The front shoulder shot

Ok, what's everyone's opinion on the low front shoulder shot? Here is what I know:
1. with the right gun/bullet combination, it drops em in their tracks.
2. it pretty well destroys the front shoulders (aka very little salvageable meat left on the bone).

Thoughts?

Too much damage on the meat...prefer one just behind front shoulder...heart shot.

X's 2

Stick it on the top-front of the shoulder, you lose a little meat but don't lose the deer. No wheels equals no run !!!

Shoulder shots have their place.

X3

My opinion...Shoulder shots are best (and necessary) on dangerous game. I have yet to be attacked by a deer. My vote is for the heart/lung shot or if you are really good (and accurate) with your rifle, a good neck shot is hard to beat.

X4

99% of the time I take high shoulder shot or neck shoulder crease
Once you take ligament out not much decent meat on the shoulder any way. Most my bucks go to sausage any way. Does and stags different story different shot placement. Not a fan of ruining my clothes in the brush tracking deer.

If your really worried about meat use a bow

Big mature buck gets the high shoulder shot everything else gets it behind the shoulder

High shoulder or neck crease on most for me too. Still plenty of meat left unharmed unless you center punch the shoulders.

Behind the shoulder

X5

Whenever possible I prefer broadside shots right behind the shoulder. Shot one Sunday morning there, bullet went through all the plumbing right at the top of the heart/bottom of the lungs and the deer was dead in 30 yards, no meat ruined.

High shoulder on all 5 of mine this year. Basically no meat loss and not one step after the shot.

what if your hunting in south Texas, where tracking deer in that brush country is NOT desirable, AND you don't particularly care for venison.....AKA, you want them to drop in their tracks and you don't care about a little meat loss?

I like the high shoulder or crease in the neck shot. It amazes me how far a deer can run when hit with a behind the shoulder well placed heart shot.

Don't like behind shoulders, or heart shots. Too much tracking, seen deer go too far without a heart. High shoulder for me, breaks spin, no tracking.

where is a high shoulder or neck crease shot supposed to be placed? i have only ever shot behind the shoulder....

Shoulder shot is the only shot to take on a buck if you can get it

I hate tracking

Break um down.... shoulder meat sucks anyway and isn't worth the time for a little bit of sausage meat

I shoot mid to high shoulder though... only shoot low with my bow

Behind the shoulder with a good quality bullet for me most of the time. Little meat loss, good blood trail, and they don't go far. Of course, I'm hunting llano, not south TX so my tracking jobs are fairly easy in that terrain. I have shot a few through the shoulders if there is a reason that I feel I need to anchor them, but I'd prefer not to lose the meat.

This is a good point. Terrain matters a lot. If I could see for several hundred yards, heart shots wouldn't bother me. Where I'm hunting usually in 3 jumps they can be in some nasty brush that's horrible for tracking.

THIS!!!!

If rather have good blood to track in the nasty mess than one that managed to somehow not get anchored through the shoulders.

For me shot placement depends on a lot of things, distance what gun im shooting what bullets im shooting etc.

Like rifleman said, I like to have blood to follow no matter where I shoot them.

Since deer are seldom exactly broadside to you, I like to shoot for the far shoulder. That normally means I shoot for the crease where the neck meets the shoulder if the deer is quartered toward me, and I shoot behind the near shoulder if the deer is quartered with his head away from me. That puts the path of the bullet right through vital area. A little above center will hit some spine and nail him to the spot where he was hit.

Middle Shoulder broadside usually gets them both and the deer can't do much without two front legs. I shoot .30-.06 in South Texas so this caliber works well for that shot. Have shot quite a few being shoulder and as mentioned, those big boys can go quite a ways on adrenaline only even when lung/heart shot with a .30-.06.

behind shoulder

I usually shot right behind shoulder and they hardly ever take a step hard to run with no lungs.

Heart and lung shot placed at the back edge of the front shoulder offers the largest margin for error, making it the most ethical shot.

