\n<\/p>\n
Knowing where to shoot a deer for a quick kill is the responsibility of every deer hunter. Most of us were taught that the best place to shoot a deer is the \u201cboiler room,\u201d which means the top of the heart and the lungs. For the vast majority of hunting scenarios, that\u2019s still the best option. Penetrating these vital organs (with a bullet or an arrow) leads to massive blood loss and a quick death. It also results in very minimal meat damage.<\/p>\n
So, if you know you want to shoot a deer in the heart and lungs, where exactly should you aim?<\/p>\n
Put simply, if the deer is broadside, follow the front leg up the deer and aim just below the halfway point on its chest. Look for the \u201ccrease\u201d that the deer\u2019s shoulder creates. Shooting with a rifle, you can edge tighter to the deer\u2019s shoulder. Bowhunters want to hit just an inch or two behind the crease, which allows a little more room for error (more on this later).<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t much of a difference in aim point for rifle hunters or bowhunters, as you can see in the photo below.\u00a0<\/p>\n The video below, created by the National Deer Association, does an excellent job explaining where to shoot a deer on an anatomically correct deer target. Look closely at the bone structure of a deer\u2019s shoulder. It is not one solid mass of bone. First the bone angles forward of the leg and then the shoulder blade sweeps back. Understanding this anatomy is especially important for archers who generally want to avoid hitting these large bones with their arrow (well constructed rifle bullets<\/a> will easily blast through bones). This is a key difference for bowhunters: There\u2019s simply a much smaller margin of error.<\/p>\n