Shoulder shots on deer.

Trad Bow 1979

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Forgive me for being naive but this will be my first deer hunt with a bow. So far I have only hunted elk with a bow. I fully understand how a shot to a shoulder with an elk equals a lost elk with a bow. My bow is at 70 pounds with 500 grain arrows, the last elk I got was a complete pass thru at 44 yards and he was broadside. With that being said, would a shoulder hit with this set up adequately reach the vitals? Or does a a shoulder hit equal a lost deer too?
 
Hard to say, depends on broadhead, shot angle, distance, speed, draw length, arrow flight, etc., etc. but I would guess that a bow at 70# and a 500 grain arrow wouldn't have too much difficulty blowing through a deer shoulder at 50 yards or less with a good broadhead and today's high efficient bows.
 
You should always try for a broad side double lung shot or a quartering away aiming at the opposite side front foot to hit the vitals area.....shoulder shot when the vitals are exposed is not the best choice with archery....bones, deep tissue just to try and penitrate to vitals.....every archery certification class teaches only shoot vitals area not a shoulder shot.....

))))------->
 
Oh no guys I get it, the best aiming point is the path of least resistance to the vitals. I was just wondering if accidentally hitting the shoulder on a deer equals a lost animal like on an elk.
 
I was shooting a PSE Xforce, 400 grain arrow at about 330 fps at 50 yards with Rage expandable and pulled my shot. Hit a mule deer dead on the shoulder bone. The broadhead never opened and only penetrated hide. Arrow fell off on the 1st bounce the deer took. I'm glad I didn't wound him. Had to watch the biggest buck iv ever shot an arrow at run away.
 
As nmarchr mentioned above, it depends. Sooooo many variables. I'm sure some have hit the shoulder and the deer died quickly and was found, others...not so much. I've avoided a few quartering front shots because the arrow would have had to go through the shoulder to get to the vitals.
 
This year I shot a mule deer in the shoulder in november. He kicked and bucked like a whitetail slightly quartered to me and at 82 yds. The arrow buried to the fletching and he ran off. I couldn't find any blood. It took me backing out and going in after dark to find him. Here's what I think happened and why I found no blood until just a few feet of where he layed. When he pulled his leg back to take off I believe it forced the arrow forward into the chest cavity and at some point the arrow came back out. And I looked and looked for him for awhile and finally I decided to look in the tall grass and that's where I found him laying. So they sometimes work but I would try to get them just behind the shoulder if possible. I will say I got lucky recovering him and I think persistance is why I found him.
 
Fwiw..... last year I shot a 160" 4x4 at 35 yards that was quartering to me. My set up is close to 325 fps shooting 100 gr muzzy mx3 broadheads. The broad head hit square in the shoulder deflecting the arrow and cutting a 12 inch slice into the body of the buck. The buck being hurt real bad, laid down after only running 40 yards. I was able to shoot the buck again and finish the job. If the buck was able to make it further than 40 yards and just kept going, I may not have been able to find this buck.

Two years ago same situation, I had a buck quartered to me at only 17 yards and I placed that arrow smack dab in the shoulder only getting less than an inch of penetration and a couple drops of blood. I never did recover that buck.

In my opinion try to shoot at a deer broadside. A shoulder shot can work but it may not always be a for sure deal. Why risk losing that buck on a risky shoulder shot if you don't have to? Take the advice of others on here and try not to hit em' in the shoulder. Good luck bow hunting this year as it can be a lot of fun.
 
I'm not going to endorse aiming for the shoulders, but deer and elk are very different animals.

I punched a 100 grain muzzy three blade through both front shoulders, through the deer, and into a tree shooting a 65 pound bow. He dropped in his tracks.

Sometimes your shot will drift a little from where you aim. But if you shoot a fixed blade broadhead, with enough pounds, at a close enough distance you will be okay on deer if you catch a shoulder. Expandables don't always open.

None of us like wounding deer. So, design a good setup, put in the time practicing, and have fun hunting.

Dillon
 
LAST EDITED ON May-21-17 AT 03:40PM (MST)[p]>I'm not going to endorse aiming
>for the shoulders, but deer
>and elk are very different
>animals.
>
>I punched a 100 grain muzzy
>three blade through both front
>shoulders, through the deer, and
>into a tree shooting a
>65 pound bow. He dropped
>in his tracks.
>
>Sometimes your shot will drift a
>little from where you aim.
>But if you shoot a
>fixed blade broadhead, with enough
>pounds, at a close
>enough distance you will be
>okay on deer if you
>catch a shoulder. Expandables don't
>always open.
>
>None of us like wounding deer.
>So, design a good setup,
>put in the time practicing,
>and have fun hunting.
>
>Dillon

I wasnt talking about targeting the shoulder. I was talking about if your arrow hits high into the shoulder
 
There's a BIG difference between the shoulder bone and the scapula. You will NOT shoot through a deer's shoulder bone, period......the scapula, possible.

BOHNTR )))---------->
 
>Forgive me for being naive but
>this will be my first
>deer hunt with a bow.
>So far I have only
>hunted elk with a bow.
>I fully understand how a
>shot to a shoulder with
>an elk equals a lost
>elk with a bow. My
>bow is at 70 pounds
>with 500 grain arrows, the
>last elk I got was
>a complete pass thru at
>44 yards and he was
>broadside. With that being said,
>would a shoulder hit with
>this set up adequately reach
>the vitals? Or does a
>a shoulder hit equal a
>lost deer too?

I've shot 3 elk right through both shoulders and they all died within 150 yards. All but 1 of which were complete pass thrus. A 500 gr arrow launched from a 70# bow should have no issues on shoulders from a deer. That's quite a bit of kinetic energy flying through the air. I'd pic a rear deploy expandable or a solid fixed blade if you plan on shooting bone. The "over-the-top" expandables eat up quite a bit of energy once they start to deploy. When shooting shoulders on an elk or a deer, you want every bit of energy you can get
 
Take a look at these photos, gives a pretty good idea of the anatomy of a deer's shoulder. In my opinion, an archer has no business trying to punch a broadhead through the shoulder or scapula. Stay behind those and hit the lungs.

59276frontshoulder1.jpg

51930realdecoystarget.jpg


Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.
 
The ideal shot placement on oerfectly broadside animal is about 2"-3" left of the lower arrow in the target decoy picture.

If you hit high, you'll more than likely punch thru. However, if you hit low, that joint portion can stop even the heaviest if arrows.

Truly ideal shot placement with archery equipment is in the crease those arrows are in, but on an animal that is slightly quartering away.
 

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