As for increased damage to the meat, how many of us depend on venison for our meals?

x3

Obivoulsy, the caliber and bullet used makes the difference as well.

If I shot my 30-06 or my 308 with 180gr, I can shoot them just about anywhere and they will either drt or won't run very far. Deer or hog. Killed a 175lb panhandle buck last year with a heart / lung shot. Only ran about 15yrds. Have shot numerous 200-300lb hogs with different shot placements, furthest one ran was about 20-30yrds with a heart shot. Shoulder shot in a 250lb hog, ran in circles but didn't go anywhere.

Personally, I use hogs as a test for bullet damage / placement to see how they react. I like to use a heavier bullet because of impact. I feel a lighter bullet at faster speeds will react differently on various shot placements.

I shot a 100lb hill country buck with a 222 in the heart and it ran about 100yards with very little blood. Had to track it longer than I wanted and it ran uphill over a draw. Took 3 of us to find it. The bullet did very little interior damage. Have shot them in the shoulder, neck, and high back with the same caliber and they are DRT.

Area I'm hunting and size of the game will determine what caliber / bullet I use.
Honestly, meat loss is the least of my worries. Meaning, I try to make the most ethical kill shot on a deer based on the placement the deer provides. Just my

I'm too old to chase. this shot never fails me.

If you actually hit right behind the should and 1/3 - 1/2 of the way up from the bottom, the deer will usually be down within 40 yards. The longest I've had one go with that shot was 60 yards and that was because the bullet didn't expand at all -- just penciled through.

Well, I was all for the just-behind-the-shoulder shot to save meat, until I shot one there and it ran 100 yards, jumped into the river, and drowned 3/4 of the way across the river. If it hadn't been for my boys there with their good eyes, I never would have found it.Very little blood trail. It took the three of us half the night to get to it and get it back to the truck. Since then I'm all for doing whatever it takes to drop them in their tracks, which means hit them to break their shoulder.

It is amazing how far they run sometimes. I haven't adoptedt the shoulder shot, but am considering.

I've decided to switch to the high shoulder shot this year. Property line is 100 yards from my feeder, and I don't know the neighbors. I don't want one to get over the fence.

My doe I shot last week I shot in the center of the front shoulder. Had a 2" exit hole and she ran 30 yards. I don't know how. I always aim for the back of the front shoulder because I'm a bad shot. That way I dont gut shot them.

I've been getting better at shooting so my next deer I'll be shooting behind the front shoulder to save the meat.

shoulder for big bucks, head for anything else.

I shoot 'em about 1/3 of the way up the front leg behind the shoulder because it gives me the most margin for error. They are dead shortly and leave an excellent blood trail. But I am not Annie Oakley and I don't normally use a varmint gun.

I can see in south TX why one would do the high shoulder shot. But one must place it right or one can mess up the whole deal in a hurry.

Ruining meat is not in the equation for me one way or the other.

Anything within 100 yards and it is a neck shot for me. I like the shoulder meat for ground and sausage. Other than preserving meat there are 2 advantages to a neck shot: 1. they go down, 2. no blood in the body cavity. The skinning and gutting are much cleaner especially for me because I never field dress and never cut the breast bone.

There is about a 1lb of meat in the front shoulder of a deer. Much more meat in the neck

X4 What he said

My preference is to shoot em in the lungs. If I misjudge the distance, the bullet will drop to the heart. The lung shot gives me two things, the first of which is the lung blood, which is easy to identify (so I know I placed the bullet correctly). And, on the lung shot, as long as the deer is still breathing or trying to, blood will be sprayed and easier to find.

Over the years I've shot many deer in the heart and many in the lungs. Lung shot deer seem to go less far. They quickly weaken, lay down to rest, and pass away. Some of the heart shot deer can get a good ways before they give it up. I shot a real whopper maybe 8 years ago, right through the heart, and he ran full tilt boogey for a good 100 yards and died at full stride in the middle of the biggest briar patch on the place and maybe on the planet. It varies from deer to deer, but I prefer the lung shot. And it messes up no edible meat, unless you like venison ribs. We don't.

