sort of experiences have you had shooting at whitetail or larger animals that were quartering towards you? If you have the data, please include what broadhead, arrow weight, and arrow speed you were shooting - and of course what happened to the animal.
Posts: 34 | From: Columbus, Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Ive not shot an animal with a traditional bow yet but ive done so with a muzzleloader. One thing is theres not much or any blood because it exits out the guts which will sometimes plug the holes. I have seen a little blood from the entrance. My uncle did it last year with a bow we had 0 blood trail but the doe only went 25 yards before piling up.
-------------------- The Stuttering Bowhunter Posts: 831 | From: Ithaca, New York | Registered: Mar 2007
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I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just a really poor idea. Any basic hunter ed course will warn you against this shot for archery. A deer's reaction time from this angle will be much greater as it will hear, then see something wrong. I'd venture to say that even with the fastest bows a lot of deer will get completely out of the way, while others will be hit in a non-desireable location. Even if you hit where you are aiming, as stated above your shot will be angling AWAY from the vitals instead of into them. CKruse
-------------------- "The lack of machinery puts you closer to the act- an act that is ethical, good, right, and correct."- CKruse Posts: 1356 | From: Missouri | Registered: Jan 2004
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I've shot two doe between the neck and shoulder as they were quartered to me and they both died in less than 1 minute. I cut main arteries in the neck and sliced between the lungs into the heart. This was at a very close range and would not try it past 15 yds.
-------------------- Just one more step.....please!
St. Joe River Bows Oliverstacey Strings Swafford Knives Michigan Longbow Association Posts: 4185 | From: Michigan | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. A deer quartering towards you leaves very little room to get a double lung or heart without puching through some heavy bone structure.
With that being said I also use to think the same way and actuallt shot a 140lb deer that was quartering towards me. I was using a 70lb recurve shooting a 2219 with a 145gr 4 blade muzzy. The shot was 10 yards from the ground and even at that distance the deer was able to duck at the shot and I hit high about 3" below the top of the back in the middle of the rib cage. The arrow passed through the deer exiting in front of the opposite ham. That deer only went 35 yards and went down within site. Even though it worked out that time I have never attempted another beause in my opinion there is just to much room for error. I have been in on 3 different blood trails where deer were never recorvered on simmilar shots and 33% success doesn't cut it.
-------------------- Get up close and personal... hunt traditional Posts: 188 | From: Down East Maine | Registered: Dec 2004
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Just don't do it... I lost two deer because I was just plain stupid and impatient. Both were opening weekend of bow season, two years back to back. Makes me feel even more stupid doing it two years in a row !
All I had to do was be patient and wait a little and I would have had a broadside or quartering away shot. Not saying it cannot be done, just that the odds are stacked against you. Why push a bad posistion if you don't have too ? Almost every deer that I did kill gave me a much better shot than initally offered when it first walked up, just had to wait a little. A few even walked or fed off, only to return and give me a gimmie shot later on. Don't be stupid like me, WAIT !!!
posted
There is always risk involved in shooting at an animal. That being said, harvesting any single deer isn't important enough for me to take such a risky shot with a bow. I would prefer to wait for broadside or quartering away.
Posts: 3607 | From: Ada, Oklahoma | Registered: Jun 2007
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Flatout, this is one of the tougher shot selections and one that usually should be avoided.
You did not say if you would be in a tree or on the ground, out west we are usually on the ground and it is a different shot angle than from a tree.
Your arrow weight should be suffiant, you did not say the weight of your bow.
Most experienced bow hunters will avoid this shot, my self included, however, there are times that I have taken this shot, but every thing must be perfect for me to take it.
This buck was shot on the ground @ 12 yards 55lb Habu with a supper skinny shaft and a grizzly 160 arrow weight was 530grains.
This buck was also shot on the ground @ 8 yards 60lb Abbot with a snuffer, a 525 grain arrow, you see the broken shaft in its chest.
This buck was also shot on the ground at 12 yards with a 60lb Widow, snuffer and 525 grain arrow, head on.
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Did that once it was a big mistake, that shot is not an option for me. You would serve yourself and the game you hunt to wait for the proper shot angel to present itself. Patience will save a lot of heartache
-------------------- Proverbs 12:27 The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.
John 14:6 Posts: 6024 | From: silversprings ny | Registered: Aug 2006
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Never. If you have to kill something that bad...get a good 30-30. Bowhunting is all about waiting for the right shot. Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you.
-------------------- PBS Life Member Member 1K LLC
"If you are twenty and aren't liberal you don't have a heart...if you're forty and not conservative you don't have a brain".....Winston Churchill Posts: 4373 | From: Gray, Ga. 31032 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I think you will always have frequent issues with blood trails on a shot like that.
But as to the the lethality it depends on your bow and gear - and on what you are shooting. If you going with the light bow trend then maybe its not a going to work.
A 45lb bow with medium weight arrows and 3 or 4 blade broad heads should do great on a side lung/heart) shot but maybe not on this shot.
A 65 or 75lb bow with durable arrows and a single blade head is going to have a way better odds in this case. Sometimes people forget that a whitetail is small - it would be a much worse idea on an elk than a whitetail.
A lot of people like to talk about how accurracy is all that matters when choosing gear, the flip side is that more power applied properly allows a greater variety of shots.
-------------------- Wherever you went - here you are. Posts: 235 | From: Dubois PA | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
I don't get the argument about the angle of the arrow being undesirable. Most agree that quartering away shot is a great shot. Quartering towards is just going the opposite direction. Vitals are vitals no matter which way the arrow is going. I do understand that you might have to go through bone before you get to the vitals, but couldn't a beefy arrow solve that? Of course ckruse mentioned string jump and that is also a good point.
KingWouldBe Unfortunately, I am not able to hunt right now because I am living outside the states. I just sit here and watch you guys do the hunting. But someday I hope to be hunting from the ground with a 50lb bow.
I have taken a yearling with a quartering to shot with a wheelie(ran 40 yards w/ good blood trail) but wasn't sure I should mention it in this section.
Posts: 34 | From: Columbus, Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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