Head-On Shots: Are They Ever Okay for Whitetail Bowhunters?

Bowhunters know that a broadside or slightly quartering-away shot angle is best on a whitetail or other big game animal, but is it ever acceptable to take a head-on shot?

Head-On Shots: Are They Ever Okay for Whitetail Bowhunters?

In the author’s opinion, a bowhunter from the ground can quickly kill this close-range buck with a well-placed head-on shot, provided the shooter is using an appropriate arrow and broadhead. The spot to aim is the base of the neck.

You should know that compared to any of my bowhunting friends, I’m the most conservative when it comes to shot selection. And as a group, my four closest bowhunting buddies and I are supremely conservative shooters when compared to the vast majority of bowhunters.

Fact: We’re all in our mid-50s, each has been bowhunting for at least 30 years, and not one of us has ever attempted a 30-yard bow shot on a whitetail. I’ll do the math for you: That’s more than 150 years of bowhunting experience as a group, and no one has taken a shot of 30 yards or more. I seriously doubt if your hunting group is as conservative when it comes to overall shot selection.

I mention this fact because there is one shot I will take that many bowhunters will pass — head-on.

 

When Head-On Archery Shots Are Acceptable

I’ve killed a handful of whitetails with head-on shots, and the important point is each of these shots were taken from the ground and at close range — 15 yards and less.

Understand that I’m not looking specifically for this shot angle, and prefer a broadside or slightly quartering-away shot whenever possible. And while I’d never take a quartering-toward shot because I don’t want to hit the near front leg bone or attached shoulder bone/blade, a head-on shot avoids these barriers.

The reason a head-on shot from the ground at close range is deadly is your arrow passes through one lung and then ultimately the diaphragm and liver. Single lung hits from a treestand are notoriously iffy when it comes to the outcome; some deer die, some don’t, and it’s anyone’s guess how such a deer might behave after arrow impact; i.e. some deer bed quickly, some keep traveling, etc.

As I said, the reason a head-on shot from the ground is deadly is because the single lung is combined with the diaphragm and liver. Such a hit isn’t survivable.

In my experience, a head-on deer hit in the base of the neck with an arrow flee quickly, much as they do when hit elsewhere, and die quickly. Most often I can hear the deer crash off in the brush and then the sound stops abruptly. No whitetail I’ve taken with a head-on shot has run more than 60 yards.

What about blood trails? The first time I took a head-on shot and watched a mature doe charge off the tiny food plot and into thick cover, I was worried about trying to follow a minimal blood trail. After all, I knew I had an entrance hole but no exit hole, which is usually a recipe for hard-to-follow blood trails. This wasn’t the case.

With only an entrance hole, the blood trail for this mature doe — and every subsequent head-on shot whitetail in my career — has been easy to follow. True, you won’t have blood on both sides of the deer’s path, as you would with a double-lung, full-pass-through shot, but the blood is still very heavy, and it’s deposited on the ground in a line.

The author killed a September doe in Wisconsin with a 12-yard head-on shot from the ground. You can see the entrance hole at the base of the deer’s neck. Here, the author’s nephew is checking the doe’s weight (field dressed 120 pounds).
The author killed a September doe in Wisconsin with a 12-yard head-on shot from the ground. You can see the entrance hole at the base of the deer’s neck. Here, the author’s nephew is checking the doe’s weight (field dressed 120 pounds).

Where to Aim

When a deer is perfectly head-on or very close to it, the leg bone and shoulder blade is out of play, provided you hit the deer near the center of its chest — between the legs, at the base of the neck. Don’t aim for the heart, that’s too low from the ground and head-on. The heart is screened by a deer’s sternum, and you want your arrow to enter the body cavity over the sternum. Hitting the sternum could also deflect your arrow downward, which would be bad.

As I stated earlier, I take this shot only from the ground, and the distance has to be no more than 15 yards. I know that a deer could still jump the string (drop lower to the ground to begin running) in this scenario, and an arrow can never outrace the speed of sound and a whitetail’s reaction, but my chances for a lethal hit go up significantly if I’m shooting at a deer at 12 yards vs. 22 yards. To date, I haven’t had a deer react (that I’ve noticed) when taken head-on from the ground at 15 yards and less.

 

Arrow and Broadhead Choice

Because the key to killing a deer with a head-on shot is having your arrow pass deeply into a deer’s body, it’s imperative that you choice an appropriate arrow and broadhead combo. I depend on a tough, cut-on-contact broadhead such as a G5 Montec, Magnus Stinger Buzzcut, Muzzy One, NAP HellRazor, Swhacker Razor 253, Wasp SharpShooter and others. I prefer a 125-grain head. A heavyweight arrow helps with penetration, too, and just as important is having high FOC (forward of center); that’s a topic for a future article. In my quiver for 2020 are Easton Full Metal Jackets (FMJ).

In my opinion, it’s a mistake to attempt a head-on shot with a lightweight arrow and a mechanical broadhead that opens to 2 inches. Such a setup will penetrate one lung but might stop before slicing through the diaphragm and liver.

The author was sitting in a natural ground blind on public land in Wisconsin when his dad arrowed this 4x3 at a range of 13 yards. The rutting buck stopped facing the hunters, and a well-placed arrow at the base of the neck penetrated through one of the buck’s lungs, then the diaphragm and liver.
The author was sitting in a natural ground blind on public land in Wisconsin when his dad arrowed this 4x3 at a range of 13 yards. The rutting buck stopped facing the hunters, and a well-placed arrow at the base of the neck penetrated through one of the buck’s lungs, then the diaphragm and liver.

Final Thoughts

If you bowhunt from a treestand only, nothing in this article pertains to you. Don’t shoot at a head-on deer, regardless of shot distance, from an elevated position because your arrow won’t combine a single lung with the diaphragm and liver. Head-on shots are quickly lethal when taken from the ground, at close range, when a bowhunter is using a scary-sharp cut-on-contact broadhead with a heavyweight arrow.



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