For those of you with antelope experience (assuming this was a buck big enough for you to shoot), would you shoot this shot with a mechanical broadhead? With a fixed head I don't think twice but I am curious about mechanicals and antelope bones? Antelope supposedly have some of the strongest bones in the animal kingdom pound for pound.
When I hunted with BB, he told me to shoot them just like they didn't have bones but we were talking about fixed heads.
There is not much thickness in the shoulder blade. I think is not as strong as a whitetail buck's shoulder blade. I would personally wait until the buck stepped back and turned, either left or right. If the buck blows out where I can't make the shot then so be it. More bucks should show up before sunset to use that water in a dry year, perhaps even that buck a second time.
So many factors on any shot....does that hypo have a 380 gr arrow behind it or a 500gr arrow?
Those antelope are super jumpy. Sometimes a longer shot [like 40ish] where they won't hear your bow is actually better. Personally, no antelope is going to stop my arrow from being a pass thru.......but I don't use that head.
I have heard stories of guys that think they can just get an arrow in them....thus they are taking very long shots [100yds+]
Its wide open country, and antelope are pretty easy to kill.....I don't like to judge.
If I'm shooting my elk heads that shot is a no brainer. Prior to starting this thread I was inclined to pass on that shot with a mechanical and probably still would. However....I probably would shoot a whitetail in that position and not hesitate simply because I have shot enough of them to be comfortable with that shot.
I shot this antelope at a similar angle. I was above the pronghorn on the berm of the water hole. It was quartering to me. I was shooting a Rage Hypo total arrow weight 505 grains out of a hoyt spyder turbo at 69# and 29.5" draw. shot was 40 yds. The arrow did NOT completely pass through (broadhead did poke through the low and back), but I clipped part of the spine on the way through and dropped it. It was kicking so I did put another arrow (with a fixed bh) in it to finish it off. Was testing out the Hypo
If shooting a mech on that angle I would be sure to have enough KE. I have noticed antelope are "bony" but my broad heads have borken/ gone through them.
I was taught to AVOID bone(except ribs of course) at all costs! Therefore I am not taking a quartering-to shot period. Doesn't matter what broadhead I am using and does not matter what animal I am hunting. I will wait for a better shot and if it never materializes, so be it.
I took this hard quartering-to shot some years back (different buck watering in the exact same spot) Shot was 31yds. Arrow entered just in front of the shoulder (top-left of the frontal cavity) and exited the offside ham. 72lb Bowtech, 425gr arrow tipped with a 125 gr Rocket Steelhead. Arrow traveled diagonally the entire length of the buck's body and passed through! I would take your shot pictured above without hesitation! Pete
Here's the buck I took with the shot described above. The entrance is under the top limb pocket of my Bowtech... seems high but I was shooting down into the crease at the base of his neck. Buck was dead in under 10 seconds.
Congrats Bowfreak, I thought that arrow looked a little bloody. Interesting horns on that buck... but they are all different.
PD - I always "try" to avoid bone and have never hit a pronghorn in the blade. I saw a program once about the pounding they take running across the prairie and they referenced their stronger then usual leg bone structure, pound for pound. Only makes sense the blade would be included.
A few years ago in Wyoming I shot one full frontal at 20ish. It dashed about 40 yards and went down in a heap. The arrow went the entire length of his body and was 3/4 sticking out his rear.
IDK if this is something to proud of; probably not, but I have shot two big goats with the exact shot angle as patience2spare. The first one went about 40 yards and died, the second jumped straight into the water and died quickly, too. The shoulder blades are actually fairly thick and stout, but the rest of their bones are pretty light and porous. I was shooting 60 lbs DW and fixed BH's. Complete pass-through's lengthwise. I would rather take one almost facing me over one that's quartering to. It helps if you're above them a bit. DS
I shot one with a frontal at 10 yards. Arrow went thru entire body and came out the rear quarter. Antelope turned around and took a few steps and fell over
I'm waiting for the guys who took direct, head-on shots and it didn't work to fess up. (I'll call it a Montana heart shot....brother to the Texas heart shot) Me personally....years ago I took a head-on shot at approx 4-5 yards on a deer. I was aiming for the neck and hit it dead on. It worked and dropped the deer in it's tracks but looking back years later I won't do it again as I feel it is too risky.....but that is me.
"" "I was aiming for the neck and hit it dead on."
You aimed too high. ""
No...I hit where I was aiming....right in the neck. I felt very confident I could hit such a small spot at that short distance and I was lucky and did....but looking back it wasn't a wise shot choice.
"I was taught to AVOID bone(except ribs of course) at all costs! Therefore I am not taking a quartering-to shot period. Doesn't matter what broadhead I am using and does not matter what animal I am hunting. I will wait for a better shot and if it never materializes, so be it."
" I'm waiting for the guys who took direct, head-on shots and it didn't work to fess up."
