Learned something about shot placememt and angles sunday.

whacko

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My brother took his first deer with me Sunday morning in Southern nh. I scouted out a spot for us and a good place to sit Saturday afternoon. Got in there 20 minutes before legal light and got him set up. Best hiding spot was a prone position rather than sitting against a tree. I've shot prone position a million times on the army but never shot a deer from the prone position. He did shoot a spike buck from the prone.......put a nice shot in the vital area but a scooch high. Deer went right down and was paralyzed but still trying to get up using its front legs. We quickly put him down humanely of course. Examination if the shot after field dressing showed an upward wound tract angle that hit one lung and then the spine. Prone position.....shooting at an upward angle should have been a lower aim point is what we learned.

Just putting this out there for the nes hunters to ponder.
 
My brother took his first deer with me Sunday morning in Southern nh. I scouted out a spot for us and a good place to sit Saturday afternoon. Got in there 20 minutes before legal light and got him set up. Best hiding spot was a prone position rather than sitting against a tree. I've shot prone position a million times on the army but never shot a deer from the prone position. He did shoot a spike buck from the prone.......put a nice shot in the vital area but a scooch high. Deer went right down and was paralyzed but still trying to get up using its front legs. We quickly put him down humanely of course. Examination if the shot after field dressing showed an upward wound tract angle that hit one lung and then the spine. Prone position.....shooting at an upward angle should have been a lower aim point is what we learned.

Just putting this out there for the nes hunters to ponder.
Good point to consider bullet path and how to put the lights out quickly. Was the deer at a slightly elevated position as well? (Relative to your shooting position)
 
For me the easiest way to quickly quantify the shot page is the age old euphemism “Aim for the exit”.
This. Bowhunters have to pay attention to this because we know our arrows will not go thru certain things like shoulders and heavy bone. Also high exits, or exits in guts don't generally produce good blood trails. Hence most Archery shots being broadside to slightly quartering away. Never really quartering to.....not that it won't kill at deer but chance of hitting a shoulder going in, and exiting in the guts are high.
 
This. Bowhunters have to pay attention to this because we know our arrows will not go thru certain things like shoulders and heavy bone. Also high exits, or exits in guts don't generally produce good blood trails. Hence most Archery shots being broadside to slightly quartering away. Never really quartering to.....not that it won't kill at deer but chance of hitting a shoulder going in, and exiting in the guts are high.
Yup, aim for the exit was a lesson I learned from a friend the hard way when I got started bow hunting. First deer I shot at I was quartering towards me and I hit her shoulder and the arrow came right back out, never recovered that deer since it probably survived but I still felt pretty bad about it. Definitely taught me a lot about deer vitals and shot angle though
 
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