Frontal or Broadside?
Contributors to this thread:Mule Deer
From: cnelk
12-Aug-19
Opening Day Archery Season:
These 2 bucks are 25yds away. No wind.
Are you taking a frontal on the buck in the right or do you like the broadside shot on the left buck?
Edit: You are at full draw
From: Billyvanness
12-Aug-19
I might not shoot Brad. Not too long ago I had a broadside buck bust me drawing...he burned in on me and tensed up. I felt great about the shot so I took it....he wheeled towards me as the bow went off and dropped in his tracks. I thought I spined him....actually hit him right between the eyes about halfway down the nose. Sniper kill shot but definitely not intended. Vowed to myself not to shoot if they see me....like these two bucks seem to. Great looking deer tho.
From: wildwilderness
12-Aug-19
Hard to say for sure which is bigger but I'd take the broad side. Bigger front forks will score better, looks wider, and the shot is way better. Never been a big fan of the frontal shot, plus the buck in the back is generally less spooked than the one in front who probably spotted you first. Chip shot into BB's triangle.
From: Dale06
12-Aug-19
Either, but probably the broadside
From: cnelk
12-Aug-19
See my edit to my post above
From: wildwilderness
12-Aug-19
shot
From: nvgoat
12-Aug-19
Similar sized but very different racks. I like the broadside better with bigger fronts.
I would shoot the broadside regardless of size. Higher odds shot.
From: altitude sick
12-Aug-19
The Broadside deer. I like Wildwilderness shot placement. A lot of inches to spare around the red dot, at full draw and 25 yds.
From: midwest
12-Aug-19
I like ww's shot, too.
From: elkmtngear
12-Aug-19
Yeah, I like the broadside buck, at 25 yds.
From: nmwapiti
12-Aug-19
Broadside. Right where ww says.
From: AZ8
12-Aug-19
Broadside.
Boy, if you flinch just a tad, you’ll have an arrow in that small pine! Lol
From: Elkslaya
12-Aug-19
Broadside
From: COHOYTHUNTER
12-Aug-19
i like that broadside shot.. if by chance he moves when you shoot, hes moving forward and your still in a good spot with that shot placement.. the frontal is too iffy and them mulies can move quick
From: Grey Ghost
12-Aug-19
Frontal all day, and twice on Sunday’s. Not the popular choice, but the one I’d make based on personal experience.
Matt
From: Scar Finga
12-Aug-19
Frontal, no question! He appears to be the older buck and I like the mass and the rack. But they are both very alert and know I am there, hopefully I am already at full draw! I have killed several bucks in the same scenario!
From: Grey Ghost
12-Aug-19
The bucks pictured are as least 4 yards apart. The margin for error is the same on both shots, IMO. I’ll take the closer shot any day. I also know I aim better at an unobstructed target.
Matt
From: Woods Walker
12-Aug-19
Broadside...when/if his head turns the other way.
From: Tonybear61
12-Aug-19
My buddy to my left can shoot the first one broadside and the other one quartering away while they are giving me the stare down. That's generally how it works for me and my buddy who is very lucky to be in the right spot...
From: Brun
12-Aug-19
Broadside, I've always said no frontal over 20 yards, so I better stick with it now. Plus they are on alert and if that buck moves even a fraction that frontal shot could be a nightmare.
From: Wayne Helmick
12-Aug-19
I'd aim for WW's dot and probably deflect off the tree and the one in front right in the dark spot in front of the shoulder. Then act like I just called banking the 8 ball. Ha ha. With a recurve the frontal is too small for me to be comfortable I think.
From: PoudreCanyon
12-Aug-19
I like Wild Wilderness’s spot on the broadside buck, but i’m laying 50/50 odds I smack the tree...
From: Treeline
12-Aug-19
Neither. They are alert and will jump string. I do like that back buck though! Great picture!
From: Ucsdryder
12-Aug-19
Let’s be honest...this tree would be calling my name.
From: KsRancher
12-Aug-19
^this
From: cnelk
12-Aug-19
Here’s a pic I took just before the back buck looked at me in the photo above
From: PAbowhunter1064
13-Aug-19
At 25 yards, I'm going to step back about another 75, then settle my bottom pin right in between both of them suckers! By the time my mech tipped arrow reaches them, the buck on the left will either have taken 3 or more steps, OR, the frontal buck will have turned broadside....because he heard all the noise my Blazer vanes are makin. After I verify I've gotten about 3" of penetration on either buck, I'm gonna toss my bow on the ground, yell "Booyah…. SMOKED that mack daddy!" , and will be trending on InstaFaceGramBook before I even take up the blood trail! ;-)
From: arky
13-Aug-19
Lmao PA that’s too funny! I’d take the frontal.
From: Ambush
13-Aug-19
Seeing the second picture, definitely the back buck! And if I'm already at full draw, I have to make a decision to shoot or let down fairly quickly. I can't play "Statue" as long as a mule deer can and the longer I wait, the more chance I'll break form and screw up the shot.
cnelk, are those bucks huntable for you come season?
