How to Kill a Deer With a Pistol Crossbow
- 1). Select a hunting area where you are likely to have deer come within a range of 15 yards. While hunters using compound bows and rifle crossbows often take shots up to 40 or 50 yards, the pistol crossbow has less power and the bolt, or arrow, will lose energy quickly.
- 2). Load the bolt into the crossbow. Be sure that the safety mechanism is engaged so that you do not accidentally fire the crossbow.
- 3). Wait for an optimum shot at a deer. The best opportunity to fell the deer will come with the deer in a position quartering away from you. This means the deer is facing away but still presenting its side to you.
- 4). Aim the pistol crossbow at the area directly behind the deer's front shoulder. Placement of the shot should be vertically at the center of the deer's body or an inch or so below center. This shot, once penetrating the rib cage, will strike the deer in the lungs and/or heart and result in a quick, humane kill.
- 5). Release the safety and pull the trigger of the pistol crossbow to fire the bolt. Be sure to take note of where the deer was located when you shot at it and where you last see it if it runs off. This will help with a quick recovery of the animal.
Source...