Neck or behind front quarter

Excluding your bucks you want to shoulder mount.

Who prefers a neck shot to a shot behind front quarter? Which shot is deadlier and puts them down quicker?

I'll take a heart/lung shot, high shoulder shot, or a neck shot, depending on the situation. That high shoulder shot is hard to beat, though.

I like the neck shot.

I prefer the 'Texas Heart Shot'.

Shoulder.

Neck

Best shot thats given.

Inside of 50 yards, I like the neck shot. They go down and don't get back up. It can mess up a lot of meat though on a buck in full rut. High shoulder provides a large target area for a farther/more difficult shot and will usually drop them in their tracks which is a good thing if you don't want to track your animal into dense thorny brush. Again, not the best shot for maximizing meat for the freezer, but if that isn't your objective, it's a great shot to take.

Heart or double lung is best for bow hunters and meat hunters.

Yep! Mrs. B had to take a high shoulder shot on her buck Saturday, she took her last two in the neck.

Neck out to 200 yds.. Shoulder beyond that distance.

I'm a neck shot. Been hittin them in the neck for over 30 years and haven't had one run off yet. I think it makes field dressing not as messy.

I've never neck shot a deer yet, but I'm gonna try it on my next deer. Always seem to lose a few pounds of meat on the shoulder from the exit side

There's some void areas in neck. If you miss spine or main artery he's gone. Seen it many times. Just like people aiming for high shoulder and hitting backstrap, the deer will run off and still live most likely. It's best to hit em where your confident but the best shot to insure death is double lung or heart. Jmo.

Neck shots are deadly but a little risky. If you miss the spine you can leave a nasty wound on a deer that you'll never find. I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard of deer having their teachea blown in two, leading to a slow, miserable death.

My philosophy is if you're a steady shot and can wait for the perfect opportunity, I have no problem with neck shots. But if you are on a limited-time hunt (and/or paying hard-earned cash for your venison) you're better off going for a shot putting the bullet through the chest.

I shoot everything under 750 yards in the neck or face with a rest. If I don't have a rest I have to settle to 500 yards because I get a little shakey

I agree with what's been posted about the neck and it's why I won't take them beyond a certain distance. If I can't hold steady in the center of the neck, I'm not taking that shot. I've lost a couple doe over the years taking neck shots that I shouldn't have attempted to make in hindsight.

I love this! So many world class marksmen out there. I worked at a deer processor for a couple of months while in college. A good percentage of the stuff that got brought in wasn't what anyone would call ideal shot placement.

All shots on THF are taken on deer that are 3.5 yr old and 130 BC and at over 300 yards.

I call

Sarcasm

With your irons no less right?

Heart / lung

Lets say your rifle is average >1 MOA at 100 yds from a bench rest. >1 MOA at 100 yds equals >7.5 MOA at 750 yds. Lets just say a broadside deer's neck is 18 inches wide. Take all that into account and that means you can only miss your exact point of aim by 1.3 inches wih your target at 750 yds and still be able to hit the deer's neck. Not to mention the 115 inches of holdover required to compensate for your .30 cal bullet drop or the 5-10 mph windage adjustment that needs to be made.
In summary: it is possible, however, it is highly unlikely. Either way, the probability of a humane kill would have to be less than 50% which, in my case, means I don't take the shot.

I shoot an ar15 using 55 gr zombie max. Between that and my BSA sweet. 223 scope it makes it real easy.

There is one stand I use that I could shoot out to about 340 yards but don't like to so most from there is 200 or less and always a double lung or heart, This is only my 4th year hunting and can't say 100% I will get a good clean kill other wise. My other stand I can only shoot about 170 yards but most of them are about 100 yards and up till now all have been heart shots but this years I want to try (If I can get one to stand right ) a head shot to get all of the meat I can. But only if I feel great about the shot. I have gotten a lot of training for shooting in the army and the other jobs I have had over the years but too many things can happen out in the woods for me to feel great about shooting the head all of the time.

Just my $.02
John

Neck, shoulder or heart lung it doesn't matter the circumstances determine the choice. I've taken a ton of neck shots and have never had them do anything but go straight down, but I'm picky when I take them. High shoulder when done right has the same effect plus it gives you a bigger target but there is meat loss. Heart/lung gives about the same size target but most do not drop right there and in thick brush means some tracking, in open country you see them fall, plus no meat loss. My experience with all of these leads me to be a little over gunned. I want blood coming out both sides every time. Hitting them with 3000 ft-lbs is better than 1500 ft-lbs if the shot is off a little. I prefer the animal drop instantly and at least two shots guarantee it if you do your part, you hit the spine and it's down. Some will say I've seen them run from a neck shot or a shoulder shot and I don't doubt it but what they're saying is they seen them run from a bad shot. I expect them to run from a heart lung but using enough gun leaves an easy to follow blood trail.

