Being my first year bow hunting, I assumed that the ideal shot on a deer would be the classic double lung shot with the aiming point being no different that that of a rifle hunter. Just read an article on North American Hunter and it stated;

"if you aim a few inches behind the front leg, and low on a deer’s body, you stand a good chance of hitting the deer’s diaphragm, intestines or stomach. Not good. Forget about aiming behind a broadside deer’s front leg; instead, aim directly over its front leg.

“But I’ll hit the leg bone!” you say.

Wrong. Again, check out Rinehart’s anatomically correct target. Just above the bellyline, a deer’s front leg bone turns at almost a right angle toward the deer’s neck, where it then joins the scapula (shoulder bone). Note: To impact the shoulder, your arrow would have to hit very high.

On a broadside deer from ground level, aim right over the front leg, about one-third of the way up from the bellyline.

So is this true?

I've killed enough deer for me to know to aim as close to the back of the front shoulder without hitting it. If you shoot low, it hits heart. If you shoot dead center, up and down, you'll double lung. The best advise is think of it as a basketball between the deer's front shoulders. No matter what the angle is, aim to put your arrow through the center of the "basketball ".

The bread & butter shot for a bowhunter is the quartering away shot.

I shoot right behind the shoulder and have killed plenty of deer. I do like for them to take a step forward though

Thanks, all of you. I will continue to practice shooting just behind the shoulder.

I try to wait until they move that front leg forward on my side. That opens up the vitals tremendously. Then I aim for my exit wound to be either just in front or just behind the off side leg (depending on the angle). I aim at the bottom third of the kill zone (couple inches above belly line). 95% of Alabama deer are going to drop at least a couple inches before arrow gets to them.