kevin_stevens
12-08-2012, 04:56 PM
I've only shot under a dozen critters, and still have a lot to learn about hunting. My question is about broadside vs quartering shots on medium and big game.
What I see recommended most of the time are pure broadside shots, with the target being top of heart and lungs. This is typically the "third of the way up the body, right behind the front leg" description, of course with slight variations depending on the species.
With small/medium size game, you can generally do this and take out one or both shoulders at the same time, depending on how they are standing. But once you get above Texas deer size, putting a shot in the heart/lung region broadside may not have the bullet within a foot of the shoulders.
So, for something like elk/moose/wildebeest/zebra/bear/buffalo/bison, it's kind of a choice: do you try to anchor the animal with a structural shoulder shot, and then worry about killing it, or (usually) get a sure killing double-lung shot that may leave it running around (possibly towards you) for 20-30 seconds?
I really saw this discussed with the PH on buffalo in Africa, and I would imagine the big bears here would get the same reaction from the guides - "Put that first shot right through the shoulder and break some bone!".
Now I can see the benefits of both of those shots, but they are really trying to do different things. In my limited experience, the best solution and results so far have been to NOT look for broadside shots, but wait for the animal to turn into a quartering position where one shoulder is lined up in front of or behind the heart/lung location. Especially when it is quartered towards me, this gives a great target and the knowledge that I am doing serious structural damage as well as creating bits of bone shrapnel as the bullet blows through the heart/lung area. Apart from somewhat more meat damage, I'm not clear on why the quartering shot isn't preferred over the pure broadside?
TIA for any opinions.
KeS
What I see recommended most of the time are pure broadside shots, with the target being top of heart and lungs. This is typically the "third of the way up the body, right behind the front leg" description, of course with slight variations depending on the species.
With small/medium size game, you can generally do this and take out one or both shoulders at the same time, depending on how they are standing. But once you get above Texas deer size, putting a shot in the heart/lung region broadside may not have the bullet within a foot of the shoulders.
So, for something like elk/moose/wildebeest/zebra/bear/buffalo/bison, it's kind of a choice: do you try to anchor the animal with a structural shoulder shot, and then worry about killing it, or (usually) get a sure killing double-lung shot that may leave it running around (possibly towards you) for 20-30 seconds?
I really saw this discussed with the PH on buffalo in Africa, and I would imagine the big bears here would get the same reaction from the guides - "Put that first shot right through the shoulder and break some bone!".
Now I can see the benefits of both of those shots, but they are really trying to do different things. In my limited experience, the best solution and results so far have been to NOT look for broadside shots, but wait for the animal to turn into a quartering position where one shoulder is lined up in front of or behind the heart/lung location. Especially when it is quartered towards me, this gives a great target and the knowledge that I am doing serious structural damage as well as creating bits of bone shrapnel as the bullet blows through the heart/lung area. Apart from somewhat more meat damage, I'm not clear on why the quartering shot isn't preferred over the pure broadside?
TIA for any opinions.
KeS