Ask The Biologist

The Infamous Perfect Shot

The Infamous Perfect Shot

By Bob Humphrey

Is there a spot in a deer’s chest where an arrow wouldn’t strike vital organs?

QUESTION: While bowhunting recently, I shot a buck and made what I thought was a perfect broadside shot. We found blood and tracked for some time, but after several hours the blood ran out and we were not able to find the buck. I have heard there is a spot in the chest where you can shoot and not hit any vitals. Is it possible I hit the deer there?

ANSWER: They say the hand is quicker than the eye, which is often how magicians fool us. And the arrow is much quicker than the hand. Over the course of my hunting career, I have hit deer I thought I’d missed, missed deer I was certain I hit and recovered many deer that turned out to be hit somewhere other than where I thought my arrow or bullet struck. And I’ve heard countless stories of hunters who claim to have hit that sweet spot in the chest. Many things can factor into variation between perceived and actual shot location, including your excited state, poor lighting and not recognizing the angle of the animal.

Interestingly, there has never been a deer recovered that was shot in the chest “sweet spot” that didn’t have vital organ damage. Meanwhile, extensive anatomical study on deer has shown there is no organ-void location. If you hit a deer in the heart or lungs, it will die. Whether you recover it depends on many factors, not the least of which is what you do immediately following the shot.

Also keep in mind a lot can go wrong in the area immediately around those vitals. Arrows fired at a steep angle can deflect. They may hit bone, or the animal might “duck the string” and be in a completely different location at impact. And sometimes we simply misjudge where the arrow hits.

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