From: Supernaut
13-Aug-19
Neither. I'm letting down my recurve and hoping for a better shot, it's the first day.
From: JL
13-Aug-19
I've never done a Texas heart shot. I did a successful very close, head-on neck shot from the stand. I hit a tree on a Montana heart shot (rifle) and blew the shot (got it on cam vid). I don't think I'll do any Montana heart shots anymore....IMO they're a little risky for my comfort level. I've found many times if you're patient enough, a broadside shot will present itself.
From: APauls
13-Aug-19
I honestly wouldn't care about the shot angle I'd be trying to kill the bigger buck. From the quick glance I was gonna say back buck, after the second photo the back buck but I'm assuming having watched them get to that point I'd know which buck I was after and I would release an arrow at either. Both are very killable, but due to size I would say back buck. If both bucks were the exact same size rack-wise, as far as shot selection goes I'd prob choose the back one before the front one.
From: Thornton
13-Aug-19
Never frontal. Too many bad things happen. You twitch and the arrow hits the neck and severs the trachea and they run off never to be found and/or the arrow goes through the armpit or in a leg and they suffer.
From: Nick Muche
13-Aug-19
Frontal's put animals down quick when executed properly. Did it twice in a row last year on some bucks, seconds apart, 6 yards and in. Unreal how efficient that shot can be.
From: Thornton
13-Aug-19
The closer the better Nick, but I've seen three bucks lost due to the scenarios I described.
From: GF
13-Aug-19
They’re both too lit up for a bow, IMO. But I wouldn’t touch the frontal Beyond about a dozen… Really, I’m just not that interested if I can avoid it.
From: Buglmin
13-Aug-19
You probably hit full draw just as the buck turned broadside. Stick the pin on the broadside buck and shoot him before he becomes too nervous. Shove an arrow through his shoulders if you're worried bout the tree. Broadside buck is difinitly bigger and older.
From: cnelk
13-Aug-19
@ Ambush
Not for me. Didnt get a tag in that area
From: trophyhill
13-Aug-19
I would take the frontal if I didn't think the broadside buck was a better buck. But I like the broadside buck
From: Trial153
13-Aug-19
Nothing kills quicker then an arrow though the anterior Thoracic cavity. That said it isn’t always the easiest to accomplish. I would take either of the shots presented.
From: HDBOW
13-Aug-19
Frontal. It’s amazing how fast stuff dies from a length wise arrow when executed properly.
From: GF
13-Aug-19
Define “properly” for a shot angle you can’t see for a guy who has never done it....
JMO, it’s a bad idea to encourage anyone to take a shot that he/she isn’t 100% comfortable with.
I passed up a 5-yard frontal on a bull Elk with zero regrets. It would have been my first Elk, my first Elk with a bow, and with a recurve to boot. But there’s no way I could say zero regrets had I screwed the pooch on that shot.
You can make fun of my marksmanship or my confidence therein all you want. All I need to feel REALLY certain about is my Ethical Standards, and that one is graded Pass/Fail.
I Passed, therefore I did not Fail.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy you guys, but none of you have to fall asleep inside my head every night. And I’d rather have you thinking I’m a Chicken than a Slob.
From: Catscratch
13-Aug-19
Solid pass for me at 25yds. I would shoot at either one at 12.
From: Nick Muche
13-Aug-19
There’s only one way to get confident with a frontal shot.
From: buckeye
14-Aug-19
For the fellers that are confident in frontal placement, could you put a dot where you would aim on that muley please? I think it would be beneficial to alot of folks such as myself, that know that it is a deadly shot if executed properly,but never having done it , don't want the first time I try it to go south. The first archery whitetail I took was an unintentional Texas heart shot ( The doe moved at the shot and I got really lucky!) and got a length-ways pass thru. I was shocked to say the least at how lethal that shot ended up being.
From: TEXASWOODS5
14-Aug-19
I'd prefer the broadside shot. I know its not popular but I've killed two bucks with frontal shots. Neither went far and a blind man could follow the blood trail. One was a mule deer at 28 yards the other a whitetail at about 7 yards.
From: cnelk
14-Aug-19
From: spike78
14-Aug-19
Looks to me like that frontal shot buck would drop down in a second once the string is released.
From: TD
14-Aug-19
Naw.... CO muley.... not jumpin' nothin', dude...... mostly stand there, watch it all happen in technicolor and take it like a man.... =D
I'd shoot what I thought was the biggest, but quick glance they're close enough for me I think without getting out my tape. I do wonder about if that tree has a positive or negative charge......
With any shot, it's about making the shot. A bit more room for error with the broadside.... but my experience has been the deer kabob isn't going far... a lengthwise arrow changes their attitude and effects their posture.....
From: JL
14-Aug-19
Doesn't a Montana heart shot often hit the guts/bladder, etc and make a mess field dressing?
From: cnelk
14-Aug-19
^^^ not if you do the gutless method
From: Nick Muche
14-Aug-19
Exactly Brad, haven’t gutted an animal of mine in quite sometime. So much cleaner and also faster!