Shot Placement

You may want to look at this, I think it is a pretty good guide. On a neck shot you are dependent on a spinal injury to cause death. The tissue damage is minimal and in the very rare case you hit a vein or artery you may cause death through blood loss but.

I like the Hydrostatic shock effect on heart and lungs...

Good job, Captain Serious, but he was joking.

And 1 MOA is 1 MOA, at any distance. Maybe you meant inches?

The main reason I posted this question is because I shot a doe on opening weekend in the evening. Shot was only 40-45 yards with my .270, 130gr core lot. All I ever use seeing that in my area the furthest shot I have is around 80 yds.

After I shot, which I knew it was a well placed shot, had a smoke in stand then went to look for the blood(she jumped and ran). I found none, nada,zilch. After 4 or more hours of looking that night and next morning never found her.

Went out next weekend and found her, actually buzzards found her for me. I've only been deer hunting for 10 yrs. I'm 46 so got a late start at it. Out of all the deer I've shot I've only had to track 3 and it was easy, find blood and follow, haven't had to go any further than maybe 70-80 yds before they dropped. All the rest had died on impact. All my shots were to the heart/lung area.

I'm really confident in my shooting skills, maybe not so much in my tracking skills now. That was the first deer I've lost and it made me sick to find her a week later. Shot placement was perfect as I could see my bullet hole on her.

How far did she run, and exactly where did the bullet hit her?

^This. I shot a 9 pt. Monday eve. that wouldn't give me a shot. I waited until he looked up and put one right under his chin. He never took a step.

Hit right behind front leg, looked to be a shot that anybody would be proud of. She evidently was doing the death loop. She ended up a little over 100 yds away down in a 2nd draw. She was on right side of feeder and took off to the right into the deep woods then couldn't see her after that, deep woods and losing daylight. She ended up to the left of feeder and about 60 yds back behind. Looked in first draw but not 2nd one. She was headed back to where I had first seen her before she fell

Unless you break the spine...they will run 99% of the time

Captain serious eh? Ya got me. I'm new to the forum and don't know anyone one here. I'm sitting in Africa with nothing better to do right now, but read posts on the hunting forum and update my fantasy football leagues. So pardon me if I can't tell words written on a screen are jokes. I'm anxious to get home and get some hunting in though. For now I will keep posting my comments on here to keep y'all going. And you're right, I should have specified inches at 750 yds, even if anyone who knows what an MOA is already knew I was refering to inches at 750 yds (1 MOA is 1.047 inches to be exact). 1.047 X 7.5 = 7.9 inches at 750 yds. By the way, the little boxing guys mean that I'm joking in case you can't tell by just the words on the screen.

I was giving you a hard time. I'm not as grouchy as everyone thinks I am.

That's what I figured anyway. I like to believe everyone on this forum is happy to read about hunting wrong, right or otherwise. When you're new to a forum where there is a lot of people who are well respected with thousands of posts, you gotta figure they will try you on to see if you fit. Thanks for not ripping me apart. Enjoy the cold front. Someone should cause I can't.

Nobody respects me, just so you know. And you don't have to, either.

Critize all u want. My 25.06 is zero at 300 yds and all my deer bucks and does are head or neck shot. They all drop in their tracks. No looking and no meat lost. If u have confidence in ur weapon and ur ability then use it. Some of us realy can shoot long range.

My 257wby zero at three also, but then again its under 2" high at a 100

If the deer is still and I have time and the distance about 50-70 yards- neck shot- otherwise I've been using a 1/3 up from the bottom- just behind the elbow. Recently I watched a dvd where from the impact it looked like a lot of hunters were taking a high lung or even a shoulder spot- half way up, maybe a little more than half way up- the deer just dropped, quivered and that was that- impressive. It has got me thinking about shot placement. Would like to keep hearing from others.
I think the bullet has a lot to do with results- a fast expanding type. What bullets are working well?

This is all with a .270 using 130 gr core lilt.

I've shot deer at a bit over 100 yds and died on the spot. I've shot em from 40-60 yds and they run about 100 yds.

Shooting thru heart/lungs

I go with the odds of a center of mass lung and heart shot every time. The chances of making an effective clean kill are astronomically higher when shooting at the chest than the neck. First and most obvious, is the much larger size of the vital area of the torso as compared to the neck. A deer's neck is in motion far more often than their chest, they are constantly rasing and lowering their head/neck and looking left to right and behind them. I could go on. The logic is indisputable. The animal will not survive a lung or heart shot.

