# Heart or lungs?



## weasle414

*Where do you send your arrow to?*​
Heart1725.37%Lungs5074.63%


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## weasle414

When shooting a deer with a bow, do you aim for the heart or take a lung shot? When I've shot deer with my muzzleloader I've always taken shots at the heart, but would it be better to aim for the lungs when bow hunting since it's a bigger target than the heart?


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## Danimal

I aim for the lungs, it's a bigger target. If I shoot a little low, it will hit the heart. Hit too far back, take out liver.

Good luck!


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## goatboy

I'm a heart fan, no track job needed then!


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## bowtechin

I aim for the heart.

Now this was pure luck :beer: , but last year I shot a doe and when I got to the heart it was split in half. I couldn't have had a better shot.


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## weasle414

Lol, wow, that must have been neat to see. The one I shot last year with my muzzleloader had a nice 1/2" hole straight through the center of the heart.

I've got another question that I just thought of, if I aim for the lungs and hit a bit too high, what are the odds that I'd spine the deer? My first deer was spined because he was closer than I thought he was and shot too high, but I'm not sure if a bow would do the same thing or not.


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## bowtechin

What I meant to say was last year when I split the heart it was all planned that way and that is what I had in mind when taking the shot. :wink:

I had a friend I put in a stand last year, first time bowhunting, who spined the buck he took. Paralyzed the back half. The deer started spinning circles and perspired w/in 15 minutes. He said the deer just made a 20ft circle over and over again and then crashed into the brush.


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## neb_bo

> I'm a heart fan, no track job needed then!


not completely true. alot of game shot through the heart will run flat out as hard as they can until they die, sometimes 80 yds. saying you aim for the heart specificaly is kinda like saying you are going to brain them. the heart is deffinetily a safer bet, but the target is the same size.


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## kevin.k

shoot for the lungs, because when i deer is hurt it goes into shock therefor it can run a long ways with a heart shot they are very strong animals they can run a long ways with a cut through the heart in some occassions.

if you hit in the lungs the harder they run the more oxygen they loose to the brain, there for passing out and dieing faster. It has been proven many times


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## weasle414

Bo, I've even heard of an elk nailed right through the heart at 15 yards with a 54 caliber muzzleloader that went 150 yards before dropping down. A good friend of mine goes to Colorado every year for elk hunting and the 2nd to last one he shot was the one that went that 150 yards, it was still trying to kick when he got up to it. I wonder how far it would've gone with a lung shot :huh:


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## barebackjack

Lungs are a bigger target as well. I aim for the top of the heart. Get both lungs and cut all the main arteries that come out the top of the heart, much much faster death than a straight heart hit.


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## carp_killer

lungs they die faster and the heart and liver taste to good to shoot um there


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## patrick grumley

A couple inches forward on a heart shot and you've got a very difficult deer to recover. Shoot the lungs theres more wiggle room!


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## magnum44270

i voted lungs, but i aim for the double lung and heart shot.....tight behind the leg just below half way up and down....both lungs and the top of the heart...................you would have to aim pretty low to hit just the heart


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## weasle414

Alright, well from the responses I'm getting, lungs aeem to be the way I should go! That's a relief to me, really. I'm not confident I could hit the heart 100% of the time and I don't want to risk a shoulder shot.


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## carp_killer

i dont know why anyone would aim for the heart i get mad when i hit it on accident thats some good meat besides the liver its probbly the best


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## neb_bo

if your ever watching a video, and the deer runs as hard as it can, without waving its tail after the shot, those are usualy heart shots.


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## magnum44270

nyone who has shot a number of deer knows that whether a heart or a lung or a combo *death is a guarentee *but dropping a deer is not!
heart shot- ive had deer run for 10-150 yards
lung shot- ive had deer run 10-100 yards
heart and lung shot- ive had deer run 10-100 yards

the only shot that i have had success dropping deer with the following shots.

DEAD CENTER SHOULER shots- takes out both shoulders and both lungs

neck shots- inbetween the head and the shoulders. breaks the neck and hits the corated arteries and they bleed out

both of these shots waste some meat, but will put them doewn in their tracks!


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## magnum44270

with the BOW... aim tight behind the curve of the leg, mid way up and down. you should get both lungs and if a little low, the top of the heart also.............if alittle foward still lungs, if a little back liver....

i would not suggest takeing any other shot on a deer with the bow

the neck shots and square shoulder shots are with the firearm only...IMO


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## RIVER RATT

If you hunt from a stand and aim for the heart you will get one lung as well cus of the angel of the shot...Too me this is the best place to aim for from a stand...If Iam hunting on the ground I look for a quartering away shot...Aim for the shoulder on the oppasit side...Once again you will catch one lung and the heart...Alwyas aim as close to the heart as you can, so you get both vitals...Some better advice than just aiming for the heart or lungs is aim as low on the vitals as you can...If you hit an animal to high from a stand you may only catch one lung, and this isnt always faital...Plus if a deer reacts to the sound of the shot you will still get a good shot off...For me I aim low for the combo...


