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Whatcha think?

Jackalope

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I think he got lucky as hell and hit the carotid artery. An inch different and it would have been a wounded bull. One thing I've learned about larger bucks is you really have to anchor those suckers. A marginal hit will lead to a really long trail and potential loss. A doe may go 30 yards double lunged but I've seen bucks go 250. On a frontal archery shot the best you can hope for is heart and single lung. Or single lung if you miss the heart. And I'm a firm believer that a deer can survive a single lung hit.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
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6,551
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SW Ohio
In 1992 I took the same shot at 25 yds on a bull elk and he dropped in his tracks and never took a step.
But I was using a .375 JDJ hand cannon with a 270 gr. bullet.
 

Mike

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Up Nort
I took a frontal shot in 2013 on my buck. But, like Frank, I hit him with a bullet (accutip) and he dropped. I would never take a shot like that with an arrow. I think he's lucky as hell.
 

GoetsTalon

Senior Member
Supporting Member
4,294
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Walbridge oh
1108131025-00.jpgThis is what was inside my buddys deer that was still alive and working a scrape when my buddy shot it. One lung was gone and the broadhead was sticking in front of the rib cage. Some dickhead tried a texas heart shot on him and it didn't work. There was a small cut that was almost healed over on the bucks right side high on the back leg. So yeah i'll agree 100% that a one lung shot is not a kill shot lol. He was gutting it and says hey theres something in here and i'm like is it a brokin rib because after he shot it he seen it run into a tree before it fell over and he says no and pulls that head and shaft out. That buck took a zwicky buzzcut from ass to front and lived like nothing happened to him.
 
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teenbowhunter

Junior Member
1,059
72
Delaware County
I'm undecided, I probably wouldn't take it at that angle but my dads best friend from high school is a very well known elk guide and he gets pissed when people pass up frontal shots. Properly taken he has them as just as effective if not more than broadside and leaves a hellish blood trail. On an elk the hole above the sternum is big enough that you can easily avoid any bones and if he's close enough it's doing some serious damage. I wouldn't do it outside of 20 yards but if the bull is coming straight at me I'd probably take it. That's JMO and take it for what it's worth since I don't have personal experience to back it up
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
If Im on the ground inside 20 yards and I'm at full draw, and thats all I think Im going to get, then yes, I think I would. I've never taken that shot on a buck with a bow, But I have killed several Does that way
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
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Appalachia
As previously stated, the kid got lucky as hell. That's a good spot for a bullet, not a broadhead. From the ground and with the right angle, that's a shot that can be effective with archery gear. I'd take it under perfect circumstances considering I shoot a heavy arrow with a tough fixed blade and send them down range at close to 300 fps. I don't think it's an advisable shot for most.
 

brock ratcliff

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I'm undecided, I probably wouldn't take it at that angle but my dads best friend from high school is a very well known elk guide and he gets pissed when people pass up frontal shots. Properly taken he has them as just as effective if not more than broadside and leaves a hellish blood trail. On an elk the hole above the sternum is big enough that you can easily avoid any bones and if he's close enough it's doing some serious damage. I wouldn't do it outside of 20 yards but if the bull is coming straight at me I'd probably take it. That's JMO and take it for what it's worth since I don't have personal experience to back it up

You are reading my mind...

The kill zone on an elk is huge. With a slight quarter-to angle, it's a deadly shot to take. The kill zone on an elk as viewed with a frontal shot is similar in size to the kill zone on a broadside whitetail, and they do not jump the string nearly as much as a whitetail. IMO, this kid took, and made an ethical shot. The key is to have the animal angled a bit, not straight on. I have never taken a frontal shot on an animal. I'm sort of a stickler about the shots I take as things can go bad even on good opportunities. I don't think I'd take it on a deer, but an elk...he's getting shot.
I allowed KR to take a frontal shot on a dandy buck back in '93. She hit right where I told her to, the arrow stuck just above the brisket. I tracked that deer from the front side of Hargus Lake to the back side. He never laid down until he died, probably 3 miles. I decided I wouldn't do that again. However, if you have them slightly quartered to vs. straight on, you'll clean out all the goodies on the way through, same as you would on a quartered away shot that exits in front of the offside shoulder. That kid pinwheeled that elk, and I don't know how it could have died any quicker.
 

brock ratcliff

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A little more perspective...
 

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brock ratcliff

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That is why I have never taken that shot, and I should have told KR to wait... he was facing us about as straight on as one possibly could. There was quarter size drops of blood every few feet the entire length of the trail. It wasn't hard to follow at all, it just bothered me that he lived so long after the shot. I have no idea how long he was actually alive, but I know it took me a heck of a long time to walk all that distance. COB would know exactly where this was as it went through the old Pickaway Co Sportsmens Club... (It died in the drainage behind Ruben's house, Ted). I have no doubt if he had been turned a shade, it would have been a quick recovery. As I said, I have never shot one quartered to, aiming in front of the shoulder as the boy in the vid did, but I've shot 'em quartered away and had it exit in front of the off side shoulder, never had a better blood trail or shorter recovery.... 11 steps to be exact, and that was running after the shot!
 

motorbreaker

*Supporting Member I*
1,542
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North of Toledo
I shot a nice buck a few years back slightly quartering to me. He was 18 yards when he stopped looking at me sitting on the ground in a corn field. I was already aiming at him with my xbow. I felt it was now or never and took the shot, The buck trotted off and I heard him crash and do the death roar about 70 yards away. Shooting a 3 blade rage at 375fps, The bolt went all the way through the buck and was sticking out his azz. Took out the heart along the way.
Not a shot I like to take but on that day it worked out.