Quartering TOO Shots

[Fluteman]

How do you guys feel about quartering TOO shots with a bow? TOO be honest, I had never considered it until this year when my father shot his biggest bow buck to date quartering TOO. He's been bowhunting for over 25 years, and all my life, I only ever remember his losing two deer with a bow. I consider him a pretty darn good bow hunter, and a very respectable shot.

I've always limited myself to broadside shots, but would consider a quartering away shot if the angle was right. When dad told me this year he shot the his buck quartering TOO, it got me to thinking, is this a high percentage shot? This is where I will turn to my TOO Brethren. How do you all feel about this shot? Would you ever consider shooting a deer quartering TOO? Would your answer change if it were a trophy buck walking your way?

 

[badger]

If the animal is relaxed, not at a severe angle, and under twenty yards I would consider it. It would depend on the situation just like all bow shots. I have taken that shot three times and recovered all three animals. I've also passed that shot more times than I can remember.

 

[Diablo54]

No..i'm afraid of the shoulder:smiley_baby:

 

[Gern186]

I'm not afraid of it, but I will only take it if it's the only option. If the deer is walking past, just let him take a few more steps to get broadside before you stop him.....

I have shot a few bucks quartering too, but they were inside of 15 yards and I was shooting a fast bow....If someone is only shooting a 45 to 50 lb bow I wouldn't recommend it.....the type of broadhead is crucial to shooting through shoulder bone also. You want something with a good solidly built tip and a fixed blade like a crimson talon or a muzzy, definitely not an expandible head.

Yes it can be done and if you get penetration it is a highly effective shot. It will sound like a rifle going off when you bust through that shoulder bone.

 

[deerjunkie]

Under normal conditions I would not take that shot. However, early this season my partner shot a deer in the evening. We decided to get out of the tree a little early and as we were climbing down a young doe came in to investigate what we were. Long story short, here I was standing on the ground 9yds from this deer, Larry hands me my bow (he took it off the drop rope as I climbed down) and said "shoot her". I hesitated as she was quartering hard TOO me. Well, under peer pressure I couldn't take it anymore and fired off a shot. In all honesty, I was actually comfortable taking this shot knowing the conditions. Small deer, big broadhead and fast bow...I punched her just to the right of the chest and had no problem passing through. To do that at such a close distance was cool I'll admit, but under normal conditions I probably wouldn't have done that. I have witnessed deer 30yds and under get shot quartering TOO and the arrow entered high front shoulder and it drove right into the lungs. Typically though you may not get a pass through or even an exit to have a good blood trail but you will have a dead deer.

So having said all that....if the conditions were there and my confidence level was there and things just felt and looked good, I may just do it again.

 

[Dannmann801]

My opening day buck was quartering to - 18-20 yards - and slow walking to boot (when it stepped into the firing lane I had a mouthful of dip-spit and couldn't stop it). Entrance and exit wounds shown below. Bow was a Horton Summit150 and broadhead was a Slicktrick - found the arrow about 30 yds uphill from where I hit him. I honestly didn't think he was quartering as hard as the entrance/exit would show - perhaps it was deflected? In any instance he only went about 50 yards or so. Good clean kill...but I've wondered if I was just really, really lucky....I've read a lot of guys criticizing a quarter-to shot and this is my only experience with it. I don't think I'd hesitate though with the Horton/Slicktrick combination if the same shot were offered again.



In fact, looking at it again.....I was shooting uphill, from the ground, and the entrance wound looks like it's higher on the body than the exit wound...must have deflected downward a little? Maybe I was really lucky....

 

[rgecko23]

I would take that shot.....If I felt like I had a good shot and aimed to where I wanted my exit to be I think I could effectively do it...

 

[RedCloud]

The doe I shot last year was quartering too just a little less of an angle then Dan's buck there. I went in just behind the shoulder and came out the other side just behind the rib cage complete pass through. She did a horseshoe and went a total of about 40 yrds and dropped dead. Hit the lung on the side facing me as well as clipped the back of the offside lung and liver. She was dead on her feet those last 10 yards. The fixed blade 100gr. Thunderhead did it's job.

There are a lot of things to think about when doing a quartering too shot but it is an effective shot. As long as your confident in your shooting ability you should be able to do it just fine.

 

[formerbowhunter1023]

Like Chad and some of the others, I would take it if it was the last option. Not taking it on the first option is what cost me Crazy Rack on opening day and he was BARELY quarted to me, but had his leg back. I saw no reason to risk a shoulder hit at 30 yards on a clam deer that gave the impression he would offer a 25 yard quartering away shot if I waited for it. He didn't and the rest is history. Such is bowhunting.

