I'm curious if any of y'all shoot for the neck. in gun season I typically do on the does, but I'm referring to a bow? reason I ask is a buddy of mine uses a crossbow and only shoots for the neck. swears he has never had a deer walk away from a hit.

me, I feel it might be to risky or unethical to attempt it with a bow

Personally, I wouldn't do it with a bow.

I shot a doe in the neck once and dropped her. This was with a rifle though. No blood at all. If she would have ran i would have never found her probably. I stick with the high shoulder shot now! The neck works for alot of people that use rifles. I wouldnt try it with a bow though.

They dnt run because you hit the bone and it paralizes them...then they sit there and die a slow death...if you were to miss the neck bone theres nothing but meat mainly...the deer will run off and will most likley not be found....rifle or bow not an ethical shot..IMO

I agree, it is not worth the risk

Don't do it! A family friend shot a buck at our ranch last year in the neck. It dropped and stayed down for about 2 minutes. It then got up and ran into the brush. All we found was a small puddle of blood where it went down and nothing else. There was no blood trail we could find. It was frustrating to say the least.

I wouldn't try it with a bow, but it's just about the only shot I'll take with a rifle. They drop on the spot and die quickly with a 165 grain 30.06 round.

Neck shot is a great shot....don't know why your saying it isn't ethical. Every deer I have ever neck shot has dropped DEAD in it's tracks.... Not sure where you get that about them dying a slow death....

Neck shot in my opinion with a rifle is a great shot......Now with a bow, I am not sure.

not but bow but with 223

You got a throat and neck bone...if your off by just a bit...you hit neck meat and its just a bad wound....iv seen plenty of people shoot a deer in the neck and they hit the ground and lay there screamin because there just paralized....this is not an ethical shot.IMO..i would never recomend this shot to anyone....yes it can work but there is alot of room for error...there is no reason to shoot for the neck when you have a group of vitals to shoot for...

It's a good thing I don't listen to reccomendations because the neck shot is all I take. Messes up less meat.

I was going to post almost this exact thing. Well said

What meat? the ribs?? sholders are just sausage meat anyway

what caliber are your friends shooting to leave deer screaming in pain on the ground from a neck shot. Perhaps a bigger caliber or better round. A FMJ round may not mushroom enough to cause catastrophic damage I've killed dozens with a neck shot. Dad, Grandpa, and others have also killed dozens more each with a neck shot.

Never had to trail one, never had to finish one off. Always dead on the spot. Until I see different from my own eyes, I'm killing my deer with a neck shot.

Now if I can get my wife to stop taking the behind the shoulder shots. I get tired of dragging the dang deer out of the cedars or chasing a blood trail. I shoot mine and have them drop in a spot where they are easy to get the truck to for loading.

Neck shots with bullets is based off bullet fragmenting and causing massive tissue damage.

With a broad you have a 2in spine and 1/4 inch target...that's it...stupid shot with a bow.


I take lots of neck shots but only use fast small cal.... BT, GK..ect are best suited for neck shots in small cal.

I would not take a next shot with a big bore

Iv seen incedents with neck shot from a .223 to a 7mm... i know plenty of people do this and im sure its worked for you many times..but i still wnt ever teach anyone to take this shot...just makes more since to shoot for vitals....when im guiding this comes up more than anything...and the answer is always the same if they hunt with me they shoot for vitals end of story..

Guess I won't be hunting with you....because as long as I have been hunting....not sure of your age, but I have been hunting deer since 1977 at the age of 7. Neck shot every time...

All depends on the situation..culling does yes majority neck shots...

Big buck and thick stuff infront of him high shoulder.

Walking away/ quartering away...last rib to opposite shoulder.

Quartering to me...right at the neck crease meets shoulder.


The only marginal ethics question on this thread is neck shot with bow...which is stupid...and probably started to troll...looks like its working

Im still young I will admit...but have been in tha field and had plenty of experiance to know what im doing, i wouldnt be having this debate with you if i just felt iffy on the situation...we all have our methods of doing things... and sounds like this is paying off for you...but this is not a good shot to teach to a new hunter i guess is were my debate is...

I've only made that shot twice with my slug gun. I felt it was a big enough caliber and felt confortable with it. I would do it again if needed.

+1, but been hunting longer. Never had to track a neck shot. Tracked several shoulders, thus, I switched. Same on pigs.

Inly deer I've ever had to track of my own was one I shot behind the shoulder last year. Tracked him half the night. Only found a few small drops of blood right where I shot him and a few more over a 20 yard stretch. In the dark. Found him the next morning with a buzzard on top of him. I tagged him because it was the right thing to do.

I guess if I get unlucky and have one screaming in pain on the ground from a broken neck I'll administer a finishing shot. Much better outcome for me than spending all night trailing one, but I'm darn sure going to get to eat the next one instead of the buzzards getting him.

I'm 38, not an expert by any means, but again, I've never seen anything but an instant kill from a neck shot. 30.06 165 grain Remington core-lokt pointed soft point It makes a small entry hole and a 2-3 inch exit hole.

I shoot for the neck if it's close, 100 yards or less. I'll will say that it doesn't always kill them instantly, but they do fall in their tracks. Sometimes it just take a minute or so for them to die. IMO it doesn't takes as long for them to die as if shot behind the shoulder. That being said, I doubt that they are going to feel as much because they're paralysed compared to being shot in the vitals. I would not recommend this shot to anyone because it does take precise shooting to hit the spine, but use it most of the time, definitly not with a bow though.

. can someone start a poll, this is intresting