I've had a change of heart. I've said before that I'd take a neck shot if that was all I had. the 8pt i killed this year I shot in the neck. not on purpose, I was aiming for a doubble lunger. the reason I pulled off was i had to scoot down in my seat to make the shot. there was a beech limb between me and the buck. not so two days before when I passed on a 6pt standin in the exact same place as the 8pt. it had rained and the limb was saggin causin it to be in the way.
I was confident i could make the 35 yd shot, I had practiced that distance on a 3D target the day before. but having to scoot down in my seat, with me in that awkward position, I just pulled to the right and hit the deer in the center of the neck. but didn't know where I had hit him till I found him alive 2 hours later.
not because he ran a long way, he wadn't over 60 yds from my stand. but 30 minutes after I heard him fall, I started trackin him. I still cannot understand how he ran that far bleedin like he was. there was blood that had squirted out both sides, on the ground and bushes and everwhere else. but I heard him try to get up when I got close to him, so I just backed out to my stand, called my wife and told her to get help for draggin the deer, and to bring some lights. by the time they got over there it was dark, and had been almost 2 hours since i shot the deer. we tracked him through a little thicket and to my surprise, after all the blood that deer had lost, he jumped up, and went about 10yds and fell again. I found out later I had grazed his spine, that's why he couldn't stay on his feet right after I shot him. I had to put another arrow in him, and hit him too far back. ever tried to shoot a bow in the woods at night? ain't easy. shot two more arrows, and finally the deer died. that was a sad sight to see that deer tryin to hold his head up, still suffering after 2 hours. I've learned my lesson on neck shots. although I didn't purposely shoot for his neck, I saw first hand what can happen when you hit the neck, and I'll never take a neck shot on purpose, never. and I don't agree that it's ok to shoot the neck with a rifle, but not a bow. couldn't the same thing happen with a rifle?[:'(]
yea, yea, I remember our little neck shot disscusion not long ago, so go ahead and say it. I TOLD YOU SO! [X(]