Head shots are even worse. Have you ever seen a deer that had it's lower jaw shot off?
That isn't a pretty sight after a couple of days barely enough strength to walk since it can't eat or drink and what amazed me is that the coyotes hadn't finished the job eating the deer alive.
That said, I've taken one spike buck with a neck shot several years back that was walking straight at me and I didn't want to shoot through the length of it's body so I aimed for the neck just below the head.

The anti-neck shot argument of bad shots can be applied to any target area... I've never seen a deer with a neck wound like the one in that photo before. There is proof it happens. I have seen deer with a front leg blown off at the knee. I have seen gut shot deer that died in a stock tank... No shot is fail proof. Regardless of your preference - careful, comfortable, confident shots are the key.

big thing with neck shots is you have to break the neck bone. otherwise the deer will get back up and run off. many times folks will crease the top of the neck which means deer will also bleed very little and be very difficult to track.

I too used to shoot all deer in the neck. some higher on neck, some lower. whatever felt right at the time.

I now shoot all my deer tight to the front leg behind the front shoulder. I don't like to shoot in the shoulder because it shatters the shoulder blades and is just messy to clean up. right behind the front shoulder is a big target, you've easily got a 10in bullseye there. very forgiving. put a decent size bullet thru the engine room of any deer and they will not run far or at all, and if they do go anywhere they will bleed and be easy to track.

neck shooting especially becomes tougher when you're talking about lg mature deer. big mature bucks have big thick necks which means you can make a fairly solid neck hit without actually hitting the neck bone and lose a nice deer. my dad shot a nice mature 8t a couple yrs ago, neck shot it, deer went down but wasn't dead. neck bone was not broken. luckily for him...deer was disabled enough that he didn't run off, was able to finish what he started. I've heard of plenty other folks losing nice deer though to botched neck shots.

for me it used to be a point of marksmanship that I could hit that...now from a management perspective...I want a shot that's as foolproof as possible. not that I can't shoot or that I can't hit the neck....I just don't want to take a chance.

get a good bonded bullet and shoot them behind the shoulder. I shoot a .270 150grn nosler partition. I get a caliber size entrance with an exit about the size of a 50cent piece or slightly smaller. deer are dead right there, or go maybe 15-20yds. leaving a trail a blind man could follow. nothing lost except a little rib meat. I think truthfully most deer have more meat to be had on the neck than they do on 2-3 busted ribs.

I don't think anybody really knows the answer to that. You ever see a deer that has a front leg shot off? Have you ever missed a deer while aiming at the body? Does anybody ever really know that it was a clean miss? If zero blood/hair/etc. and the animal doesn't react in any way to suggest it was hit then I'm going to chalk it up as a miss. Yes I have always gotten down after a suspected "miss" to look for anything that would suggest a hit. To the best of my knowledge the worst I have done is split ones ear on a missed head shot. the deer ran a short distance stopped shook her head looked around and trotted off. I could see the top about 2 inches of her ear was split.(looking back I wouldn't take that shot now)

I'm not saying it is better than any other shot or trying to convince anyone or everyone else to use it but it works. I have also shot a deer in the guts accidentally when going for a shoulder shot and it wasn't because the deer moved or any other reason than I pulled the shot. Countless deer are lost every year to body shots. If I do my part I don't feel bad about taking neck shots under certain situations. In that last several years most of the shots don't meet my requirements to feel comfortable taking a neck shot so I don't. Yes I feel bad for that deer with the hole in its neck just like I would for one with a shot off leg or a chunk blown off its brisket or the top of its back.

Any shot taken is about shot placement. The smaller the target area is in size like the head or neck the more chances of something bad happening. The larger the area the more room for a slight miss ending up a dead deer. Deer move when feeding and people tend to rush their shot. People still should practice the shot they are taking at the range under hunting type conditions if they can. Most people don't even pick up their rifle till they head to the lease the first day they hunt of the season. I have missed a few deer in my life and sadly, I have wounded a handful that I did not find. Some of those I got lucky and killed later that same season.

true that. any shot can go wrong. and anyone who's never missed or never had a shot go wrong just hasn't shot enough deer. eventually it will happen.

I've never taken a neck shot, if it's a Buck I take his shoulder out..can't run with no wheels, if you are not confident with your equipment and not capable of taking the shot..simple don't take it. I've seen deer shot in the neck, stomach, azz, hip, back, leg, jaw..because people never stay on top of the equipment or stay tuned in and are not confident. Got one guy that had to bring in a tracker because he shot a nice Buck 2 or 3 years ago in the flank at 100 yds, shot a axis and never recovered it, I promise you when I inquire is his Glass tuned In his answer is always..man this Rifle is money..SMH..Simple.. some people can reach the green in two and some people need to lay up.

