I took my first neck shot two weeks ago on a cow elk. Ranged her at 103 yds. I went in to this hunt planning to do so. The reason why was because I didn’t want to ruin any meat and I was confident of what I and my gun could do. I saw her and 6 other cows come out of the creek bottom, pause before entering the opening I was sitting over. They began to trot through the open, whne I decided to cow call at them to stop them. They stopped and turned. Shot was placed mid way up the neck. She did dropped right where I shot her. I was pleased. Will it always work that way, no. I would be foolish to think so. It’s hunting. Nothing is ever guaranteed with human error involved. Will I try this shot again? Yes, if the shot is presented to me. If not, high shoulder it is. To each their own. Do what you are comfortable with.

Okay, so what did that hunter do wrong? How did the deer not drop? To close to the throat area and not the neck? Remember guys, I'm just trying to educate myself before I try it. I do NOT want to have that happen when I pull the trigger.

That doesn't look like a pass through shot. Looks like she was shot at an angle and it took a piece of meat out of her neck.

No kidding. Last evening a big 20" wide 10pt popped out of the brush very cautiously. Only presented a neck shot. I choked. No Kawop, no blood. I'm pretty depressed. Should have waited for a broadside shot

Have to say. I havent been that shaky in years. Buck fever hit me like a brick to the head. Havent had the jitters in years. The buck was a stud. Searched for over an hour and nada.

I like to jump out of the bushes and tackle them with knife the best. You can go for the neck or shoulders if your good with a big knife.

The big boys sometimes don't give you much else.

On the plus side, it's good to get buck fever every few years. Let's you know your still alive and kickin'.

I shoot all my does in the neck with my 338 lapua. Never had one run off. DRT every time.

There was a time in my 40+ years of deer hunting that I would always look for the neck shot 1st. You know, "less damaged meat", "drop them right there", "if you miss it will be a clean miss - no wounded deer" ...all the typical reasons I'd heard when I was young. At the time, I shot regularly, almost weekly, and was very confident in my shooting skills. In fact I never missed.....until one day I did, but only by a couple inches. I won't go through the details, but I never found the deer. That was 30+ years ago. That was my last neck shot. These days I only shoot broadside or quartering away and would rather let a deer walk than risk wounding it and not finding it. Bottom line is the heart-lung area is a much, much larger target area, and the deer is just as dead.

To me, it's more about conserving and respecting the animals. Killing a deer just for the benefit of the coyotes and buzzards is not something I'm into.

I've seen this happen before. Looks like a ballistic tip that exploded on impact

Hunter took the shot when she was facing him. Said she turned at the same time he pulled the trigger. You can see the esophagus. A 1.5” Target is a 1.5” Target....doesn’t matter what angle you are shooting at it. “Clean miss” can mean slow death....

I am sick to my stomach. Didn't sleep well at all. Figured that's my buck for the year. If I cant find him or dont see him again, tough. Sucks. Been seeing deer this morning like a big dog. Colder than I thought. Fixin' to go look some more after the morning hunt. Who knows, he may come back if only slightly grazed.

Ive been watching some good deer this morning. Nothing like that 10pt though. I thought I was too jaded to get buck fever. I guess not. So, I got that goin' for me, which is kinda' nice

I've felt that sickness Erathkid. Anyone that don't feel ill when they lose a deer probably shouldn't be hunting them. But you should only feel sick if you know you had a hit.

Hope he shows up for you again.

I have always learned just not to shoot them there. I would rather have a bigger target like a shoulder or behind the shoulder shot than a a smaller target like that.

How many deer are shot in the boiler room and lost each season? Im not saying that the neck shot is the best target for everyone, but it has worked great for me. If your gun sits in the safe for 9 months out of the year and deer season is the only time you shoot it then yes boiler room may be your best shot. It's all has to do with how confident you are with a smaller target.

Every doe I've ever shot was a neck shot and they all dropped where they were standing....... until 2 weeks ago. It was an easy shot at 120 yards. She had her head down eating corn when I pulled the trigger and she started raising her head. When she jumped and took off I just knew I had blown it. After about 45 minutes I climbed down and walked to the feeder and found blood on the ground. I followed a small blood trail for about 50 yards and then ran out of trail. It was getting dark so I called the camp and 4 guys came out to help. One had a light that shows blood and we picked up the trail again. We tracked her from 5:30 that afternoon until 7:45 that night before we found her. One of the guys had a GPS unit with him and it showed she made 1,134 yards before she finally bled out. Still. that's the only one that's run in all the years I've been hunting.

Yeah anytime I take a doe I neck shoot it.

On my camera 2 weeks later.

I use to neck shoot deer when I hunted with 223 and 22-250. Grunt, whistle, shout whatever it takes to get them to look at you. Horizontal cross hair on the throat patch where brown and white meet and vertical cross hair centered on the neck. Bang flop maybe a little bit of kicking but they all died where they fell. It's not for everyone but its an option if you're confident in you shooting ability.