quartering towards you

[bmfer]

What stmpthmper said....

[Gehrke145]

Did it a few times with follow up shots and worked out ok.  I wouldn't go out of my way to do it, and it would have to be real close 10 or less

[SoNevada Archer]

I agree it is not a good shot to take...but I too have taken a mule deer doe with an arrow to the brisket. I had hit her in the guts from the side and when she layed down, the only view I had was of her chest. So I put an arrow right to the side of the brisket. She ran about 10yards and went down for good. The arrow went right through her heart. You just have to do what needs to be done given the situation.

[Steve B.]

Cow elk, 8 yds., 160 Grizzly/100gr insert, carbon, 54 lbs. Widow.
I was on my knees and the elk was looking right over me and almost facing directly at me.  She arched around to look behind her which moved her to a quartering shot.  I slipped the arrow right along side the leg bone and it lodged in the far, right leg opposite side.  She didn't go 100 yds.  The broadhead was perfect and still sharp.

(The next year, last season, I built a ground blind at the spot where I shot her and a couple of days later tracked and shot another cow as she stood in the blind !)

[Killdeer]

I lost a deer that way.

I went and got my journal...it was Columbus Day weekend in 2002. The woods were damp, and conditions perfect for stillhunting.
I did so, starting in the morning, and saw lots of deer. About midafternoon, I was on my favorite ridge, and spotted a gray form through the binocs. It was about eighty yards away,partly obscured by a tree, bedded. I stalked a bit closer. As its head was behind a tree, I couldn't tell if it was buck or doe. Both being legal, I made the decision to go for it. I dropped all unnecessary stuff, my jacket, bumper, fanny pack, and committed to the stalk.

I crept through two blowdowns, carefully placing each footfall. I kept the obscuring treetrunk between me and the deer. When I was about twenty yards away, the deer casually reached over and scratched his back as it lay in the leaves...a spike. I love spikes! A goodly portion of tender meat, not too strong, not too sweet! Reasonable drag.

He resumed his vigil at the lip of the ravine, and I closed in. Finally, I was behind the very tree that had masked my movement all this way. The buck was bedded 24 feet away, body facing me, nose pointed to my left, watching the hollow below. The wind was in his face, which I though odd, and his ears monitored the sounds on the ridge behind him. What now?

Do I wait for him to rise? Distract him into rising by throwing an acorn down the hill? I studied his form. I could see a path between his neck and shoulder blade which led into the lung area. Was it good enough?

I drew the arrow to my cheek, leaned just far enough to the right of the tree, and let fly. The arrow struck the pocket I had seen, and I ducked back behind the tree. My mind instantly became the most unreliable recording device ever wielded by Man. Eighty yards of catwalking stored up enough adrenaline to fuel two football teams, and now it was running riot through the limited space of my girly bloodstream.

The deer got up, took a couple of steps, and looked around. (I should have shot him again! All of my actions are geared toward not spooking game, and I should have just shot!) I seem to remember the arrow sticking out about ten inches, from the front of his chest. I am not positive, though. Did he bite that arrow off?

He walked and trotted a few steps, confused, then walked gimpily to a spot about thirty yards away, weaved a bit on his feet, and bedded. I sat down, marvelling at this turn of events. I had just successfully completed the greatest stalk of my life, shot the deer exactly where I wanted to, and now he was bedded and would die within sight!

I waited.
The deer remained bedded, head up. The squirrels came out and gamboled about. My stomach hurt. The deer watched the squirrels. My legs started to fall asleep.

I should have crept off. I should have snuck down the hill and come back in the morning. But I couldn't. After a half hour of this, or more, I got the hare-brained thought that I should put another arrow in him. (Shoulda done that a half hour ago, girl!) I had snuck up on him once...maybe I should do it again. I started to raise up. I kept a tree between us. I crept forward, one silent step at a time. Three steps, four, I looked up. Still bedded. Five, pick, six, he is up, staring in my direction. I feel like a burglar when the alarm goes off. He trots 30 more yards upridge. Looks back. I am crouching and still, wanting to sit and be quiet again. He canters about 50 more yards, looks back, then bolts down the side of the ridge. Dead deer! That must surely be the death run that I so crave.

I mark with a bandana the spot where he paused to look back, note the pool of blood with slight bubbling in it where he had bedded, and picked up the back half of my arrow near the site of the first shot. I went back to camp to let him settle and to get help. On the way back to camp I lost the back half of the arrow.

