Quartering Towards You - who has had success with this shot?

[Annapolis]

I am trying to get my first deer with a crossbow. I've shot many with a shotgun, but none with my Excalibur.

Is the order of shot preference 1) broadside 2) quartering away and 3) quartering towards?

I turned down a quartering towards shot this morning at a small 4 pt buck. I was waiting for him to give me a broadside and he moved the wrong way.

Who has had success with this shot and who turns this shot down?

[Quickshot]

Annapolis, I have had success with a quartering to shot but it all has to be perfect. The preference should be 1- quartering away, 2- broadside and
3- quartering to. What I mean by perfect is the animal must be stopped and relaxed, I will not take this shot from a tree stand only from the ground and always remember to aim to where you want the arrow to exit. If you are careful and confident the shot can be made very successfully but as always if in doubt don't pull the trigger there will be another day.

[Annapolis]

Thanks Quickshot.
I wasn't too excited, cause it was at 7:30 and 45min earlier a nice 7pt buck was at 40 yrds. I was hoping he would come back or something else would come in.

I had kinda decided I wanted broadside.

If it was the bigger guy I would have given it a whirl.

It's quite the learning curve. Both deer this morning would have been dead on next Monday morning.

Deciding on shot selection is trickier for sure with the bow.

Thanks for the tip on aiming for the exit location. I was 18-20 feet up and the deer were all relaxed and had no idea I was there.

[BOB VANDRISH]

I had an occasion last fall to take a shot like that,after the deer had come right out in an opening where any movement by me to bring up my bow had spooked him away.
About fifteen minutes later,he came right back out in the same opening,and turned part way to face me.
Rather than go into the chest,I chose to hit him behind the right front leg,and putting the pieces of the story together later,the bolt went out his left leg,about 2" down from the hip joint,breaking the leg.
I found the bolt on the ground the next morning.
He went straight up in the air,and ran approx 125 yards.and collapsed after ducking under a fence.
The bolt had caught one of his lungs,through the whole intestinal tract,and through all of his back leg,up quite high.
Easiest blood trail I have ever had to follow.
Awesome power from my old 175 lb Exocet!
Excellent tasting Eastern Ontario venison!!
Bob.

[Taildrop]

I would not take it ( again), tried that about 3 weeks ago, never found the arrow or deer. A lesson learned.

[Woody Williams]

It depends on the extent of the "quartering towards" me.

Light quartering - he's dead.

Extreme quartering - pass..

[Normous]

1 and 2 are my favorite...I'll pass on poor shots.
Better on the conscience that way.

Norm

[exocet]

I would never take that shot. I took a 7 point with an extreme quartering away shot at 30 yards on monday. Hit him halfway back the body and it came out just inside the opposite side front leg. He went 100 yards and piled up, great blood trail. all that being said, I wouldn`t feel comfortable with a quartering to shot. I also like broadside shots. I only ground hunt. Jack.

[shurite44]

I shot a doe a couple weeks ago that was quartering towards me. I was in a tree stand and she was bent over eating an apple. It busted her shoulder then through vitals and she went down like a sack of sand. I was using a 200# exomag beeman thunderbolt tipped with a four bladed 100 grain muzzy. The doe was at 10-15 yards.

[Lucky Lar]

I wouldn't take the quartering to shot. Better to let it go and maybe have a better shot at it different day.

[Lucky Lar]

I wouldn't take the quartering to shot. Better to let it go and maybe have a better shot at it different day.

[Big John]

It sure is interesting to note the differences in ground hunting preference shots, verses tree stand Hunting Shots. From ground you can employ a vastly different array of shots then from a Tree, that work great. And from a Tree you can get away with All kinds of off-set shots that also will drop an Animal. But there is always the same old stand by perfect shots that everyone agrees with.

[Tom]

Annapolis there is never really a cut and dry yes and no on angled shots. Too many variables which could swing it to either a good shot or a bad shot.

Get to know the vitals on the animal which you are hunting. Know where the heart, lungs ect. are (in a 3d prespective) inside the animal. After you know all of this, mentally draw a line through the vitals (heart & Lungs). In your mind, vies the entrance and path of the arrow to go though the vitals. Then ask yourself, is there anything in that path that would impeed the flight of the arrow into the vitals. If the answer is no, then it would be a good shot to take. If you have major bone (shoulder ect) on that flight path, chances are that the arrow will never make it to the vitals. Another thing some will do is not only view the entrance of the preceived flight path, but also the exit so they will guarantee a complete pass through.

One other possible problem with the head on or quartering on shot is the reaction of the deer. When they are facing in those dirrections, they have a better chance of seeing movement (you, your bow limbs or even the arrow) and move to create a bad shot. I actually have on video where a buck caught the arrow with his antlers and deflected the arrow away. The buck either reacted to sound, movement or somthing, then you can actually see the buck swing it's antlers to intercept the flight of the arrow.

But just remember that if you mentally view the flight path of the arrow through the vitals with nothing to impeed the arrow, then if you feel comfortable (within your range) feel free to take the shot.

[GaryM]

I took a pretty big buck with that shot. I took the shot because I was inexperienced and didn't know any better. I honestly thought my new Exocet was like a rifle.
He was 15 yds away, turned just slightly from straight on, and staring straight at me. He was real pumped up on testosterone and I thought if I let him get an closer he'd either try to screw me or kill me. I was on the ground on a bucket. I put the pin on the base of his neck on one side and shot. The bolt went below the spine and stayed above the shoulder bones, cut through about a foot of neck meat, then somehow made it into his chest cavity and took out a lung. He went 135 yds and piled up. I've never tried that shot again.
Here's a pic of the deer. If you look close you can see the red hole on his neck beside the blood stain where the bolt went in.

[Big Al]

Face on shots, I don't care what I'm shooting. I HATE that shot! I've shot moose and elk like that bare bow and will not do it again. I've shot moose, elk and mule deer with a rifle and will not do it again or take another face on shot unless they put there head down and I can put one in there spine. This is THE trouble shot. No other shot bothers me, but the face on shot, does. Of course if you want to spend a lot of time honing your tracking skills, then by all means this is the shot for you.