I have tried to stay out of this anymore than i already have posted, but i have to say a few things.

First off anyone who considers taking a neck shot ethical is crazy. Yes its very deadly if you hit the spine or one of the veins running through his neck. Each of these veins is around the size of your middle finger to possibly your thumb and that makes for a very small target to hit on a deer that is likely to flinch or jump the string to some extent. The spine is about the size of the end of a beer bottle or just a tad larger yet another hard target to hit. Another thing you have to consider is the fact that both of these targets are in diffrent spots along the length of the neck not just the center. This becomes even harder on a rut crazed buck with a swollen neck. If you hit the windpipe yes the deer will most likely die due to trouble getting air down to his lungs and blood running into it and into his lungs but thats gonna take quite a while unless the windpipe is cut completely in half.

The reason I say anyone who considers a neck shot ethical is crazy is they are taking to much of a chance of wounding the deer. To make it ethical wiht a bow you would have to know exactly where the spine and or veins are at any given time as the deer moves which is almost impossible to tell or even get right guessing. The you have to aim right at that spot and even if your bow shoots exactly where you hold it, if you flinch or pull the slightest little bit you have most likely messed up. Next at the shot the deer can't move a bit which is not to likely as most move to some extent at the shot, not all but most do move. Last is your yardage judgement. Even with the fastest bows you would have to be very close to the yardage you guess to have the arrow hit right where your pin is being held on the deers neck.

Im guessing most on here have good common sense, and that common sense will tell you that those circumstances i posted above hardly if ever happen at the same time. Therefore I just don't see how anyone could consider a neck shot ethical. It just not a high percentage shot. its a very low percentage shot at that and one that can be practiced on a decoy and make you feel that you can make it, but in reality there are just to many variables to deal with. You owe it to the animals you hunt to take them cleanly and quickly so take the best shot and aim for the heart lung area where you have a margian of error unlike on the neck. If you can't take that shot then don't shoot at all and let the deer walk for another day and maybe the next time you get him/her in range they will give you the best shot and you can take it. I passed on the largest deer i have ever seen for this very reason. I was hunting in Central Illinios several years ago and on the 4th day i had a buck that would score somewhere in the 180-190 range as they found his sheads after the season. He never gave me the shot i needed so i let him pass and I will tell you that was very hard to do. But i wasn't gonna risk wounding him much less any other deer for that matter with an irresponsible shot. Neckshots are unethical and extreamly risky to take so don't take them on purpose you owe it to the animal as we all don't want to wound one.