Chapter 7: Shot Placement & Recovery Techniques
Shot Placement

Proper shot placement is critical in bowhunting because an arrow must be placed precisely for a quick, clean kill. The responsible bowhunter only takes a shot that can strike the vital area of the animal reliably and passes up anything less. Merely wounding an animal is a serious error that can be avoided if the bowhunter knows the vital area of the game being pursued.

Chest Cavity—The Main Vital Area

In big game animals, the bowhunter’s primary target area lies within the animal’s chest cavity. The chest cavity holds the heart, lungs, and major arteries and veins of the body, all of which are crucial to sustain life.

• A razor-sharp broadhead shot through the chest will immediately depressurize the cavity, sever lung tissue, and cause massive bleeding. It may cut lung vessels to add to the blood loss and cut heart tissue or heart vessels that will cause even more blood loss.
• The circulatory system of a big game animal is under pressure. All cuts in the major blood vessels, lung tissue, and muscle tissue will result in an immediate and sustained blood loss.
• The most effective shot for bowhunters on black bear and deer-sized or smaller animals is a diagonal shot (45 degrees) that angles forward and hits the liver, diaphragm, lungs, and heart.
• The second most effective shot is the double-lung, broadside shot because it collapses both lungs. The animal leaves a good-to-excellent blood trail and typically goes a shorter distance before lying down.

Abdominal Cavity

The abdominal cavity, on the other hand, is not an aiming zone for bowhunters.

• The abdominal cavity holds the stomach, kidneys, liver, and small and large intestines. If the arrow strikes one of these vital organs or blood vessels, the animal may bleed to death in an hour.
• More often, a slow death begins when an arrow cuts open the stomach or intestines, spilling the contents into the abdominal cavity. The bacteria and acids in the contents cause peritonitis, a severe inflammation of the cavity. The animal becomes sick and usually dies within 8 to 12 hours.

• There may be very little external blood loss, so tracking is very difficult. However, most animals that are gut shot don’t appear badly frightened or hurt. If undisturbed, they tend to travel a short distance and then lie down, where they die peacefully.
• Even though the liver is located in the abdominal cavity, it is often hit in a quartering-away shot because of its size and location just behind the diaphragm. The arrow may pass through the front portion of the abdominal cavity and liver on its way to the chest cavity.

Special Situation: Large Bears

• Large bears present more of a challenge because of their bulk.
• The bear’s shoulder is farther forward, the shoulder bones form a tighter angle, and its hair is several inches longer than other game.
• Long, heavy hair makes a bear appear deeper in the chest than it actually is. As a result, many hunters aim too low or too far forward and hit the large shoulder bone.
• A spot in the center of the lungs or slightly lower should be a bowhunter’s target every time.