At Marksman we always try to develop our shooting simulator software with 3 ideas in mind: realism, ethics and safety.

In our 5.2 release, this is what we had in mind when we developed the new roe deer discipline: true-to-life anatomy, gender selection, reaction to the shot depending on the impact, jumps, etc.

Roe deer anatomy

In order to understand the reaction of a roe deer depending on the impact position, let us see what a roe deer looks like on the inside. Here is the anatomy of a roe deer:

What is commonly called low chest includes the lungs and the heart of an animal.

Roe deer reactions to a shot

Leg shots

Let’s start with an easy one. Let’s see what happens when you hit the legs of a roe deer.

When one of the legs of the roe deer is hit, he will run away crippled on 3 legs.

High chest shot

When shooting at a roe deer, you want to make sure your shot is safe and clean. Hitting the high chest zone of a roe deer will make it drop on the spot. This is a perfect shot!

Low chest shot

This shot is the reason why you should always check if you hit or missed the target. Most of the time you will see the animal run away and disappear. Beware, it won’t last long and will drop usually within 20 to 50 meters. Always check your shot !

When hit on the low chest zone (heart and lungs), a roe deer will leap in the air and run away for a short time before falling over.

Liver shot

This shot is the one you don’t want to make, as it will injure the roe deer. It will run away crippled for a long time. Don’t forget that on a running target, the aiming point is NOT the impact point. You need to work on your lead to make sure to understand where to aim in order to hit a roe deer perfectly. The Marksman shooting simulator does just that, with its replay and hit position analysis, depending on your ballistics, the animal speed, distance and direction.

When hit on the liver, a roe deer will kick out lightly and run away crippled.

Kidney shot

As you can see on the anatomy of a roe deer, the kidneys are pretty small, therefore easy to miss. It is definitely not a zone to aim for. Yet the shot isn’t a bad one as it will make a roe deer fall over shortly.

When hit on the kidney, a roe deer will slow down, wait and fall over.

Conclusion

Checking your shot and the reaction of the animal can give you a fairly good idea of the result. Roe deers are difficult to shoot; they rarely run on a straight line, they sometimes jump. If you are not confident in your shot, it might be worth giving a chance to the roe deer to run free.

Training again and again with raise your skills, your safety and your ethics. Present in more than 40 countries worldwide, the Marksman shooting simulator will help you do just that thanks to its unbeatable accuracy and its strong analysis.