I can attest almost every shot I think I have made that didn't go as planned was rushed. As a younger hunter it took some bad experiences to get that perspective under control. I also think in some degree shooting at hogs made me loose some of my control for an un rushed shot.

I wanted to shoot the deer I shot this year the day before I shot him, but he was trotting off. The thought crossed my mind and the crosshairs fell on his shoulder and im glad I never took it off safety. I don't know how that shot would have panned out he could have fallen dead or who knows.

That doe in the picture looks in poor shape, (hip bones and rib bones showing) probably a coyote or two not far behind.

That was only 7 days or so after she was shot. Was told to watch for buzzards since they had lost a deer from a neck shot that was not very far from where this pic was taken.

I hadn't shot as many deer as a lot of you. But ever deer I've ahot in the shoulder ran at least some distance. Every deer I've neck shot fell straight down. At the place I hunt (family farm) my wife's cousin has a few stand set up all around the property because for years he was the only one hunting there. I got pigeon holed into one area because I didn't want to encroach on his stands (I'll discuss it with him after this season) anyways. That put me directly on a property line. I don't know the neighbors and have no idea where they live. I'm not going to track a deer on property I don't have permission to be on. Because of this, my feeder this year is set up at about 50 yards so I can confidently take neck shots. I need any deer I shoot this year to drop on the spot. If there is a better place to shoot a deer to anchor it where it stands, I'd gladly switch. But in my experience, neck shots do it.

I agree. I catch heck because I am so adamant about some things around here. But, I do not feel I am hard-headed just for the sake of being hard-headed (although many would disagree).

Neck shots are one of those things. I don't think they should be taken 99% of the time:

1)the neck is small;
2)it moves a lot.

It's just a piss poor shot. This weekend I looked at several deer through my scope set at 11x as they were calmly feeding in a food plot 100 yards away. That neck is small as heck compared to the shoulder and they move it a lot. Just the way it is-all the sharpshooting expertise, blah, blah, blah, is not going to change that.

Most of my hunting has been in south Texas. It's thick, thorny, and what doesn't have thorns has fangs.
I drop my deer in their tracks with a high point of shoulder shot. It's about hitting a lot of bone and disrupting or disconecting the electrical system of the deer.
A proper high shoulder shot will drop them in their tracks which means no tracking.
Maybe STX can post his picture of where to hit them!

Then there you have it

Don't take the shot

I'd actually appreciate that. I'm not opposed to changing my ways.

Found this one!

With the proper bullet you won't mess up that much meat.

Thanks. Ive always been taught me to shoot for vitals on a shoulder shot. Halfway down the body. Those are the ones I've had to track. But dad taught me to shoot neck to anchor them back when I was a youngun.

I use this shot on any ranch I have been on in the state. I hate to track deer then have to drag the back to where I can get a Ranger or Mule to them. When placed right, it puts them down period. One year I had 1.5% of the deer I killed leave the spot where they were hit. That 1.5% I found 100% of those with a tracking job into thick brush.
This shot is the one I like and it can be a tad higher on some deer not as bulky in the front shoulders. My second favorite shot is placed in the same spot only with the deer quartering to me.

Now if you are a bowhunter that shot is a NO, NO!
You want to avoid heavy bones. Just too much that can go wrong!

If you watch enough and have deer standing broadside you can actually see a "point" or bump in the deer's shoulder in this area where you need to place the shot. This shot has worked for me for over 20 yrs now but others have shots that work for them.

I prefer neck shots if done right there is no tracking. I shoot them where the neck meets the shoulder in the upper third of the neck. I really like a quartering to me neck shot where it exits behind the off side shoulder they are dead very quick. No sense in tracking a deer .

Been deer hunting for 35 years. I have shot them behind the shoulder, high shoulder, various quartering shots as well as two neck shots. The neck shots were on close range bucks looking directly at me. So , I believe , as a seasoned hunter, its ok to improvise within the limits of your marksmanship. Cover, terrain, daylight, distance, as well as angle should be factored into the decision. My $.02

its up to the shooter, you need to be honest with yourself about your shooting ability, if your not 100% comfortable with that shot don't take it.

I prefer them with a rifle...

you guys do what you want. I shoot them in the butt, right where the tail meets the arse end, in the top 1/3rd. He can't run without his jumpers if you break his spine and disable the back legs.