I shoot 70 pounds behind a 425 grain arrow with 100 grain Slick Trick Magnums and I know the damage this set up will cause. I also trust myself to put the arrow where it needs to be. I'd take a quartering too shot if it was the last resort, conditions where right, and the deer was inside 20-25 yards.

 

[Jackalope]

If i didn't feel like the animal was going to offer a better shot, like walking at me with thick stuff behind me.. I would take the shot when it got inside 20 yards.. I have absolute confidence in my equipment and know beyond a shadow of a doubt i could punch in to vitals. I'm shooting 70 pounds at 275 fps with a 366 grain arrow including the Slick Trick Standard..at around 76 Ft lbs of KE.. Inside 20 I don't care what angle the deer is at. Settle the pin and release, it'll drive home.. for 30 and beyond i feel the margin of error widens due to the flighty characteristics of the whitetail. With a hard quartering to the animal only has to move a couple inches for your shot to move back feet..

 

[formerbowhunter1023]

This is what I love about this group! Honest, well thought out responses to an "unethical" situation as some would term it. Can you imagine this convo elsewhere?!? "You unethical SOB. Blah, blah, blah." There are some seasoned vets on here that share essentially the same point of view on this subject and that's what matters. Not the opinion of someone just wanting to cause turmoil...

 

[hickslawns]

I don't fit Jesse's description of "seasoned" in the archery world. Third year deer hunting total. Second deer taken with a bow. What I had this year was "slightly quartering too". Close range. The arrow was at a severe downward angle. I knew with the angle I could miss the main shoulder bones. I aimed just a tad behind the shoulder and expected to hit top middle of near lung and bottom lower of far lung. It was dark and had gotten messy on my field dressing so I am not sure I caught the far lung at all. I believe i turned the liver into jello. However, I had been shooting and was confident in my arrow placement. I did get complete pass through with 8-9" of ground penetration in an area with lots of tree roots. Should I have taken the shot? I don't know. If he was further out, I don't know if I would have gotten the same results. I would have had to have thought more about where the arrow would exit and decide at that time. Mine exited through the belly hairs just at the rear of the ribcage. Dang near straight down. Maybe I should not have taken it? I dunno. What I do know is we waited 4.5hrs and took two tracking dogs and 4 guys to look for it. He was stiff as a board and I believe he was done within minutes.

 

[RRJJ]

I've only taken the shot once on a doe. She wobbled and fell 10 yards after impact. I was impressed with the penetration I got and how quickly she died. I'm still not sure I would ever take that shot again, it just seems like bad things could happen

 

[Tree Monkey]

Given a deer’s anatomy a quartering to shot would be very possible and do able on a relaxed deer. You should be able to clip one lung and punch the other if you aim properly and the deer is close enough to you and you are shooting a fast bow. But like others when it comes to your list of possible shots a quartering to would be towards the bottom of the list. But each hunt has its own set of possible situations and solutions.

 

[Gern186]

The doe I shot a week ago Saturday was quartering to me at 20 yards, the arrow blew through the front shoulder, passed through the opposite lung and stuck firmly into the ground........she only went 5 yards and fell over dead.

Something else to think about is that a doe's front shoulder is not nearly as big and tough as a good size buck, so I believe it is more likely to be able to take that shot on a doe than a buck.

 

[jagermeister]

As most have already said, I would only take a quartering to shot if it was my only option... that being said, I'm not afraid to take that shot at all. The severity of the angle will most likely just determine how long you wait before tracking the deer. Severest angly will probably result in a liver hit, which isn't exactly ideal but it's certainly lethal. If you look at skeletal structure on a deer, that upper leg bone (like our humerus) actually angles forward before it connects to the shoulder blade or "paddle." If you aim just right, you can punch one through straight above the "elbow" and not hit any bone at all. Obviously when you take this kind of a shot your chances of failure go up quite a bit, but I'm confident in the equipment I use that if I do hit bone my arrow is still going to do plenty of damage.

 

[Beentown]

I am more confident shooting quartering too on the ground than in the air.

Beentown

 

[rrr]

Nope, cause I'm a newbie. When I see deerz I think to myself "close, broadside, relaxed"

Though, it's interesting to read your experienced opinions about this, you're learnin me!

 

[Milo]

i never took a shot i didn't think i couldn't make.....just sayin

 

[Carpn]

Quartering too is just quartering away in reverse....I haven't ever taken that shot but wouldn't hesitate under the right conditions.