Hunter mistake video & info

It happens to every hunter. Some hunters fail to understand the idea of visualizing the angle of the animal or bullet exit. I've seen many hunters who aimed 'behind the shoulder' fail to realize their impact was actually going to be near the diaphragm instead of center of lungs because the animal was standing at a severe angle vs broadside. The cow elk I shot in 2022 was hit further back than I intended because her body was twisted in an unusual manner as she was looking over her shoulder at another hunter on the far hill. Fortunately, I was using a bullet that both expanded and penetrated through lung, diaphragm, and liver for a quick kill.
 
When I was maybe 14 to 16, my step dad and I were sitting in a hillside pasture overlooking the river bottoms where beans had been cut days before.

He was using an old Argentine Mauser and a big fat doe was leisurely walking at us about 50-75 yards away. It was dusk and unusually warm and dry for the week after thanksgiving in northern Missouri. The doe stopped and seemed she was looking directly at us. He took a shot and the bullet struck the dirt behind her. Damn …. Missed her. She began running right at us and keeled over in about 20 yards.

His bullet had entered her upper chest and exited a couple inches left of her anus! Perfect heart shot. Maybe even lucky LOL.
 
I/we shoot a lot of deer intended for the freezer. There's good and bad in that enterprise. The good is: we seldom take shots on moving animals. The bad is: we sometimes make poor hits by attempting to maximize edible meat/minimize damaged meat. I take a lot of neck shots simply because I can but I don't recommend neck shots simply because there' a lot of things that can go awry.
I've also learned that one of the advantages of hunting with a suppressor is hearing the hit.
 
Not sure how to put this without sounding like a jerk, but I believe this may be a firearm thing more than bowhunting. For years bowhunters discussed this exact thing about where the arrow goes through not where it enters. They were also are taught about a having far fewer "good" shot angles. It was always broadside or quartering away shot and you want the arrow to exit at the opposite shoulder. The opposite shoulder gave a good reference from level ground to up in trees and the deer's body angle too.

Having said that, as bowhunting has gotten easier and the rise of crossbows that knowledge not may be shared as well as it once was.
 
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^^^I agree. Grandson took up 'bow hunting' 3-4 years ago and had numerous poor hits because he was using the wrong aiming point(s). He was trying to use 'rifle' aiming rather than the more complicated 'arrow' aiming to reach vital organs. Arrows don't produce much/any 'shock' as high velocity bullets do--it's all contact/cut/puncture.
 
chit happens... you do something long enough you'll get bit.. it's just math. The day I broke my leg jumping at Ft wainwright, 5 other guy's had day's as bad as mine.. including a very experienced E-6 with over 1500 jumps (static and halo)..... it's just math.... regroup.. analyze what happened and soldier on....
 

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