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"Wanton waste"? Not an advisable shot angle by any stretch, especially if (as it appears) the hunter was at ground level; OTOH, if it was an attempt at a follow-up on a wounded animal, all bets are off.

But FWIW, if you were going to attempt a finisher on a straight-away presentation like that, the smart money would be dead-center back of the neck; the more downward angle you had, the farther back the hold.

bb - guess it depends what part of the “tail” you have in mind. Up high at the base, either side of the tail, you’ve got nothing but meat unless there’s enough downward angle to exit through the brisket.

If you don’t like the back of the neck, you’ve got to go pretty much right after the bung-hole; on-center is lethal and off-center is likely to get a femoral artery, which will absolutely do.

Half-way up the back of the neck gives you a target about a foot tall, so range estimation becomes less of an issue, and just about any hit on bone will anchor it.

Holding just under the bung-hole does offer a bigger target, laterally, though I would think that for most pin-shooters, there is a greater chance of missing high or low.

Nope! Either side of the base if the tail will get you through the pelvis and will generally get the artery that branches off from under the spine and runs down the inside of the back legs. (that's the object, getting throught the pelvis is secondary) as the paunch is likely to stop it like shooting into a hay bale and then you have very little blood hitting the ground. If you miss the opening through the pelvis you still have a good chance of hitting the artery all the way down the ham, If you miss the artery and hit the ham, it's very vascular and lots of blood. Much better chances of a recovery with this shot than trying for a back of the neck shot on a follow up to a wounded deer that is only giving you a going away shot. The object is to get another arrow into the deer in a manner that gives you the best chance of recovery. I know this because i've done it more than once

I guess the good news is that you don’t often have the straight-away angle.