Never here also. The odds are against you

Never with a bow, but Ido take neck shots with a high-powered rifle. Instant death in every case.

I know from experience that a neck shot is not fatal.....this is what happens when things go wrong. I shot this buck the day before, it was warm in the afternoon and the snow was melting and dripping all over my bow and arrows, later in the evening the dripping snow froze on to my arrow fletching (I was unaware). This guy came in and I let it fly, he was 25 yards from me, and to my amazement the arrow went flying in a big spiral (I knew I was in trouble). As you can see in the picture the arrow struck the deer in the neck (just on the top edge of the spine) and passed through. There was lots of blood and a friend and I tracked him for well over a mile. There is a good ending to this story, one of my friends hunting a mile away from where I shot this deer, shot him one week later under his stand.....he was unaware that it was the same buck, he said it was fighting with a large 4 point moments before he shot it...he said it showed no signs of being injured (tough animals). When we skinned the deer we inspected the wound on his neck, and found that it had chipped the top of his spine!!

Never with a bow, often with a rifle.

Buck fever caused me to put an arrow down into the windpipe ofa strong buck a couple years ago. Lot's of blood, but it was just the windpipe and not the juggular. Tracked it a very long ways and searched day after day for a week. The deer died 2-3 weeks later and was found by a neighbor. I was aiming at the lungs but the combination of me shaking profusely and the deer turning the instant I shot cause me to be off by a lot. I will never aim at the neck on purpose with a bow. I didn't realize how bad I was shaking until after I release the arrow and watch the deer run out of sight. Those big bucks really make my heart rate climb! Gotta love this sport...and try to be as ethical as possible with shot placement so these magnificient animals have to suffer as little as possible.

Everyone makes mistakes and somtimes they get lucky. If you are one that gets lucky to hit the deer through the juggular and are able to recover it, please don't think you will be able to hit that same spot every time. Lungs/chest cavity is a lot bigger of a target where you can still be off by just a little bit and make a good shot.

Wow man, that is literally the very first deerI have heard about (out of about a dozen) that has survived a solid (not a graze) neck hit and apear to be in good shape. From what I have seen they are especially prone to infection in neck wounds when the hit is (unfortunately) solid...they usually are dead within 2 weeks.....but it sounds like this one was different.

that must be an exit wound in the pic?

I shot a deer one time that was quartering to at a pretty sharp angle. The lungs were screened by the shoulders, which I didn't want to try to shoot through at that angle, but the deer was 5 yards away and stationary, and I was at full draw. I hit it at the base of the neck, where the neck joins the body, and it was a good solid hit. The deer tore out of there at maximum velocity, went about 40 yards and died. Bear Razorhead. I would take that shot again, no problem. I might even try it on a broadside presentation if theribcage were screened.

The spinal column is 2+" in diameter, and if you hit it squarely you will drop the deer. If a glancing hit high, he'll escape and recover. A glancing hit low should sever the plumbing. This is certainly not a preferred shot selection, but if you can make the shot it will be effective.

Do not take anything but a quartering away, dead on, or slighly quartering towards broadside shot with a bow, period. Too many variables can come into play when hunting these animals with a bow. You need to take the highest percentage shot at the biggest vital area possible, and this is it. I've done everything right and wounded deer and felt sick to my stomach for weeks, I couldn't even imagine what my state of mind would be if I attempted one of these irresponsible low percentage shots and it resulted in a wounded, suffering deer.

Great explanation to my question Christine. Great job on the documentation. It really gives closure when you can put it all together to get the whole story.

HELL no-- I actually saw a guy on a major hunting show stalk hunt a buck in TX I believe...the guy stalked up and then told the camera man..."this is the only shot I have"...he then proceeded to shoot a bedded buck in his neck..I wanted to punch the guy in his neck.