Head shots are BS. And I dont understand how you can be losing meat unless your planting the bullet right in the shoulder. I don't care what all you shoulder shooters believe about aiming for the shoulder. This past season I decided to experiment with the idea of shooting deer in the shoulder and the whole idea of them dropping right there. Well i found its complete BS. I ve killed many deer with a rifle using a .308,.30-30,.30-06shooting them through the lungs and having them drop right in their tracks. This year I shot two deer with a .30-06 through the shoulders and they both ran over sixty yards with both shoulders busted. Mind you i was shooting a 180 grain core lokt.I decided to take a friends .22-250 out just for the hell of it being everyone believes we need big guns to put em down. I poped a doe right through the rib cage with a fifty five grain bullet and she went two feet straight to the ground. If your worrying about ruining meat than I suggest shooting them in the ribs. Head shots are too risky and un-ethical. Here in my home state of Pennsylvania .22's used to be legal to hunt deer until hunters started seeing deer with missing jaws and missing noses because of people thinking their hot shots like all you head shooters. Be ethical and shoot em through the lungs. I don't care how good of a shot you are. If you guys are so caught up in taking tough shots try aiming seven to eight inches from the top of their spine down into the lungs and touch a round off. If done correctly you won't have to track a deer ten feet.