I test a pile of new compound bows every year, shooting thousands of arrows in the process. As a result, I go through many targets. Delta McKenzie sent me its 3D Big Daddy Buck several years back. I still have that target, and it still stops arrows. The target resembles a large whitetail buck and comes with universal scoring rings on one side and a single vital ring on the other. The foam is self-healing, and when an arrow hits the target, even one from a bow designed for speed, the arrow doesn't destroy it.
That's why I didn't need another McKenzie Buck target. Mine still works just fine. However, the updated and newly released Big Daddy 3D X-Ray Series has one significant difference from the old model—an integrated QuivAR-branded NFC Chip. The small chip in the target pairs with an app to show a 360-degree view of the deer's (your target) internal anatomy on your phone. The app even allows you to add and remove bones and organs to see exactly where you placed your arrow. Once I learned about this awesome technology, I had to test this new target. Here's my full review.
Delta McKenzie X-Ray Series Target Overview
Specs
Shoulder Height: 41 inches
Height to Head: 54 inches
Width: 48 inches
Price: $349.99
Activating the QuivAR target technology was easy. The first step was to download and open the QuivAR app. Then I clicked the Active Target button and tapped the QuivAR chip on the target like you'd tap to pay with your credit card. The second you tap, a square QuivAr QR-code-looking box comes up. You don't have to click a thing; keep the box centered on the NFC Chip, and in less than a second, you're looking at the exact internal anatomy of a whitetail deer.
Target manufacturers have created foam targets with exposed internal anatomy. One example is Rinehart's Anatomy Deer, which I shot for years. However, the new Delta McKenzie X-Ray Series takes internal anatomy to another level. While looking at my phone, I get a 360-degree view of the internal anatomy of a deer. I can stand above the target, look down through it from the top, and evaluate where vitals sit via quartering-away and quartering-toward angles.
Best of all, the QuivAR app allows users to add and remove bones and internal organs. More to come on this. QuivAR has partnered with Delta McKenzie and BIGshot Archery Targets to offer several X-Ray Series 3D targets in 2025, including elk, axis deer, mule deer, and more.
Testing The Big Daddy X-Ray Series
After familiarizing myself with the app (which takes about 10 seconds, and I'm not tech savvy), I stepped back to 40 yards and sent an arrow into the target. It's also worth noting that there is nothing to break—no batteries, no on/off switches, and no internal parts. Like the original Big Daddy, the target stops arrows dead. My first shot was .75 inches left of the 12-ring. The shot, 3D scoring-wise, was a solid 10, but I don't care about the score. I shoot 3D targets to prepare for shots at game animals.
Walking around the target, I activated the NFC Chip with the QuivAR App and instantly could tell my arrow was above the heart but in the center of the lung. As I've shot the target for nearly a month now, I find it helpful to clear all the internal anatomy before examining arrow placement. Do this by turning all the red-labeled tabs (skeleton, humerus, heart, lungs, liver, other) gray. Next, click on the tab where you think your arrow is and see if you're right. If you are, great; if not, start clicking other organs around it.
So far, I've had zero glitches or problems with the chip or the app. The target stays outside and has been exposed to wind, dust, rain, snow, and sub-zero temperatures. Every time I activate the app via the NFC Chip, it works like a charm.
Using the X-Ray Series Target to Evaluate Shot Placement
I shot my biggest whitetail two years ago, less than a mile from home. The 173-inch buck was my number one deer going into the season, and as the sun set into the western sky on the balmy evening of October 23, the buck I'd named Too Tall came into my artificial pond to for a drink. The shot was 27 yards. I settled my 30-yard pin low and executed. I wasn't shooting a lighted nock and lost my arrow in flight. All I had to go off of was the deer's angle, where I held my pin, and where I thought the impact was. I spied a tuft of hair pop up and caught a bit of red before the buck dove into a thick tamarisk patch.
With cold temps forecasted overnight, I opted to leave the buck. If I had the Big Daddy X-Ray Series Buck in my backyard, I would've walked out and stuck an arrow right where I believed I hit the deer. I still would've given the buck all night, but I would've felt better about my shot placement. Having this target in your arsenal allows you to learn the internal anatomy of a whitetail deer and put an arrow where you think (or know) you hit your buck and then decide your next move.
The more you shoot the target from different angles, even out of a treestand, the more you'll learn the exact anatomy of a whitetail deer. Now, for the first time, I can look at an arrow in the target through my binos, and know for sure I'm in heart, lungs, liver, guts, etc. I would've killed for this technology when I was new to whitetail hunting.
Self-Healing Foam Allows for Easy Arrow Removal
Delta McKenzie isn't going to give up its recipe, but their foam is remarkable. I've shot loads of lesser 3D targets, and I despise them. Two targets, I recall, lasted less than 20 arrows. I even used a knife to cut around the foam that melted to my arrows and hacked both targets into pieces. If I can't pull out a carbon arrow—even one traveling over 330 fps—I am unimpressed.
I've shot the Big Daddy X-Ray Buck from five yards to 130 yards with micro-diameter and standard-sized arrows. All were pulled easily from the target, and as the field point or broadhead came out, the foam immediately closed over. The target handles mechanical broadheads locked in the fixed position remarkably well. I no longer hunt with fixed-blade broadheads, so I can't report how well the Big Daddy X-Ray handles them. However, I sent several Muzzy Trocars into the OG Big Daddy, which I started shooting in 2019, and it is still going strong.
Whether you're looking for an excellent 3D target to add to your collection or are searching for your first 3D target, I can't recommend this one enough. I'd gladly pay the extra $100 for the Big Daddy X-Ray over the original, and I have plans this summer to drop some more money and purchase the Elk X-Ray Series because I'm an elk addict, and I love what I'm seeing and learning from this new target technology.