And having hunted in South Texas, there's some evil undergrowth down there. I can understand folks trying to anchor the deer on the spot.

If the deer gives me buck fever! I take his upper shoulder out! Does are for meat.
Being from NM! All deer we shot were high shoulder! Wife and kids are tought lung shots!

If you have buck fever, shouldn't you take the shot with the greatest chance of success - IOW, halfway up the body and behind the shoulder? The downside to a high shoulder shot is that you can shoot right over the animal.

Agree. And neck meat does not have all that tendon in it.

If you have buck fever, shouldn't you take the shot with the greatest chance of success - IOW, halfway up the body and behind the shoulder? The downside to a high shoulder shot is that you can shoot right over the animal. [/quote]

PostOak picture in our cabin in NM!!!!
Success is watching an animal drop in its tracks
Double lung and hoping you find him is tough!

This.

PostOak picture in our cabin in NM!!!!
Success is watching an animal drop in its tracks
Double lung and hoping you find him is tough!
[/quote]

Using your pic, about 730 or 8 on that circle is very good for me

High shoulder or neck trailing is to risky

Rutted up bucks full of testosterone and adrenaline are definitely a different beast. I once shot one in the Midwest low through both shoulders with a 165 Sierra out of a .30-06. Though his heart and lungs were completely gone, he made it danged near 100 yards. Was definitely a testament in how tough a buck like this can be to put down.

If one loses a double lunged/heart shot deer one is a poor, poor deer tracker......

Nogalus, I'd generally agree with you on most shots under 200 yards or so but I've shot behind shoulder out to 325 lbs. with .30-.06 down in South Texas and out to that distance you often don't get nearly the impact nor blood has been my experience. Thankfully I have found those couple of longer shots behind the shoulder but with more tracking usually through the thick stuff. Under 200 yards, those shots have usually expired the deer inside of 75 yards. Kind of prefer the middle broadside shoulder shot because I've usually broken them down to two back legs with it and they don't generally go more than 30 - 50 yards or so on the longer shots. I know everyone's experiences are different but those have been mine. Shooting them at the top of front shoulder and base of neck has usually anchored them for me but generally requires a followup shot which I prefer to not have to perform; don't like to see the deer suffer any if preventable.

Using your pic, about 730 or 8 on that circle is very good for me [/quote]


Yes. That is the off switch. I shot a deer there by accident a few years ago and she was dead before she hit the ground. Ive probably shot my last five in that area, and the only one that wasn't dead when it hit the ground was a buck that was paralyzed but alive. I do it with a 30-06 and would probably be more tempted to do something else with a smaller bullet. But that is a devastating shot with a good 150 gr 30 cal bullet.

Yes. That is the off switch. I shot a deer there by accident a few years ago and she was dead before she hit the ground. Ive probably shot my last five in that area, and the only one that wasn't dead when it hit the ground was a buck that was paralyzed but alive. I do it with a 30-06 and would probably be more tempted to do something else with a smaller bullet. But that is a devastating shot with a good 150 gr 30 cal bullet. [/quote]

Even though they were anchored, my experience has been that they continue to try and get up even though they can't. Requiring a follow up shot.

I agree with every bodys shot placements, and don't want to take away from OP... but what about straight on shots?

I personally like them, it wrecks almost every organ inside and in my experience DRT

Straight on brisket shots have been devastating for me but have almost always involved about a 40 yard tracking job. Usually some splatter small drops of dark blood at impact, followed by larger drops 5-10 yards or so later. Have never had one get away from me that I middle brisket shot.

I put it in the shoulder every time. I have yet to lose a deer with that shot.

Better not stray much with the head on shots. When placed right its a one and done but a small margin off and can be bad news. All about the shooter though

Yep! Me too...

Absolutely!