A snapshot of deer anatomy.

[Doegirl]

This is from the Deer Commission for Scotland. The species is roebuck. It would be great if where a whitetail, but I'm sure the anatomies are practically the same. The diaphram has been cut away.

[BT]

Pretty good example of why I never ever aim at the heart but rather back 4" on an alert deer.
As can be seen here, the lungs are a very small part of the area in the front of the chest but huge behind the leg. I have shot more deer 3-4" behind the shoulder blade with trailing jobs shorter than 40 yards to show for it most times.

Looks to me (viewing this) that you would make your mark 30% larger by staying behind the leg as opposed to over the elbow where the heart lays.... even when considering that front leg would be back further if this deer were standing.

[Greg Krause]

This is a picture I edited to show where I aim and why. It's just my opinion, but my opinion is based on a lot of bow killed deer taken by myself and the guys I hunt with.

The red dot is where I aim. The white represents bone. The yellow is the diaphragm. The green is where I believe BT aims. This is of course on a broadside deer shot from level ground. The deer I hunt rarely jump the string but it does happen sometimes.

I like the Red dot because it gives you room in all directions to still be in the vitals. I have taken quite a few deer with the Green dot and hit the back of the lungs/liver most of the time. A vital shot for sure, but I have seen liver shot deer live longer than 6 hours before. I have also seen them drop in seconds. It all depends on where in the liver it hits. 3 years ago I shot a large doe in the green spot and barely clipped the back of the liver and it was mostly a gut shot. It turns out that she had gorged herself on acorns and her stomach had pushed everything forward. The spitfire made quick work of her with a slice in the liver, but the acorns had spilled out clogging the hole and left no blood to follow. I gave her time and found her by grid searching.

[BT]

The black square represents where I used to shoot, I liked to be center and back about 4" behind the scapula... in case it drops.
Sometimes I would hit the green if they moved on the shot but as far back as I ever got was liver... which worked well for me.

That being said... I haven't shot for that area in years due to the fact that the deer in dutchess county developed a twitch for some reason and the Ohio deer are just as bad ;D
Back when the deer were not so jittery I did indeed aim center mass and back .

Your shot looks perfect to me. It is still back to where the scapula doesn't come into play even if the deer drops. If it drops back then there might be an issue but that's why I have started (some time ago) aiming under them (right in line with your mark) anytime they are past 20 yards and alert.



With this deer, the heart is highlighted and a line is drawn where the leg would be positioned (at the joint where you marked) if it were standing rather than being laid out for it's photo shoot. The black square is where I aimed or maybe a couple of inches back at times.
It's been so long I am having a hard time remembering! ;D

Wish we were hunting back in the good old days when a deer would just stand there
If I were hunting Westchester I would aim anywhere between your spot and the one in black.

I never have gotten over how those deer down your way would just hand out and wait for you to shoot them.
Lucky!

[Greg Krause]

A little something we have noticed in the past 3 years. My buddies and I have shot a lot of doe fawn in an effort to reduce the population. Fawns are simply not an adult deer scaled down. I'm not sure why but the last 6 fawns we have killed have proven this. The vitals are not just smaller, they take up a smaller percentage the deer. A shot in the crease nearly always results in a back of lungs liver hit. Behind the crease even a bit has been solid gut. The good thing is they have soft bones, because you do have to crown them forward.

[BT]

No kidding?!. Good practice for hogs!!

I have not shot but maybe 1 of these guys since they are generally all gone by the time season comes around. Never knew this.
Did you lose any before you figured it out?.

[Greg Krause]

No. I never lost any because of this. I never noticed, even after taking so many over the years, I think because of the fact most happened to be quartering away. The past few years Randy and I have had all of our shots on little ones completely broadside. I gut shot 2 in one morning. They were shot with spitfires and recovered in 4 hours, although I had to make a finishing shot on one of them. I told Randy about it and he was shocked. The next year he hit one about an inch behind the crease. He took out the back of the liver and guts. From then on we aim straight up the front leg or a touch forward on broadside fawns and get solid double lung shots. We prefer to wait for a quartering away shot.

[BT]

Well I learned something today!. The site is working again!! ;D