I think a lung/heart shot is a much more responsible decision.

Logic is indisputable, assuming the animals gives/leaves you ability to recover it.

There is no right wrong or perfect shoot placement, every situation leaves a unique set of intangebles. Its your ability to offset those intangebles with you skills that really matter, because ultimately a quick, efficient, edible animal recovery is what matters most.

I have a different shot for different circumstances. Head/neck on does if within range. Body shots at longer distances or moving targets.

Why wouldn't you be able to recover it? I have never seen or heard of a deer that has been heart or lung shot with a rifle going more than 100 yards. Every deer I have ever shot in my life was heart or lung from 25 out to 400 yards, and found every one of them. Never considered taking a neck shot. God forbid you have to step down out of your comfy warm box blind and actually look for the deer. Oh no!

I shot 2 bucks a week apart in the early 80's, both in the heart. One at 45 yards and he ran 265 steps from a heart shot. The second one was at 265 steps and dropped in his tracks. Both were shot with a 6mm with 105 grain handloads.

100 yards may be a stretch, I admit. Never much more than 200 though.

Good article on the subjet

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2012/09/where-aim-kill-deer-one-shot

You haven't had to track to many deer then in nasty habitat. No animal is the same, I've seen perfect lung hits go 400yards with zero blood, and zero tracks, 400yards isn't fun in very thick brush, and very uneven and rocky terrain. When a deer travels a quarter of a mile you have a much smaller chance of recovery because more intangibles come into play(property boundries, cover, predators, ground, elevation changes)

That time we where lucky and had a dog, or we would of never found that deer, or be able to verify perfect shot placement.

I perfer shots that eliminate their ability to move another step, but even that shot has a different set of intangibles, that can be disputed.

Like I said there is no perfect shot, they each have a different set of issues.

I shot 140 grain ballistic tips out of my 270 for several years shot 4 bucks behind the shoulder 3 fell dead 1 ran quite a ways. Every deer is different.

Like bobo said terrain and brush can make tracking very difficult. Dad shot a 235 lb boar last weekend. We went into the brush to find it late with slipping light and couldn't find it. Next morning I walked to where we stopped the night before and could see him laying there not 15 feet away.

Sholder shot... break um down

They can't run very far without any running gear under the front end.

I like neck shots

The article does a decent job listing a few cons of each. Its up to us to weigh and try to eliminate those cons as much as possible. . Every shot opportunity is unique and different, and every peice of property is unqiue and different. Its up to the individual hunter to use his best judgement to help eliminate those intangibles via his shot placement.

If the mountain terrain of Gunnison National Forest or the cactus filled desert of west Texas isn't nasty habitat I dont know what is. Lots of times when we have an elk at the top of a big canyon, we let that sucker go because we know what's in that canyon. Know the area you hunt, know the terrain, know your weapon and know your own limitations. A double lung shot with a high powered rifle will kill a deer 100% of the time . 100% guaranteed. If that isn't perfect I dont know what is. If you can't handle the terrain you shot the deer in well enough to find it, you have no business hunting it. The vital area of the neck is a tiny and often times moving target; one or two inches off and you miss or wound the animal. Many outside factors outside of your skill level with a rifle can effect your shot placement. The torso is a big target with a huge area of vitals. What's to argue there. The point is to kill the animal effectively, not to make it easier on yourself. If you want something easy, take up another sport.

I can see many of you like to argue with reason. I don't doubt that maybe once upon a time you saw a deer with bullet holes through both lungs run 400 yards through rough terrain making it difficult to find. That is a rare, outlying, 0.01% of the time event that does not reinforce your point very well at all. That's your prerogative though.

We can point-counterpoint until we are blue in the face. I can come up with points all day long, it's what I do. I won't tell you you are flat out wrong, but I won't agree with you either.

This is what this forum is here for after all.

I really don't want to shoot in the shoulder, being a meat hunter that seems to be just to much waste.

Not much to waste there other than tendons and bone... I feed them to the dogs they enjoy it more than I would.

Yup. There's just as much edible meat on the neck.

I laugh every time I hear about wasting meat on a shoulder shot.

Y'all don't eat the ribs?

First did I avocate necks shots any where in my posts? Second All I simply said was lung shoot isn't always the best bet of recovery. nothing more nothing less, your the one agruing lung/heart shot is be all end all. I bow hunt 90% of the time now all over the US, so I'm sure my tracking skills are up to par

I spent lots of time in the high country of San Jaun and Rio Grande NF's and tracking there is a lot easier then tracking a <200lb whitetail in the thick brush of webb and Zapata counties.

