Originally Posted by
dogbone13
most experienced hunters spend a lot less time shooting paper than they should due to having killed so many animals.
I reload for extreme accuracy, I practice for extreme accuracy, and I shoot an animal with extreme accuracy or I don't take the shot.
there is a huge difference between just a hunter, and someone who goes the extra mile to make sure equipment is capable of performing as expected, the shooter can make the predetermined shot, (which is where shooting paper comes in to play), and that an ethical kill is produced.
I am no sniper by no means but I do spend prob 3x as much time shooting and preparing for those DRT KILLS than most of you do eating and sleeping.
does that make my shot any better than yours NO I told you where I prefer to shoot my deer and when I have taken the shots the deer have been laying where they were standing before shot.
no different than someone hunting with a 243, 7-08, 308, 270, 30-06, etc... it is a preference and if it is working for you then it obviously isn't broken and you cant fix it.
I don't think there is anybody on this site or any other site that would shoot a animal somewhere that wasn't success proven in some way shape or form and continue to make the shot if the animal continued to be wounded and not recovered.
We really didn't need that sermon and I'd like to know how you know anything about any us to make very foolish and unwise statements like you did (see bold above). Of all the whitetail and mule deer I've shot over the years, and it's way more than a few dozen, the only one that I shot and did not recover was a doe that I tried a neck shot on. She was only 40 yards and went down like a ton of bricks when hit with a 30-06 150 grain Core Lokt. I got my stuff together up in the stand and headed down the ladder to gut her and take her back to camp. As I was part way down the ladder I looked over and she got up, shook herself like a wet dog, and walked off wobbly straight away such that I couldn't get another shot at her. I followed a few little drips of blood for maybe 30 yards and they quit, but I followed her tracks in the snow for at least 300 yards and there was no sign that she was having any problem. I can guarantee that bullet just hit meat and missed bone, as well as the windpipe and jugular. To this day I've never attempted another neck shot and that's exactly why any of us with much experience are saying it's not the place to put a bullet. If you keep doing it, I can just about tell you that you'll probably have the same thing happen to you like I described. IMHO the only worse place to try a shot is for the head that can move at any time unlike a paper target no matter how good you shoot at the latter!