Spinal shots?

[jdb]

So what's the general consensus on spinal shots with a recurve ?

[Jellymon]

...

[dreamunelk]

Don't!  Boiler room only! 
You are just asking for a wounding loss trying for such a small target.  Highly probable that you will have an animal running around showing everyone your arrow.

[Special T]

Im ashamed to admit that I lost a deer because I took too steep of a shot from a tree stand. Deer was <10 yards from my tree and the angle too steep, and that was with a compound. I missed all vital organs and didnt hit the spine.... To my shame i never found him.... DONT shoot straight down or try and hit the spine, its MUCH harder than you think even when you are a pretty good shooter with a compound. 

[WapitiTalk1]

Very, very, very small target.  An inch low and it's not a good ending for either prey or hunter. 

[MLBowhunting]

It happens once in a while but never intentionally

[6haase6]

Hit one in the spine last year on accident. It dropped like a rock but still had its front legs. Had to stick it twice more through the vitals. Worst way I have ever killed a deer.

[zike]

Hit one in the spine last year on accident. It dropped like a rock but still had its front legs. Had to stick it twice more through the vitals. Worst way I have ever killed a deer.

We were taught years ago if you had to finish off a deer with a bow. You come up behind him and plant an arrow in the back of the head from short
range.  I've done it a couple of times, both were hard hit and if I had waited to track them they would have died on there own. But it's nice to be able to finish them so they don' suffer.

[6haase6]

Hit one in the spine last year on accident. It dropped like a rock but still had its front legs. Had to stick it twice more through the vitals. Worst way I have ever killed a deer.

We were taught years ago if you had to finish off a deer with a bow. You come up behind him and plant an arrow in the back of the head from short
range.  I've done it a couple of times, both were hard hit and if I had waited to track them they would have died on there own. But it's nice to be able to finish them so they don' suffer.

Never thought of it. This was the first I have come up on alive and it was kinda a panic mode situation for all involved. Thanks for the info will put it in the memory bank.

[WSU]

Bad idea period. I have done it with a rifle on accident and would never do it intentionally.

[Crunchy]

I spinal tapped an elk.  Dropped in its tracks.  Would have bleed out but i finished off with another arrow.  That was a hunt to remember.

[shootem]

If you are good enough to judge and hit the spine on an elk with an arrow you sure should be good enough to make a wiser shot.

[D-Rock425]

If you are good enough to judge and hit the spine on an elk with an arrow you sure should be good enough to make a wiser shot.

[ridgefire]

Drops them in their tracks but not a spot i would aim for.

[3dvapor]

Ive shot a bull this way.  Its not a good feeling having to shoot him again when hes full aware of whats going on.  The spine sits down at least 6 or so inches from the topp of the back.  Kind of decieving. 

[WA hunter14]

ive killed two bucks with bows... both spine shots. it isnt pretty definately avoid that

[Tbar]

I have pulled 4 broadheads out of spines, all from previous years.  Threads like this make me wish I had photo documented to show how small your actual target is.  They have had varying degrees of penetration including missing vertebra, indicating a very solid and we'll placed shot. I was also present when a follow up spinal shot was attempted (and well placed), the arrow got the spine slightly angled, turned and penetrated the entire length of the backstrap and excited the neck.
This shot, from first hand experience, will undoubtedly result in a fair percentage of lost animals.  Like I said before I wish I had photo documented my experience. 

[h20hunter]

I've done it once with a rifle on a deer. Not pleasant as others have mentioned. I pulled the shot and she dropped. Point blank finish on a bawling animal is unpleasant. You do what needs to be done, and learn from it. I would not intentionally go for the spine.

[lokidog]

We pulled an old green broadhead out of a buck when I was a kid in WI, he had apparently been fighting during the rut and another buck hit him pushing that broadhead the last 1/16 of an inch it needed to sever his spinal cord.

I've hit two elk in the spine, the first was my first ever shot at one, a cow at 10 yards.  She stepped up out of the reprod and I drew back and let my instinct take over.  Unfortunately, my instinct was still stuck in a treestand and I aimed high....  we saw her three days later, fortunately, with a big scabby stain on her but she was still with the herd.  The second was an intentional neck shot as that was the only angle I had after putting an arrow in the back of one lung and the liver.  I can still see that arrow, she turned her head away, I sat up in the grass, drew and let fly, it sailed perfectly, smacked her and head just dropped like a ton of bricks.  Still not a shot I would take intentionally as a first one though.

[LeviD1]

I don't like spine shots at all. One of the first does I shot with my bow I hit in the spine. I was in a treestand and she was about 16 yards up the hill from me. When I hit her she crumbled and rolled to about 3 yards in front of my ladder bawling. Worst feeling ever. I will never forget that. I clipped a lung also but put another in her and she was out within a minute. That experience did make me a better archer though. I practice 10 times more than I used to and have learned a lot more about proper bow tuning.