Nobody was in camp, and I changed my socks. Sheba came wandering in. She was supposed to be with Clark, who was squirrel hunting. She hated guns, though, and got loose from him at her first opportunity. Nobody came into camp until dark.

We were ataying about 30 minutes away at a motel. We had no lanterns, and we decided to get dinner and sleep, to return first thing in the morning. ApplePie made pancakes the next morning, which were good, but held me up. I gathered my stuff, and as I loaded it into the truck, it began to rain.

Bart, Clark, Duffy, Suzanne, Aubrey and I went back to the scene of the crime. We went to the bandana. That was all the sign that was left. I have hunted that ridge for over twenty years. Especially the place where I shot that deer. We crawled all over it, down the sides, around the point, through the bedding area in the bowl, across the creeks and up the other side, through the laurel-choked hollows and stands of red pine. I watched turkeys preen themselves dry. They weren't talking. The ravens pretended not to see me, and went on their silent ways. The whole forest turned its back on me. My friends gave up somewhere around three o'clock. Clark and I still searched. We searched again the next morning.

I felt sure that for this deed, I would not get another scrap from the woods for a long while. I was right. It was three years before another deer gave itself to me, and I had to do it with a muzzleloader. You can be sure that the next time I have a deer in front of my arrow, I will pick the right shot.

Killdeer  

[b.glass]

The only deer I have had the honor to take was with a onward shot. Not broadside but a little better than quartering on. Somewhere inbetween. I knew the onward shot was not the best to take but I have also heard repeatedly "when it feels right, you will know". Maybe I'm justifying my actions, I don't know, but it felt right. It was at seven yards on the ground and the deer was totally relaxed. He didn't see me draw and didn't react until after he was hit. He went less than 100 yds. If he had taken a few more steps he would have walked into my scent stream. It worked out well that time. Was it a novice decision that shouldn't have been made? Maybe. I wouldn't take that shot if there is another option. 47 lb. longbow and 550 gr arrow w/Woodsman BH.

[Overspined]

If you hunt elk, or are calling big game animals in, it is not a bad idea to get good at that shot. I have shot several quarting towards, and never had a problem with penetration or killing them quickly. Direct head on shots are probably avoid shots, but a nice quarting toward shot gives you a double lung pass thru shot. Just try to keep it inside the front shoulder of course. Also, it helps to be close so your shot is likely to be more accurate. Often those shots are close. Of course, I am speaking about all shots on the ground.

[rg176bnc]

Heres the bad thing if you dont kill it.  You've wasted the rest of the day and maybe the next looking for it and tromping around your hunting area when you could have still been hunting.  Theres too many deer in the woods to take a bad shot.

More than likely if you had waited you would have got the shot you wanted or the next deer would have offered it.  When you start trying to force shots bad things happen.

[Stringdancer]

Very low percentage shot, and should not be taken at any distance.  Those who have taken the shot, and retrieved the animal are lucky.  Very unethical to say the least.

Mike

[**DONOTDELETE**]

kingwouldbe, them some nice animals. Even if I knew I could make it, I wouldn't try a shot like them... That is Me I can't say it was wrong for you or who ever takes shots like that... If You feel 150% You can make the shot and kill your game cleanly & quickly... Good Luck.

[SoNevada Archer]

Hey Mike, I think your WAY out of line to say we that have taken those shots are unethical. Who do you think you are???
 I was a butcher for years, and know better than most, the anatomy of game animals.

If the animal is quarting toward you, the heart and lungs are very accessible. Yes, you do need to be able to make the shot, and for most, it IS a low percentage shot. But to make a blanket statement that it's unethical is BULL!

If you hunt long enough, your going to have to look for an animal and it might take up a whole day...I've seen a few of those days, and watched them "tactfully edited" on hunting shows too.

 There is no perfect position for the animal to stand in while being shot, if the arrow isn't on target. That is the REAL name of the game, shot placement.

[Wudstix]

Tracked a doe shot by another hunting last year.  He put the arrow right in her chest from the front.  He was shooting wheels.  There was no blood at all!!!  We(four of us) wandered around for about 100 yards and tripped over the deer laying in some high grass.  Dunb luck.  Dumb shot.

