you call the shot - #8 classic quartering away

[Twanger]

The last quartering away shot was pretty severe.
Here's one that is not so bad.

So where do you want the arrow to hit?
A) Behind the near shoulder (red line)
B) Behind the far shoulder (blue line)
C) somewhere in between (yellow)
D) Some other place (explain)

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/buck_quartering_away_lines.JPG

[DaveHawk]

ABOUT 1" up from the bottom, inside red, most likely would catch the edge of the yellow line, heart and lung shot pass through.

[dave-t.]

Not a bad shot in there, imo.

For the ideal shot, 1/3 up from the bottom to right in the middle of that yellow line. If you hit one there at that angle, you can start lowering your bow and gear before the deer even hits the ground. He's toast.

[Twanger]

If you hit one there at that angle, you can start lowering your bow and gear before the deer even hits the ground. He's toast.

Ha! Funny. :) Nothing like seeing a deer fall in sight.
I get more pleasure from seeing a deer fall in sight than looking at a nekkid woman. :eek: :D :rolleyes:

[LampLighter]

I would shoot the lower half of the yellow line.

[Twanger]

I'd shoot for the middle of the yellow line myself... but I think we're splitting hairs at this point.
I tend to shoot for mid-body unless the angle is very steep, and then I want the arrow to hit a little higher than mid-body, but not a ton higher. Just a couple of inches up because it's going to exit a few inches lower.

[LampLighter]

I based that on an old field judgment of : aim for the opposite leg.

[My buddy]

Nice one Twanger....finally a shot that I wouldn't have to wait on.:)

Also, I agree with your shot selection, mid yellow not only puts it where it belongs but give you the most room for error.

[My buddy]

Looking at the shot again I realize the great thing about the quartering away shot. Shots hitting the middle 1/3 of any of those lines is going to result in a quick recovery. Only the top portion of the red and the bottom portion of the blue make me a little uneasy.

[ncboman]

I would shoot the lower half of the yellow line.

me too. :)

[GF.]

I'd aim for the dot, and be happy with anything inside the oval....


The blue line is about as far back as I could stand to go. And there's a crease in the fur just forward of the red line... The bottonm of that would make a fine target for a tradshooter....

[Twanger]

I would shoot the lower half of the yellow line.


me too. :)

Ok guys, so why are you aiming so low? I tend to shoot in the middle. Miss real high and you get backbone and that deer is going down right now. I've never failed to recover a spined deer, though they often require a finisher. A little low and you're into heart. That's ok too. If you start out shooting low and err low then all you're gonna hit is fur... or air.

[LampLighter]

Because if they alarm at all. their first move is straight down [Blase & Wensel, 1986]

If they don't. it'll hit right anyway.


Blase, Rick & Gene Wensel Bowhunting October Whitetails



Aim mid to upper high, and they alarm, just like on the above film. They arch down in prep for launch, and arrow sails right over them.

That really is a cool film. Even though they are using Oneidas, I still ike it. Available on dvd now @ 3 Rivers Archery.

[dave-t.]

That, and in a perfect world, where you can point out exactly where you want the shot to strike, why not shoot for the heart.;)

On shots 10-20yrds I usually aim for heart because I'm a tad high out to 20yds, and as LL says, if they move, it will be down first to load their leg muscles to propell them to wherever they head off to. They can't go anywhere fast without bending to load those muscles first.

[ncboman]

Ok guys, so why are you aiming so low? ...

I doan see the lower half of the yellow as so low ... unless we go to the very bottom. :D

#1 reason, I like the exit low so I can find some blood to get started with. :)

[Twanger]

I'm with you on the blood trail there Bowman - nothing like a low exit wound to give you a fine blood trail. :D

Lamplighter - Oneidas? No wonder those deer are jumping the string. Those are the noisiest bows that were ever made. I've shot around 45 deer in the last three years with my Bowtech Old Glory, and only one of them jumped the string... a small doe at about 25 yards that was looking right at me, and I was too arrogant and tried the shot anyway. That took me down a notch or two. :mad: I needed it. Shooting at deer on red-alert is a prescription for disaster, particularly if they are beyond 15 yards.

No sir, on stationary deer I aim where I want the arrow to hit the deer and hope that it hits that exact spot... I'm not into trying to predict the future. Deer are very unpredictable creatures.

[GF.]

