Quartering shots?

[kevin_stevens]

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

[Apache]

IMO........Stuff that can stomp you into the ground or turn you into fertilizer needs to be anchored right there with a bone crushing shoulder shot using a bullet built for that purpose.

All other game....it's up to the hunter. Blood trails or anchored, DRT......whatever the individual prefers.

[lscraig1968]

I will take any shot I can get that will be lethal and quick. I prefer a structural shot that stops them DRT. I mean this in respect to North Georgia whitetail deer. I have not hunted for anything aggressive like bears or large game from Africa. Where I hunt is really thick in the woods so a bang-flop is preferable. If they run into the briars and creek bottom, good luck finding them.

That said, I have never lost a deer to a gut shot or something similar. I was taught to aim for the opposite shoulder than the one you can see. That way you get the vitals as well as structural and knock them down. If it is a head on shot aim for the white tip at the bottom of the "Y" on a whitetail. If you hit anything backbone related on a white tail it is a bang-flop. I imagine all vertebrates are the same. In the vent that one is still dying when I approach, I always have a sidearm for the coup de grâce.

Whichever shot you take and whatever you are hunting you want a bullet/load that will transfer as much energy into the quarry as you can. I hunt with a .30-06 with 150gr, 165gr, and 180 gr SP bullets always have. My late F-I-L took deer with a .243 80 gr SP. My younger brother took deer with his .22-250 and a 55gr sp. All three loads achieved the desired result with ribcage shots. Even the 55 gr .22-250 was deadly with a rib cage shot close to the shoulder. ALL the energy and shrapnel was transferred to the vitals and they would run about 50 feet and stop DRT.

[r3dn3ck]

3 things:
1, African game isn't shaped like American game. The vitals are in a different place and the owners of those vitals tend to be both able and prone to doing great harm to people that shoot imprecisely at them. Knowing the anatomy of your quarry will go a long way to helping you put the pill in the pump.

2, African countries typically don't let you shoot very many things with anything short of man portable cannons. They'd rather you use too much gun which goes another good pitch toward obviating the issues of lackluster anatomical knowledge and precision shooting in the face of rapidly approaching mouthfuls of slavering fangs.

3, For the most part if you pass a bullet from a high power rifle of sufficient power to completely penetrate through your target animal either broadside or quartering and you get it to enter the thoracic cavity it will absolutely be fatal in a fairly short time. Quartering shots usually take a bite out of the liver and tear the diaphragm which suffocates a critter pretty quick whilst bleeding it out. Apart from that if you put the bullet properly through the thing pointed from the rear quarter to the opposite front then you will enter the chest cavity and it will suffer massive additional injury. What you are avoiding on American game is shooting it in the guts or in the arse (through the hams).

Anecdote: I once shot miserably poorly and gut shot a deer broadside with a .270. Apart from feeling like an idiot and causing some unintended suffering, the ****ed thing strode off into deep cover and the light was fading. The deer died 20 steps from the spot the bullet hit it. The power of a bottleneck rifle round with modern expanding bullets to do enormous injury to an animal almost regardless of where it's shot has never ceased to impress me. It does not though give permission to make bad shots. FWIW, I usually aim to pass a bullet through the chest about as well in the middle as I can. It has never failed when properly executed to lead to an instant kill.