I was taught as a kid to shoot right behind the front leg, that was 40 yrs ago. For the last 15yrs I have been lining up with the front of the front leg and high point of the shoulder or even a couple inches higher and getting anchoring shots. I shot a good buck last week that took a 215 berger from my 300PRC at 100yds and ran 40yds fast before he fell, I was about 2 inches further back than I normally would have liked to been. This is the only animal that hasn't fell in his tracks in the past 10yrs. I shot a stone sheep ram at 427yds and a mnt goat at 611yds in British Columbia in October that dropped dead. Except the ram rolled over 500yds into a aspend tree. What do you guys feel like is the best shot placement?

If you're looking for the biggest target with the most forgiveness/allowance for margin of error its hard to argue with center-punching the front shoulder or some variation of it. this will usually drop an animal in its tracks but you may have a few go a small distance that aren't hard to find. This is where i was taught as a kid to aim and where i've taught my kids to aim. After i grew up some more and found some confidence in my marksmanship from the blind i shot some deer in the neck or even head to make the cleaning easier. I've circled back to shooting them in the body though. Myself...i usually try to get tight behind the front shoulder to avoid blasting the shoulder blades. in general though i'm capable of more precise accuracy but i figure by the time i'm pulling down on an animal i'm looking for the most certain harvest i can get and or a shot that will provide me the best odds of recovery if the shot doesn't go exactly right.

and here we go -

The high shoulder is a good one, but every time I have taken it, I destroy a lot of shoulder meat. I don't take the same shot every time. Depending on the animal and the position that they are in, I might take a neck shot, high shoulder, or traditional center of vitals. More often than not, I go for center vitals.

I have been shooting the high shoulder, point of the shoulder or quartering to shoulder crease shot the last 29 yrs now. I do not like tracking deer.

Behind the shoulder but high shocks the spine.....I have never lost a game animal.....44 years

I aim behind the front shoulder like an archery shot period on deer, they may move a few yards but I’ve never lost one in 40 years of shooting them this way. Hit them with a 500 plus grain projectile and it doesn’t much matter. I hit a pig in the guts with a round from a Nitro Express Saturday and it crumpled like a head shot, it all depends on the amount of energy transferred to the victim and the amount of shock the bullet transfers to the closest vital organ or spine. I’m a big fan of chunking large lead but I tend to be a bit overzealous at times

I wasn't trying to pop the corn! I'm going to keep taking that high shoulder shot just as I've had great results with lots of animals. Just trying to have a civil discussion, but i was amazed that the 12 point buck ran 40 yds when 95% of the time they just fall straight down and don't move.

I’ve shot deer and pigs with a 750g bullet from a BMG and had them both run up to a hundred yards, like humans animals have an uncanny way of going into survival mode at times so I wouldn’t put to much thought into it. Stick with what works and expect the unexpected,,

Nice!

High shoulder or armpit about 6" up to hit the heart. Both with Texas deer and my 30.06 go straight down dead. I have only shot 10 deer or so but seems to me if you hit them in front of the diaphragm with bow or rifle they die.

Usually a vitals shot for me, but every now and then a neck shot if necessary. As someone mentioned above - hate to waste meat. Great pics BTW - that ram is one beautiful animal! Congrats sir!

I am normally a double lung heart kind of guy to save meat but last year I was hunting alone one afternoon and a PB buck came out the last 15 minutes of light and I didn’t feel like trying to track in the dark by myself so I shot him in the shoulder. He went straight down and now I have a new appreciation for a shoulder shot.

I guess both ways have their benefits.

Agree. They both have their benefits for sure. Those of you that do the high shoulder, are you losing a lot of shoulder meat as well?

I have used slight variations of these shots below now for over 29 yrs now. What changes is the angle they are standing at when I am shooting them. I have killed over 1000 whitetails(MLD) with these shot placements. Very few have taken a step, they took a step due to me missing the correct hold spot. Quartering to me and in the crease of the neck is my favorite shot. Their butt drops out from under them and they never move once they hit the ground. I have shot a lot of bucks straight thru both shoulders and they don't go to far if they take a step at all. Hard for them to get away without any running gear.

Morning= Heart Lung
Evening= High Shoulder

The white patch just below the chin or the upper 1/3rd of the neck. There is no running/chasing, there is no wondering if I hit it and there is no wasted meat. They are dead right there...

depends on what you want to happen after if your not worried about tracking right in the shoulder crease... and always this for .250 and under rounds...

anything above and you hardly want to track taking the mid shoulder out is always my go to... high shoulder has highest knock down potential but you need to be careful with what angle your shooting at when taking that shot imo.

They still put up with you here I see

On thinner skinned game like deer I aim right in the square center of the shoulder. This shot either drops them or causes them not to go 20. I know lots of people worry about losing meat but getting an animal down ethically is way more important to me than losing some meat.

Neck shooter here….the older I get and the worse my eyes get I’m more front shoulder/heart area most times over 100 yards.