"Wonder if the guys who took text book broadside shots that didn't work out will fess up? "
With so many things that can and will sometimes go wrong, why not promote taking the highest percentage, best angle and well placed shot??? After all these things nick name are "speed goats" and can move very quickly, either in response to an arrow or just because they can in response to a gazillion other things. That's what I tell some one who asks a the Bowhunter Ed courses I 've taught. If you have to think about it, um probably a better opportunity will present itself, or pass if it doesn't. Bear in mind its not a paper target its a living breathing animal, deserves to be harvested the quickest way. Done correctly a bow kill is very quick and effective. Anything else just adds fuel to the anti-hunting fire.
"I was taught to AVOID bone(except ribs of course) at all costs! Therefore I am not taking a quartering-to shot period. Doesn't matter what broadhead I am using and does not matter what animal I am hunting. I will wait for a better shot and if it never materializes, so be it."
" I'm waiting for the guys who took direct, head-on shots and it didn't work to fess up."
"Wonder if the guys who took text book broadside shots that didn't work out will fess up? "
With so many things that can and will sometimes go wrong, why not promote taking the highest percentage, best angle and well placed shot??? After all these things nick name are "speed goats" and can move very quickly, either in response to an arrow or just because they can in response to a gazillion other things. That's what I tell some one who asks a the Bowhunter Ed courses I 've taught. If you have to think about it, um probably a better opportunity will present itself, or pass if it doesn't. Bear in mind its not a paper target its a living breathing animal, deserves to be harvested the quickest way. Done correctly a bow kill is very quick and effective. Anything else just adds fuel to the anti-hunting fire.
I agree it is best to take high percentage shots, i'm just not sure that what we have always been told is a poor shot actually is a poor shot. I've shot a lot of whitetail with a bow and I let many, many deer go by waiting for the perfect shot. There are more great shot opportunities than just dead broadside and quartering away.
Easy question for me, I don’t shoot any mechanicals. Would I take it with a good fixed, probably not. Shot one two years ago. It was sharply quartering away, almost straight away. The 125 gr Exodus on a 520 grain total weight arrow out of a 63 pound bow went through the left hip (missed bone), guts, liver, diaphragm, lungs and punched out through the briscit. He ran 20 yards and folded. Would a wide cut mechanical do that?
One of the debates that often get missed are dealing with pressured vs non-pressured animals during bow seasons. A jumpy high alert animal is harder to shoot no matter what equipment you use and shot angle, etc. Unfortunately the vast majority of my hunting is on public land. Archery seasons are often times co-mingled with the other multiple use functions. That creates a hard animal to hunt. So next time some one talks about archery seasons being way to liberal, long, etc. consider it takes along time in the field to get that perfect opportunity (shouldn't every opportunity be perfect??). Those opportunities are limited after all the other hunting seasons and user activities begin. Not saying other folks shouldn't have the privilege of using the wild places but you need to plan for it, to remove the temptation for iffy shots due to "limited opportunities." I know I have passed on the iffy buck shot to take the perfectly placed doe from time to time. Some guys don't understand it may have taken years for a doe to do that for me. The bucks (there are even fewer of them) same thing. It make take years and a lot of tag soup. Not everyone can be that patient.
Bowfreak you are right on, research and review the game animal you hunt, be sure you know your limitations..
"I agree it is best to take high percentage shots, i'm just not sure that what we have always been told is a poor shot actually is a poor shot. I've shot a lot of whitetail with a bow and I let many, many deer go by waiting for the perfect shot. There are more great shot opportunities than just dead broadside and quartering away."
I shot one with a frontal at 10 yards. Arrow went thru entire body and came out the rear quarter. Antelope turned around and took a few steps and fell over
Not enough info to give an intelligent answer. What is the bow? What is the arrow? What does it weigh? What is the poundage? What is the draw length? How good is the shooter? The window is small on that shot. The choice of broad head would be my least concern on that shot. And shoot the Trypans, they are ten times better head/design than the Dermics...
I'll answer the meat question. No, I don't worry about tainting the meat. If I end up cutting the guts, I do all I can to keep my hands clean and not get any of the green stuff on the meat. Not one drop. I butcher just about everything using the gutless method and I just leave the flank meat on the carcass if I'm worried about it. You may or may not be able to salvage the tenderloins, depending on where in the guts it is hit. I pull them last and if they smell good, they are good. If they stink, don't put them in with the good meat. You sacrifice a couple of pounds of marginal meat to ensure that everything else is clean and tasty.
To answer the original question, I do take front quartering shots and have had lots of success. If they are hard quartering or fully facing me, I generally don't risk it. A slight move of the head and the horn blocks the vitals. By the time the arrow gets there, they're generally in a different position anyways. They are pretty easy to kill and penetration is seldom an issue.
