El Gringo

I'm sure this topic has been covered before but since I'm a new member here, I just wanted to add my 2 cents on the subject.

Many years ago a co-worker of mine told me of the discovery he and his hunting buddies made on private land while hunting deer in Mississippi. They found an emaciated and exhausted adult doe with her lower jaw blow off.........her dried tongue hanging out. They quickly put her out of her misery. It was a sad story, but one that I'm sure is repeated more often than we would like to hear.

Not long thereafter, one of the 'meat hunters' in our club rode up with a head shot 6 point buck draped over his bike. When we discussed the issue, it was his contention that he was an excellent shot, hunted to feed his family versus looking for trophies and therefore wanted as much meat as he could possibly get from each animal, and would not take such a shot unless he was confident in the final outcome.

I understood his reasoning and logic, but also pointed out that it would take only a split-second movement by the deer, or a slight deflection by that up-close, unseen-in-the-scope, branch to result in such a horrible outcome. After discussing the issue for some time, he agreed that it was best that he no longer take such shots.

I was pleased because I felt so strongly about the issue that I would have brought it up at our next club meeting and would have pressed for a vote on the subject. We had, several years before, passed a rule prohibiting the use of buck-shot on our lease after a guest wounded and lost two deer in a single weekend.

El Gringo

teamster284

i live in ohio and gun season here is shot gun/ muzzle loader. and muzzle loader for 4 days after christmas so we dont have the luxury of riffles to make great shots at a distance. this year i shot a 6 point on the run and hit him in the hind quarter. he stopped about 75 yards out and i guessed a little farther and held a little high with my shot gun. i hit him behind the ear and blew off half of his rack on exit. there were a couple of good things about the shot. 1: quick and humane and he didnt suffer any more, and 2: lucky and didnt ruin any meet. i would never take an intentional head shot that one was just a fluke. he was standing still and i was aiming a little high and just miss judged his distance. i always shoot for the kill box no matter what. i hit this one in the hind quarter he was on the run and zig zagging like crazy and i took a dumb shot i guess. but anyway i would never shoot for the head purposely.

zrexpilot

100yds or under, it's head or neck for me. Over a hundred I take the heart lung area. And I like .22 centerfires too.

Bukmastr

I too have seen a doe with its lower jaw blown off and just hanging, grusome sight. But......... I have seen far more deer suffer an agonizeing death from gut shots that take up to 12 hours to kill and liver hits that take up to 4 hours to kill. Not to mention all the three legged deer I have seen. Our group lost a couple deer this year, I am sad to say. But none of the loss's were head shots. even though 4 of the deer were head shot. The bottom line is only takeing shots you are sure of. A deers movement, or unseen branch can affect a heart shot just as badly as a head shot.

El Gringo

Teamster,

I'm aware that many states do not allow the use of rifles because of human population densities. Of course, my question was more aimed those who have a choice of weapons, and more importantly, a choice of shots. Based on your comments, it appears you make every effort possible to get a clean, quick kill on the animal using the weapon you're allow to use. No one could ask more of you.

Zrexpilot,

I actually like a shot at the base of the neck, when I can get a clear one. The deer usually drop where they stand. Have you ever tried one on the point of the shoulder........basically, a high shoulder shot? That one, does tend to destroy more meat, but on a well-racked buck in heavy brush, it surely lessens the chances of following a long blood trail. They too usually drop where they stand.

I would still encourage you to re-consider head shots under any circumstances.

El Gringo

mauser06

if the shots right and i KNOW i can make it cleanly ill head shoot deer....the 7 ive shot ive never taken one....could have on one or 2..just didnt think of it in time....6 were heart lung shots.....im a fan of doing all i can to take a deer down QUICK....most dropped on the spot....i try to wait for a quartering shot....so i can bust a shoulder and destroy the boiler room.....this year i had one quartering away from me....i was above it on a hill..kinda facing me a GOOD bit....but also would been broadside if i let it walk 20 yds below me instead of infront of me....i didnt even have to think about where to put it.....i made an awesome shot.....i didnt get to see the butched deer....but it went in the neck....and through the boiler room...dont know if it came out or where it did....no big holes...and it was dark...didnt check too hard.....but the deer did a backflip and was ready to be dressed when i got to it....never twitched...awesome shot.....now im a fan of neck shots....made me a believer.....but now its going to be flintlock season.......heart n lungs only........but a rifle i can shoot quarter sized groups at my hunting ranges....i like to drop em wehre they stand.....head shots if i know i can make it....neck shots if i cant make a head shot....and if i cant make that ill take the boiler room......if i cant take that it must not be a deer.....to each his own......but i dont take shots i dont KNOW i can make cleanly......head shots the most deadly shot there is if put where it needs to be...but its not for guys that dont shoot their rifle regularly and know they can make it....its a small target......

timbercruiser

Only head shot I would take is if I had a 12 guage with buckshot at under 15 yards.

Gary10ec1

I agree 50 yds in I shoot em in the head or neck, further out I look for the heart lung shot. Neck shot seems to be the most humane as the deer drop twitch twice and it's over. Have no patience for folks taking bad or ill advised shots. Shows no respect for the animal. Gary

JagMagMan

I do not think that head and neck shots on deer is a wise choice! It doesn't matter how good of a shot you are, deer move too much, and the target is too small!
I know that gut shot deer die a agonizing death, but still at that, they will die much quicker than a deer starving to death because its jaw has been shot off!
I don't really care if you've done it a hundred times! The next time you do it, you may just blow a jaw off! And thats one too many times for ethical hunting!
If you don't want to waste meat, shoot the heart/lungs! My gosh, how much less meat could you waste!!!??? And if its the "challenge" that you want, challenge yourself on paper at the gun range, not in the woods hunting a fine game animal, that deserves much more respect than to have a blown jaw, or to be shot with some pea-shooter!
As hunters, we owe a little respect to the animals we hunt, and if not to them, we owe it to the sport, and to other hunters! We don't need to give the anti's and the gun grabbers, any amunition to use against us!
I can see that even on pro-hunting, pro gun, sites like this, that there is a huge difference of opinion! But then again, theres also a huge difference between being a "hunter," and a "killer!"

stubblejumper

The lung area is a much larger target than the head so the odds of still making a clean kill with a lung shot are also much better if the deer moves slightly or the shot is deflected slightly.