While the neck shot may kill, it would not be in my mind a option. I was raised that if you didn't have the shot you wanted you didn't shoot!

I have to agree with you Bow

Bow,

Both. A very small deer and a 33" arrow.

Quote:

Since when did shooting a deer in the neck become an acceptable shot?

It's a shot I'll pass every time with a bow.No matter the size of the rack.

I own a video of Stan Potts shooting a buck that goes 215" or something like that...........it is freakin' HUGE. I thought it was gonna be neat to see him take that buck until I saw the footage. When the buck came in he came in fast and just "appeared" on camera.......Potts got audibally rattled and you could hear the buck fever coursing thorugh his veins. The buck didn't like the looks of the area and I would say he was gonna be gone in another few seconds. Potts must have thought the same thing because he couldn't hold off any longer. He shot the deer right through the neck..........it was so bad that I remember saying "OH MY GOD!!" aloud when I first saw it. The buck bolted and then they cut to some stupid footage of him much later in the day saying he was on a "Good" blood trail. They found the buck (who knows what happened in between that horrid shot and the recovery) but worst of all is Potts really made no beef about the shot and kept saying that you just can't let a huge buck like that walk and he said many times........"I took the best shot he gave me"

What a disgusting sight and like has been said already..........no wonder so many pinheads out there take dumb shots and let the size of a rack wash away all their common sense.

Atlasman: What had happend on that particular buck, Stan had grunted and the buck turned towards him, ONLY providing that kind of shot. I personally have shot deer in the neck and killed them just fine.

IMO, the almighty $ directly determines the ethics/standards on most of the shows today. It's a big and competetive business now. Personally I wouldn't purposely take a neck shot...bow or gun.

I don't doubt that has something to do with it but you guys have to admit that it easier to set here and say "I would do this" or "I wouldn't do that" than it is to actually do that or not do that when adrenaline is pumping through your veins, your heart is beating a hundred miles a minute and is lodged in your throat, and tunnel vision has enveloped you. I know that I have made some shots in the past that I would like to take back if I couldand I can't unequivically assure youthat if a 215" buck was standing there that I wouldn't do it again. I would like to think that I wouldn't but when frustration and anticipation and adrenaline all bring themselves to bear in opposition to my nerves; I can't be 100% certain.I think the majority of folks here have made at least one mistake while hunting. Don't get me wrong I don't condone neck shots (even with a rifle)and I think these guys ought to be the first ones to point out when they take a marginal or a bad shot that they did take a bad shot. BUT I have to admit thatI take most of the "high horse" responses with a grain of salt because it's easy to say what you would do but there really is no way to know unless you were in that tree on that day under the same circumstances. JMO

Exactly, silent. Each person decides on his own shots. I'll keep practicing on that neck shot in case it is ever needed.

Silent
I agree with what you are saying...we would never know until we are there. I have definitely made some bad shots that I would like to take back, in my bowhunting career. But to be honest, most of those were quite a while ago, back when I was green. Andyes,I have shot one deer in the neck...on accident. I got lucky and killed it, because it caught the artery. And yes, I have taken and made some shots that I probably wouldn't take today, just because they are low percentage shots. Even though I was very confident when I took those shots, and was successful with them at that time.
But I also have passed many deer...including the biggest deer I ever had under my stand, because of not having the shot I wanted. I would agree though, that there are other shots that can and are effective if the archer is good. I don't neccesarily agree with some of the shots taken, but again....it's an individual decision. And I definitely ain't on my high horse. I just think taking high percentage shots are best. I honestly don't really care what anyone else does, I can't control that. But I think the video making crews should take a little more consideration towards what they air. Some is flat out bad. My personal opinion, neck shots suck. Both bow and gun. Very low percentage.

I guess mypoint is that yes there is alot of pressure on the folks filming these shows. Killing big deer on video can make or break them...and this can and probably does have an influence on some folks' shot selection.

WV,

I agree with you. We should all strive to take high percentage shots. I think we owe it to the animals. As we mature as hunters we should learn some self control and not take shots that we would have when we were less experienced. But we still have to realize that they like us are human and long seasons, a desire to succeed, a deer appearing out of no where and you having to make a quick decision or watching a deer come in for a while and your nerves being frayed by the time he gets there or being at full draw for a couple of minutes with all of the above going make each encounter different and very difficult to say what we would infact do.

I agree with you whole heartedly that they should do a better job of codemning it when they do take a bad shot or just not show it. IMO

I am with you. I never have liked a neck shot. There is just too many things to go wrong and the heart/lungs is just a much higher percentage shot IMO.

I think you are probably right but I think it's probably more on a sub-conscious level than it is a conscious level (at least I hope so). I don't think they are standing there saying to themselves "I got to shoot this buck for video" but more likely they have thought about it so much and worried about it so much that they are sunconsciously thinking. I could be wrong though. I just normally don't have many thoughts running through my head at the moment of truth, other than the critter I am shooting at.