A very difficult shot!

[dutchhunter]

i have shot one deer with this shot .my emily and i were in a stand and we had a doe with two fawns walk under us we let the doe and first one walk and shot the last a buck fawn .he went 20 yards .the shot was only 9 yards DUTCH

[lscha]

My first archery deer was taken this way. I hadn't thought of the down side to taking this shot. Fortunately I was using tracking string and found the deer. It was not a pass-through and there was not a speck of blood. I won't do that again.

[agingcrossbower]

Other than a spine shot, which is case close dead deer shot, I do not like it. Pass through is important and that shot the deer would usually just fill up with blood. Temptation is great to take the shot for me.

[sumner4991]

I've never taken the straight down shot, but, I have taken spine/neck shots. It's definitely a short range, practiced shot, otherwise the odds are in favor of failure.

I know guys that take the straight down shot a lot more than a normal person would. They are prepared for the shot . . .right down to a heavy arrow with a thick fixed bladed broadhead.

I remember my first neck shot on a spike from less than 10 yards. I was using the Bear Whitetail Hunter compound at a 60# draw. The arrow busted the spine at the upper neck and flipped the deer over the fence behind him(OK, the deer jumped and the impact carried him over the fence). The broadhead was lodged in the neck bone and I never did get it out. Point is . . .it takes a pretty good pop to get through the bone.

That explains why Bob likes those heavy arrows.

[dick195252]

I think i would pass on that one.

[sumner4991]

Bob . . .that first statement . . .more than normal. I know one guy that has taken 5 spine shots in his last 8 kills(last three years). That just isn't normal, is it? I've been telling him to move his tree stand back a little, but, he claims there isn't a better spot. He is in a heavy thicket, but, I think he has just gotten use to shooting that shot.

The second statement about the heavy arrow . . .that was a poke.

The "correct" arrow kills your deer.

[sumner4991]

When taking a straight down shot I move off center and deliberately miss the spine. This way I take out one lung completely and get a real nice hole (exit wound) in the bottom of the deer.

Doesn't leave much room for error does it? My buddy hits the spine every time. No tracking, but, it has required a finishing shot a couple of times.

[ninepointer]

When taking a straight down shot I move off center and deliberately miss the spine. This way I take out one lung completely and get a real nice hole (exit wound) in the bottom of the deer.

The blood trail begins immediately versus having the deer travel some distance until the body cavity fills up to where the deer begins to leak.

High or no exit wound means little to no blood trail.

Do you wait extra long before tracking?

[rt2bowhunter]

I have taken that shot several times. With a vert bow. I just shot off to the near side of the spine. Once my arrow stuck in the brisket. Very little blood but i watched him go down.But that deer was coming at me. If there coming from behind or side wait until they are a little past . And you will get one lung and the heart. I shot one that was straight down I did the old back of the head out the eye shot. That works pretty good no tracking.

[dutchhunter]

i shot just beside the spine and had a very good exit hole a lot of blood and a dead deer in a very short trail DUTCH

[DuckHunt]

I'm one for one with that shot. It was with a vert bow. The doe got in on me too quickly on a trail and my first opportunity was straight down the side of my climbing stand. The arrow nicked a limb so I just missed the spine and got a pass through.

I haven't tried this shot with a crossbow yet. I prefer to get them before they get within 20 yards. There is just so much more that can go wrong when they are in your lap. (Scent, sound, movements)

DuckHunt

[Esox]

That straight down shot always seems like a good idea, but as was mentioned before it can go very wrong if you don't get complete pass thru or don't hit the spine... I prefer letting 'em get out aways and take a high to low angle double lung.... They don't go far at all....

[DARTONATOR]

I tried one of those shots directly under my tree stand and hit him exactly between the shoulder blades. I was shooting a 495 grain arrow 295 feet per second out of my Darton, Maverick compound and the fixed blade broadhead barely made it out of his chest cavity. He sprayed a lot of blood for the next 200 yards , but really slowed down fast. Needless to say, several hours later , crawling on my hands and knees (looking for specs of blood) I finally found him in the next block of woods, one mile over. They say that mature whitetails are harder to kill because they are much more developed. Believe it ! It is always better to take the broadside shot or quartering away shot !

[warningshot]

if the deer is straight down let him walk for a few more steps for the perfect shot...quartering away !!!IMO

[DeepSouthHunter]

My hunting partner took this very shot last season on the biggest buck he has ever seen and it all happened so fast that he was not 100% sure where the arrow hit and did not get a pass through. The initial blood trail was good but eventually thinned out as it approached a swamp about 700 yards away. He searched that swamp for hours with no results. I went back out with him the next day and we followed the trail again to the swamp and searched several more hours without finding him. It made us sick to not be able to recover that deer and it would have been hard for him to survive with as much blood as he lost. We both learned a valuable lesson from this and that is not to rush a shot like that.