My point is lung shot isn't the end all be all shot. Killing an animal is one thing finding it is another. If you're with in a quarter of a mile of a property line or even 100yards , is that really the shot you want to take, even if you have the opportunity for a high shoulder or quartering to crease of the shoulder/neck shot?


Oh and I'm not agrueing with you at all just simply pointing out all situations are different

Then what are you advocating? Taking "the best available shot" is irresponsible at best. Saying "they run 99% of the time if the spine isn't broken." You saying a spine shot is most effective then? Yeah, that's true, they won't run with a broken spine.

If you dont have "the best possible shot" do not take the shot. A neck, head or spine shot is never the best possible shot. It is a gamble. I do not like to gamble when I hunt, I find it unethical. I think the "best possible shot" is the shot that provides the largest vital target and will always kill the animal, no matter what. That shot is the chest/heart/lung shot. The high shoulder shot that both destroys the lung tissue and breaks the spinal column is also ideal. On that I think we can agree.

You say killing a deer and finding a deer is one thing, finding is another. You have to kill the deer first and foremost or you just go home empty handed. Killing effectively is paramount in hunting. Finding it is your second task.

If you bow hunt 90% of the time how could you argue that the chest shot isn't the end all be all? If you aim at anything other than the chest with a bow, that is just fundamentally wrong. I assume we are just talkin about rifles here.

Intangibles are a given, always, yes. But why argue a point based on intangibles? If too many intangibles come into play, don't take the shot.

A high shoulder shot hits the lungs, a quartering to chest shot hits the lungs (probably the deadliest shot I ever made on a deer was a quartering to "crease of the shoulder" shot... nothing left of the heart and lungs, massive blood loss...)

You make many valid points, but they do not discredit my own.

I think that horse just twitched, ya'll need to beat him a little more.

Meth....not even once.

750 yards WOW realy, I think not.

Not trying to discredit yours just simply saying there are other options, and the heart lung isn't the end all be all, it just another option with a different set of intangibles that may not always be the best option.

High shoulder and high crease of the shoulder neck are so effective because the break the spine, any thing else is a by product of the larger margin of error of those shots offer

And yes ill take the shot given. 1st preference is neck shoulder crease, 2nd is high shoulder, third any angle to get to the far arm pit/shoulder.

BIL- is kind of a big deal in the long range world. In fact between paper, unfriendlies and big game, I wouldn't bet against him. He is a highly accredited shooter, with a few books out there.

You should PM him and take one of his FREE shooting classes.

Never say never. I used to enjoy playing baseball, 90' from third base to home plate, 30 yards. If a deer is standing on homeplate most ball players from third base could hit the deer in the head BUT IF YOU USE A RIFLE it is an unsure shot. For a hog or doe standing still- I don't see why a head or neck shot at a close range isn't okay.
On the cover- depends on the terrain to me. Most of Texas is pretty open but if you are in the extreme eastern area, or any place the cover is so thick you can't see your feet- a deer that crawls under a bush and dies could be tough to find. Dropping a deer then has some advantages. As I said, the 1/3 up and just behind the elbow is my standard shot.

That's uncalled for. I don't appreciate that at all.

It was a joke. I should have known better than to think you had a sense of humor.

I do. That was just uncalled for and out of place. More of an insult than a joke. May be funny to you, not me.

"Not trying to discredit yours just simply saying there are other options, and the heart lung isn't the end all be all, it just another option with a different set of intangibles that may not always be the best option.

High shoulder and high crease of the shoulder neck are so effective because the break the spine, any thing else is a by product of the larger margin of error of those shots offer

And yes ill take the shot given. 1st preference is neck shoulder crease, 2nd is high shoulder, third any angle to get to the far arm pit/shoulder."



Fair enough. I guess I just have my set of ideal shots that I wait for. Otherwise, I will pass on the animal. I don't take what's given unless it is what I am comfortable with, which in my case is heart luck shot and nothing else. To each his own.

Your preaching is uncalled for.

Just making my point. Don't think it was uncalled for at all. That's what forums are for. Well, that and being a condescending smarta** apparently.

Agreed

I took a hill country buck several years back that had been shot in the neck previously and survived. He was extremely malnourished and smelled god awful. That ruined the neck shot for me forever.

I almost always go for double lung/heart myself but the instant drop of the shoulder shot can be awfully tempting even if I have to sacrifice a little meat.