Something has always bothered me about these shots when they are more than slightly quartering away. Hard quartering away shots are never looked down on ....am I missing something? I see such a small heart/lung area...thoughts?
That's a shot I haven't ever taken for that very reason. I would rather not shoot a deer than put an arrow through gut, liver and then one lung. Been one too many long recoveries of deer that were shot like that.
I prefer the hard quartering away shot on big boar hogs to slip behind their shield. Last months bow hunter magazine talks about not even talking a quartering away shot. Side shot give you a larger target and a shorter path for pass throughs which we all want anyhow. Good point T.
Last year I shot a doe that was hard quartering away. Arrow went in behind last rib and came out center of her chest. She went 20 yards.
I'm not saying that it's never productive. To me the risk just isn't worth it. Two years ago I helped a buddy track a buck he shot like this, deer ran into the next county with very little blood.
I'm not a fan at all, and wouldn't force the shot, for the exact reason you mentioned Tony. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sure it is, so is a spine shot, a straight on shot as well as a quartering to shot. Hell, so is a head shot, but I'm not taking those shots either.
There is no heavy bone structure protecting those vitals from the quartering away shot. There is also a LOT more soft tissue for the broadhead to cut on the way through due to the longer path inside the body cavity lengthwise vs. completely broadside. There may be a marginally smaller profile for the lungs, but you have the same profile for the heart and also the ability to rupture the diaphragm, liver, lungs, heart, as well as the entire pulmonary and systemic circuits. The only thing I don't like about hard quartering shots is that you usually ruin a quarter on them with bloodshot meat.
You are right, a straight on shot and quartering to shot offers the same thing but the heavy bone structure in the front of the animal makes it a low percentage shot. If you can't get through the bone from the front you will never get to that path in the vitals.
A high percentage kill shot is the one that presents the vital organs, heart and lungs, in the most exposed angle being completley broadside. The more the deer quarters the smaller the target are is presented and hence decreasing the odds. Not to mention all other factors such as distance, angle, broadhead, etc., etc. Sometimes it comes down to just playing it safe and conservative, or taking a shot that has less than preferred odds being totally confident in your self, equipment, abilities and experience. Whenever you punch that release nothing is guaranteed ever, there are millions of factors that are always present working against an archer. One thing is sure, nothing ever died from not letting arrows loose.
I'm just not confident that deflection is a real problem. Maybe with some of expandable broadheads from yesteryear, but with the rear deploying heads available today and quality fixed blades I just don't believe it's going to happen. Out of the 25+ whitetails I've shot with a bow personally and the 50+ that I've been on the trail of recovery for, I don't think I've ever seen a case of deflection. I've also shot a LOT of them at pretty extreme quartering angles. I shot one a few years ago that was bedded and quartering away from me so hard that the entrance wound (Rage) was roughly 7-8" long. It wiped out 3-4 ribs on the close side and then proceeded to take out lungs, heart, etc. Some of you that have been on the forums for years may remember, this was the first year Rage's were introduced and the heart was literally almost cut in half except for about 1" of tissue on the one side holding the top and bottom halves together. I think "deflection" is just like 90% of the cases of "my expandable didn't open" where someone made a poor shot and blamed it on the broadhead.
That doesn't mean anything ...great shot, BTW! Dave, while I agree with this, where would you personally draw the line? That would fit a frontal shot as well Agreed....my point is the target shrinks substantially Lots of good things in this post ...also some things that can be scary....like that last sentence Matt, would you agree that this shot, especially from a tree stand is much smaller than a full broadside o slight quartering away?
Your not even close to comparing apples to apples. And you argument leave outs any semblance of understanding how the respiratory system works . The diaphragm is the musculotendinous boundary between the negative-pressure thoracic cavity and positive-pressure abdominal cavity. The diaphragm plays crucial role in respiratory mechanics and injury to the diaphragm impairs ventilation and oxygen delivery. A quartering away shot that enters any part of the thoracic cavity must ALWAYS go through one thing.....That is the diaphragm. Now add to that the initial injury to the other soft tissue organs prior to entering the thoracic cavity through the diaphragm and you have perfect recipe for a quick killing shot that does tremendous muti-system trauma with a minimal impediment by any significant skeletal structures.
