The deer is the most hunted big game animal in the United States. Out of how many people hunt these animals, not many know where to shoot one and get a clean kill. Nobody wants to be chasing a wounded deer through the woods, so I will show you the best spots to shoot a deer and how to take them.

Broadside

This is by far the best shot with a bow or rifle; This shot will allow the least amount of penetration to get a pass-through. A pass-through will allow you to get the most blood flow because the deer is bleeding out of two sides.

Broadside deer. A deer is broadside when the hips and shoulders are in line like in the photo above.

When shooting a broadside deer, you want to aim straight up the leg in the lower ⅓ to hit the heart. To hit the double long you want to aim straight up the leg in the middle ⅔. To hit the high shoulder when rifle hunting you want to aim straight up the leg in the uppermost 3rd. When hunting deer, dividing the deer into 3rds helps determine where you want to shoot.

A deer in 3rds. The top 3rd is the spine and shoulder, the middle 3rd is double lung, and the lower 3r is the heart.

When it comes to hitting vital organs, the heart will lead to the quickest kill. Second, to hitting the heart, is hitting the lungs. A double lung hit can lead to a quick kill, but the deer will not bleed as much compared to hitting the heart because the heart is a high blood pressure organ. Another downside to hitting a double lung shot is a deer can run 200 yards; that’s a long way to track a deer, especially if it’s running through thick cover.

The two best spots to hit a deer are the heart and lungs; The heart will lead to the most blood and the quickest kill. The double lung shot is a bigger target but not as much blood so the deer won’t die as fast.

When bow hunting, never aim for the uppermost 3rd. This shot will lead to a shoulder hit or spine shot. A spine shot is a slow death for a deer and will require a follow-up shot. A shoulder shot can decrease penetration drastically, which can lead to a wounded deer. A shoulder shot should only be attempted with a high-power rifle.

Heart shots 

The heart shot is the best shot in my opinion. The heart is basically just a big artery that has a ton of blood. The fact that there is a ton of blood and blood pressure in the heart leads to an easy blood trail to follow. The heart is low in the body so gravity will lead to a lot of blood traveling to the arrow/bullet hole leaving a bigger blood trail.

You may waste some shoulder meat with this shot because the heat is somewhat in the shoulder.

Double lung shots

The double lung shot might not have as much blood or arteries but is a big target. The lungs have veins that get bigger as they go towards the heart, so you are better off aiming towards the front of the lungs. The biggest upside to the double lung shot, is that it is a bigger target making it an easier shot for beginners.

With a high-power rifle, you will not waste much meat by shooting in the lungs, but you may waste some shoulder meat with a heart shot.

High shoulder shots

The high shoulder shot is a shot made by most long-range rifle hunters. The high shoulder shot is right at the top of the lung and bottom of the spine. This shot is common by long-range rifle hunters because you have to most room for error; if you miss towards the back of the deer, you will hit the spine; if you miss low you will hit the lungs; If you miss in front of the deer you will hit the neck bone.

With a well-placed high shoulder shot, you will hit the spine, lungs, and both shoulders dropping the deer. You may end up wasting some meat with this shot.

Quartering away and to shots

Quartering shots can be hard and I don’t recommend them for beginning bowhunters. But if you’re confident and hit the right spot these shots are devastating.

When it comes to shooting a deer quartering away from you, you want to bring your point of aim towards the hips of the deer. The key is to aim for the offside shoulder [offside is the side opposite to you]

Find the leg on the opposite side of you. Draw an imaginary line from the leg through the body to the top of the deer. Aim for the middle of this line. If you do this correctly, you will put your arrow/bullet through the lungs and possibly the heart.

When gutting a deer that has been shot quartering away, it can be messy because the arrow/bullet will have passed through the guts. 

Quartering to is a little harder and more confusing than quartering to shots. For quartering, to shots, you want to bring your point of aim to the shoulder instead of away. You want to aim for the exit hole which you want to be where you would shoot the deer on the offside shoulder.

 A deer quartering to.

When a deer is quartering to you, you want to imagine where you would aim if it was broadside on the offside shoulder. Bring the aim point to the shoulder closest to you, and that is where you need to aim. This can be very hard to do, which is why you should not take the shot if you don’t have a powerful bow or you are not comfortable. You should be especially wary of this shot on bigger animals.

