Have you ever been bow hunting out on your South Carolina hunting land and had a deer duck under one of your arrows? Well, it happens. Often. Fortunately, deer haven’t learned to duck under your shots, they are simply reacting to the sound of the bowstring or the flight of the arrow by crouching down to lunge away from potential danger.
For this reason, you should aim at the lower half of the deer’s lung area, particularly if he is alert. This way, if the deer crouches when you take your shot, you will hit the mid to upper lung. If he doesn’t react at all, you’ll hit where you were aiming and get the lower lung area. Both hits will kill the deer.
Be sure to keep in mind that the spot you pinpoint to aim at on the deer’s vitals depends on the angle you’re shooting from and how close the deer is to you. For example, if you’re 25 feet up in your tree stand and the deer is 15 yards from the base of your tree, you have to aim higher than the lower half of the deer’s lung area. This is because if the deer doesn’t react, your arrow would only hit the very bottom of one lung. However, if the deer is at full alert, he’s almost definitely going to duck.
Aiming low is a good rule to follow, but you need to take some things into consideration when taking your shot. You need to know how quiet your bow is, how quiet your vanes and fletching are, how quiet the woods are at that moment, and how fast your arrow is going to hit the deer.
If a deer is standing 35 yards from your tree and you have a very quiet bow and vanes, (and the deer is not alert) you might be safe to aim at the center of the lung area. This will give you more room for error. If there are sounds nearby that would hide the sound of your bow and the arrow’s flight, you may also decide to aim at the center lung. Under normal quiet circumstances, it is still ideal to aim at the lower half of the lung.