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## goatboy

RIVER RATT said:


> If you hunt from a stand and aim for the heart you will get one lung as well because of the angel of the shot...Too me this is the best place to aim for from a stand...If Iam hunting on the ground I look for a quartering away shot...Aim for the shoulder on the oppasit side...Once again you will catch one lung and the heart...Alwyas aim as close to the heart as you can, so you get both vitals...Some better advice than just aiming for the heart or lungs is aim as low on the vitals as you can...If you hit an animal to high from a stand you may only catch one lung, and this isnt always faital...Plus if a deer reacts to the sound of the shot you will still get a good shot off...For me I aim low for the combo...


That is exactly what I'm talking about, thanks Ratt. if you hit them quartering away you always get a lung and also the heart as an added bonus most of the time from an elevated shot. They don't go far, I've taken about 20-25 or so bucks with a bow and many with that shot. Not many go past 75 yds or so. I used to take the broadside double lung but many times they could go 100-300 yds. And if your hunting thick stuff it can be really tough to find them before the coyotes do.


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## neb_bo

thats not what i mean, i mean if you have a level broadside shot, and you are aiming for the heart, its not the best shot. a quartering away downward shot is a perfect time to aim for the heart, because you are also going to get lungs/liver and the heart, nothing deadlier.


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## dusktalk

I'm not claiming to "know" anything, but from my experiences some deer seem more "motivated" then others. By that I mean, some just refuse to give up. I've dropped deer with lung hits and had em run 100 yds. I shot a buck in the neck once, bled like a siv but still ran 150 yds. Hit a branch one time on another and hit really far back, I can't remember for sure, but I think it was even behind his stomach, he didn't run 30 yards and died (hit an artery). My opinion the only way to guarantee a drop is a spine shot (of course the brain too, not good with a bow I have a buddy that bounced an arrow off a does skull). I shouldn't use 'guarantee' actually. The spine is a pretty small spot to aim for though. Especially with the chance of jumping the string.


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## dakotashooter2

A spine shot can be hit and miss. Many a deer have been killed that already had an arrow imbedded in a vertebra. When shooting a deer from ground level it is also possible to slip an arrow just under the spine and cause little damage and have the deer survive. I've done that myself and heard of a few others.


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## buckseye

I always go for the lungs bow or rifle, the heart pumps the blood out of the meat if you don't damage it to bad. Definitly makes less blood in the meat.


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## shauner

weasle414 said:


> Lol, wow, that must have been neat to see. The one I shot last year with my muzzleloader had a nice 1/2" hole straight through the center of the heart.
> 
> I've got another question that I just thought of, if I aim for the lungs and hit a bit too high, what are the odds that I'd spine the deer? My first deer was spined because he was closer than I thought he was and shot too high, but I'm not sure if a bow would do the same thing or not.


i hit a little above the lungs and a little below the spine at the first deer i shot at with a bow. spent 3 days and about 20 hrs trying to find the damn thing. never did.


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## Colt

Lungs.


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## coyotebuster

Go with a lung shot because if you shoot a little low you hit the heart . A double lung shot will kill a deer just as fast as a heart shot.


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## Danimal

The last week of September, I was finally able to make it out to hunt. I got situated in my stand at 4:42pm and released the arrow at 4:47pm. I was going for a double lung shot, but it took a step as I released. I caught one lung and the liver. It dropped in 25 feet.

Had I aimed for the heart, I would not have had the margin for error.


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## metaldemon16

during shot gun and bow i always aim for the heart. i drop all my deer except for 1 out of five


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## mossy512

I go for the lungs but try to get as close to the heart as I possible can. I try to at least cut the heart for a quicker bleed out. :beer:


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## Pabowhunter92

Anyone here big on neck shots? My buddy shot this monster ten point buck through the neck with a crimson talon. It went 30 yards and died.


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## Tator

not fond of the neck shot, although I seen a shot where Uncle Ted was bragging about hitting one in the jugular.

I personally will never intentionally shoot one in the neck, I have however, accidentally shot one in the neck. Passed through her windpiple/heart/lungs and out the guts.

ran about 10 yards and piled up, not proud of the shot though.

When in doubt, wait for a good shot for the lungs where you can get a complete pass through.

Tator


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

I am for the nock in there shoulder bone. Aim small miss small!


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## weasle414

hunt4P&Y said:


> Aim small miss small!


Easier said than done, lol.


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## Hamm

Lungs, right behind the shoulder.


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## Pabowhunter92

weasle414 said:


> I've got another question that I just thought of, if I aim for the lungs and hit a bit too high, what are the odds that I'd spine the deer? My first deer was spined because he was closer than I thought he was and shot too high, but I'm not sure if a bow would do the same thing or not.


Yea a bow will do the same thing as long as it doesnt just wing the spine. Mark off predetermined yardages with tape or get a rangefiner. Either way works


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## Pabowhunter92

weasle414 said:


> I've got another question that I just thought of, if I aim for the lungs and hit a bit too high, what are the odds that I'd spine the deer? My first deer was spined because he was closer than I thought he was and shot too high, but I'm not sure if a bow would do the same thing or not.


Yea a bow will do the same thing as long as it doesnt just wing the spine. Mark off predetermined yardages with tape or get a rangefiner. Either way works


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## Murdock1960

:sniper: In the Lungs!!


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## cabowhunter

Deer or Hogs...Lungs all the way!


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