If the imaginary line is through the shoulder bone, don’t take the shot this can lead to wounding the deer. You want to be behind or in front of the shoulder to take a quartering to shot.

The quartering to shot can be very devastating if done right. Make sure you are comfortable when shooting. The key is to have the exit hole be where you would shoot on the offside shoulder on a broadside shot.

Facing away shot

This one is super simple don’t take it. This shot is not a good shot no matter what. This shot will end up wounding the deer or a shot in the guts. A gut-shot deer will take days to die. Whether you have a gun or a bow, don’t shoot and wait for a better shot.

Deer facing away.

Bedded down deer

A bedded-down deer is a shot that is easy to mess up. The vital organs shift when a deer beds down making it hard to shoot. These most people don’t take, but it can be easy if you do it right.

Bedded down deer. The blue dot is where you should aim.

A deer’s legs move down and the vitals move up when it beds down. When you look at where you would normally aim you could miss the vitals because the legs are lower and there are no real markers to aim for.

Most hunters frown upon shooting a bedded deer, when in reality, shooting a bedded deer takes skill and precision. If you spot and stalk hunt, you should be proud of sneaking up on and shooting a bedded deer. A deer is super hard to stalk when bedded down and it takes a lot of skill to sneak up on one.

Shooting from a treestand

When shooting from 20 feet high in a treestand, or off the top of a hill, you have to aim differently than on the level ground.

The arrow/bullet will travel down, and you could miss the vitals if you aim normally. You want to bring your point of aim up. Image where the arrow/bullet will exit on the other side. You want the arrow/bullet to hit higher the steeper the angle is. 

You want to imagine where you want to shoot if the deer is broadside on the offside shoulder. Draw an imaginary line from where you want to shoot through the deer’s body instead of top to bottom; take that line through the deer like you were looking down a diagonal string to the offside shoulder vital area. You should be above where you want to aim at the offside shoulder on level ground. Now aim for that where the line touches the deer and shoot. This can be confusing until you see it. Before taking this shot, do a lot of studying because it can be hard to do.

Frontal shot

This shot should only be taken with a rifle. This shot can be taken but is hard and super easy to mess up. When taking this shot you want to be close.

Deer frontal.

You have about a baseball size target to shoot when taking the shot. The frontal shot is so lethal because there are a ton of arteries in the chest of a deer. You want to have a slight off-facing straight angle when shooting; if straight on and you shoot dead in the center of the chest you may get lucky and hit an artery but you don’t want to risk it. If you get a slight off-angle, you can hit both lungs, the heart, and arteries which should drop the deer, if not it won’t go more than 50 yards. 

Brain and neck shots

A brain shot is sure to drop a deer but is hard to pull off probably the hardest out of the shots I have mentioned. A deer’s brain is about half the size of a baseball. A brain shot should never be attempted with a bow because there are far too many variables.

Shoot for the blue dot

If you shoot for the brain, you’re better off being a little high than low on a deer. Too low and you hit the jaw bone, too high and you miss. Most people aim for the base of the ear, but this will just wound the deer. You want to aim right behind the eyes. If shooting a deer in the brain from the front, aim right between the eyes.

One thing to keep in mind is that shooting a buck in the brain can ruin the antlers and you will lose your trophy.

Neck shots are very risky. The neck bones in a deer are tiny. Sometimes with a high-power rifle, you can get lucky, and even though you miss the bone, you can break the neck with the sheer force of the impact. Like a brain shot, only use a rifle when taking a neck shot.

The blue line is where the neck bones are.

If shooting for the neck on a deer, you want the deer to be facing you. If the deer is facing you, you can just aim for the middle of the neck. If you plan on taking a neck shot on a hunt, make sure you have a high-power deer rifle like a 30-06. If taking a neck shot, get as close as possible so you hit the neck and don’t miss.

So there you have it, the best shots on a deer and how to take them. Practice shooting before hunting to make sure you can hit a small enough target. Don’t take any shots you are not confident in. Make sure you check your regs before hunting.

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