Personally, took a 150# boar with a frontal shot at 15 yards.  It was not on purpose, he turned towards me just as I released.  67# recurve, 160 grain Snuffer, 630 grain total arrow weight.  Arrow hit him under the chin and exited just under his exhaust pipe.  He went 25 yards.

There are too many good shots waiting to take a poor one on purpose.

[pdk25]

I think saying taking the shot is unethical is a little harsh.  Just on this thread there are several fine examples of animals taken with this shot.  There is an obvious downside in that there is a frequently a poor blood trail when compared to other shot angles, even when a good shot is made. Perhaps the terrain that is hunted out west can make that somewhat less important?  I choose not to take this type of shot, but I won't insult someone else who takes it, particularly if they have a history of recovering the game.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Dosn't matter what you do or did for a living  

I don't care how much poundage you are shooting. If you take this shot you are taking to much of a chance.

I have seen it way to much lately on hunting shows and tired of watching it.Go back and read Biggies quote!!

Tracy

[SoNevada Archer]

Thanks Patrick, and your right about the west being a bit different in terrain. Last year, I hunted for whitetail for the first time. I couldn't get over how much vegitation there was in Ohio. And man, we saw more deer in one day than we'll see in Nevada on a whole hunting trip!

And just for the record, I too have agreed that the frontal shot is a low percentage shot and should be avoided in favor of a better angel... but sometimes thats just not going to happen.
Then it's a case by case situation and every hunter has to decide for themselves if that shot is the right shot for them.

[centaur]

I had the chance to either take the shot or get batted around by a 400plus pound black bear years ago. He was coming straight towards me, growling. When I brought the bow up, he turned slightly and I had the much maligned quartering towards shot, which I took as he was advancing towards me at 7 yards. I got heart and a lung, and he went 15 yards. Better to be unethical than lunch in this case.

[Rick McGowan]

I used to hunt with a guy who just HAD to kill something, he was a very good hunter and a very good shot, BUT he just could not stand to wait for a better shot if ANY shot presented itself. He shot and killed five whitetails in row with the quartering on shot, even though I tried to talk him out of it. The next five deer he shot with the quartering on shot, we NEVER RECOVERED. He no longer takes or recommends quartering on shots. Every worries about the dreaded shoulder bone, actually the quartering on from a high angle(like a treestand) is the only time the shoulder blade blocks the vitals.

[Biggie Hoffman]

I think saying taking the shot is unethical is a little harsh. Just on this thread there are several fine examples of animals taken with this shot.

I don't know if these are FINE examples, I think LUCKY examples would be a better word.

Confidence is a good thing in bowhunting, especially the way we choose to shoot. But what happened to the challenge we have also chosen to undertake that goes with our equipment? Waiting for a high percentage shot angle is part of that comittment. No matter how many succesful examples are shown here, we all know that they represent a small percentage of successes on that particular shot.

[Don Stokes]

I've lost my share of deer, but it was NEVER because I took an "unethical" shot. Each shot opportunity must be weighed by the circumstances. In my earlier example, the deer was distracted, I had a perfect shot from the ground, and knew I could make it. I would not have taken the same shot angle from an elevated stand, because the shoulder blade was too likely to be in the way.

Know your equipment, know your ability, and know you're going to kill the deer when you release the arrow. Otherwise, don't shoot.

[Bonebuster]

Have you ever been hunting and took a shot you normally wouldn`t take, because you just KNEW it would work out? You just had a feeling?

I have taken this shot twice with a recurve. One from a tree(only about ten feet up), and one from the ground.

Neither time was straight on. Both shots were with bows over 65lbs. One wood arrow(ash), and one aluminum (2219). Both Zwickey Delta two edge.
The wood arrow broke at impact, and did not penetrate very well. That arrow hit the shoulder,
and made it through the top of the heart and got both lungs.(no exit hole) The deer made it about eighty yards. Good blood, and scuff marks the whole way.
The second deer took the arrow between the shoulder and sternum, with the broadhead coming out near the rear rib on the opposite side. 100 yard recovery, decent blood for the first fifty, then good blood for the last. Both adult does, about 150lbs live weight.Both times the shot was at around ten yards. Both times, I just had a feeling... or something.

I much prefer a broadside shot where the deer jumps, stops to watch it`s backtrail after thirty or forty yards, wobbles and goes down.

When hit from in front, they KNOW things are bad, and don`t stop running until they can run no more.

I can`t say I will never do it again.