Ducking the string inevitably comes to mind for me because I've done virtually 100% of my bowhunting to-date at about 175-180 feeps, and at those speeds, it's always a possibility....

Two things about 'aiming low', though....

1) Center vitals isn't 'low'; it's where the vitals are. As the wise man once said - pick a spot. :D

Aiming at the middle of the deer isn't picking a spot, IMO, no matter how carefully you go about it. It's more a matter of aiming at the middle of the deer and counting on a larger-than-life perceived margin of error to bail you out. Picking a spot means that you know, 3-dimensionally, everything that you're going to hit as the arrow transits the chest cavity.

If you look at the circle I drew there, the top of it is the bottom if the spine. A spine hit is a bad hit, IMO, because anything that requires a second shot is a bad hit--I don't care if the animal is anchored or not; if it's not dead in the time it takes to get a second arrow on the string, it's a sub-prime shot placement, and in my book it's either a fantastic shot or something I'll be talking to myself about until next season...

And the biggish green spot in the earlier post is larger than the virtual 'spot' that I would choose, but with unknown range and all, I'm thinking that I'd actually hit right around the top of that mark, which is top of heart on a level shot.

Speaking of which....

2) The aiming point and the circle I drew are placed on the that I'm on the same level as the deer . Were this shot to be taken from an elevated stand, I'd raise everything at least a couple inches; say 2 to 4, depending on the angle.

[LampLighter]

Lamplighter - Oneidas? No wonder those deer are jumping the string. Those are the noisiest bows that were ever made.

Yeah, but boy those were some good times. We grew up on that video. They made some great shots, and best of all they were hunting in open woods- stuff you and I could have hunted back then.


http://www.3riversarchery.com/product.asp?i=9014

[Twanger]

I love doing open-woods hunts in places big enough that I don't really have to worry about where property lines are. It's just me and the deer. Now 90% of my hunting is done in a place where I require 100 permission slips from 100 landowners, and placing my stand sometimes comes down to the yard on what's legal and what's not. The whole gig is gratifying in a 'big picture' sort of way, but I do miss chasing deer out in the deep woods, and do cherish the few opportunities I get to do it.

[LampLighter]

You gonna order that dvd Twanger ?

[Twanger]

Mebbe? :) Gotta look at the link...

[LampLighter]

I saw this video when I first started bowhunting and it inspired me. Years later when I finally switched to traditional gear I purchased it and have watched it many times. Still one of the best videos for entertainment and information. It shows hunting as it should be. Also, no commercialization in this video. It sells hunting, not hunting products.




The above quote is from the link/ review section. I agree exactly with the reviewer. Definitely hunting as it should be. In the beginning they mention sponsers, like Loc-on brand stands, but that is it. No focusing in on brand labels, or narrator quotes like " the big buck cannot see Mark as he blends well with the Skyline brand camo." NOTHING like that.

Yall remember Loc-on brand ? The LEM was popular.

[My buddy]

Bowhunting October Whitetails = Classic

[LampLighter]

Twanger Quote


The squirrel you don't turn around for will be a trophy buck.



What if I heard him go, " quit, quit , quit, quit, quit, beget... beget.." :D

I would know it was him.

[DaveHawk]

I've never had a buck sneak in on me, you have to use all your senses, smell, hearing the smallest crack, bird flush, squirrel bark, fox turn and take note, bark of a dog, anything that breaks the norm.

[LampLighter]

Carlos Hathcock, a Marine Sniper in Vietnam described how he eventually came to make that legendary shot on the Nth. Viet, sniper when he shot him right through the scope lenses. He figured out the enemy sniper's hide by observing an unusual number of birds feeding in one spot. He figured out the enemy sniper had placed rice to keep the birds there to act as an alarm system.

So, kinda like you say Dave, WHY is that squirrel barking ? WHY did that rabbit run past your stand tree. What spooked him ? Man, so much to think about. :confused:

[DaveHawk]

LOL nothing to think about, when you have spent as much time as I have on stand it becomes 2nd nature to be tuned into your surroundings.

[LampLighter]

I know what you mean. It becomes an instinct. But it still gets the thinking wheels going when I am on my stand, the sun is going down, perfect cold, calm evening, and all of a sudden about 100 yards over that squirrel cranks up " chat, chat, chat, chat, begoooooooooo" . I instinctively began thinking, " what's he barking at."

Twanger's tag line is something to think about.