Hey guys,

It boils down to this. If it is a shot that you know you can make, you have a reasonable bullet and caliber for the job at hand, and you inflict severe trauma to organs vital for life.....the shot is both lethal and humane.

And more specifically, it all boils down to the person behind the trigger. That decision should be made the same way you make every other decision concerning the ethics of hunting. When in doubt......do the "right thing"! If you make that your dictum, and practice it.....you will seldom go wrong!

A good example concerning this same issue was a rather smallish bull caribou I took once in Alaska. The animal was over 300 yards away and presented a nearly full frontal, (actually quartered very slightly). I was using a .338 Winchester Magnum with a 250 grain Nosler Partition, (big bear country). So I had no doubt about either my bullet...or the cartridge. The animal along with two others was in a small basin where it would have had to travel 600 yards or more to reach any sort of cover, (so I knew there would be time for a followup if necessary). And maybe most importantly I was resting across a huge boulder with my hat on the boulder....my binos on my hat....and my non-firing hand on my binos.....so my shooting position was nearly as solid as a bench! As I settled into the shot I held slightly high on the throat, just inside of the near shoulder. At the shot the animal fell, rolled on it's back with all four hooves flailing. I jumped up and started towards the animal. As I had closed to just within 250 yards or so he regained his feet...staggered a little....and attempted to start walking. I rested precisely in the same manner, on another very similar boulder, and this shot was a picture perfect broadside....just behind the near shoulder. Again he hit the ground...all four hooves high in the air. As I started towards him again....he was once again attempting to regain his feet. Finally, as I looked for another quick rest, he lay still......and all was quiet. (Well except for a hunting companion which had taken a shot at another animal......and gave herself a good case of "scope eyebrow". But that's another story.....for another time.)

When I got to the bull....he was dead. Upon examination I realized that as I had made my first shot...the bull must have lowered his head. The first bullet had hit his jaw.....exited the jaw.....entered the spot on his throat/chest that I had been aiming at......transversed nearly the length of the body....and exited on the front of the rear hindquarter on the opposite side of the body. When the Partition hit the jaw it had initiated expansion. The entrance hole in the front chest area was nearly quarter sized....on entrance. Where the bullet exited....it was between ping-pong ball to tennis ball sized! That bullet had torn a path of destruction through the lungs, diaphragm, through the abdomen, and had left a huge exit wound well behind the ribs....just catching the forward edge of the hindquarter. That shot would have been quickly fatal on its own. But because I had taken the shot at over 300 yards......and was very confident it was a good shot.....you just are never entirely certain....until the animals on the ground and you see exactly what has happened. So when the bull stood up I had hit him the second time. That shot entered about bullet sized entry.....and maybe quarter sized exit. It had traversed both lungs and tore up some arteries near the top of the heart. It also would have proven fatal by itself. But in any event....I believe in finishing the job as quickly and as cleanly as possible. And to that end.....I took the second shot. Probably from about a little over 225 yards roughly. Had he regained his feet again...I would have taken another shot. Because it really isn't done......until it is completely done!

The point of the entire preceeding paragraph is to point out several things. One, if you are entirely confident in your gun, cartridge, and bullet......frontal and angling shots are completely humane, lethal, and not at all "questionable". Two, if you are comfortable with your ability to make the shot....and the circumstances involving the shot.....there is absolutely NO REASON not to take the shot.....nor is there any thing unethical about it. And finally.....even if the abdominal cavity is breached.....it doesn't mean the meat will be harmed in anyway...as long as the carcass is cared for and processed properly! And that is what it boils down to.

Dave

P.S. Hi buckshot47.....I agree with you on head shots. Unless you are "eyeball" close and entirely certain of the shot....or if you are shooting at an animal that has already been hit. I wouldn't take the head shot. (Truth of the matter is....I've never taken a "head shot" except at game that already had been wounded.) And of course small game and varmints.