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Bullet Placement
I was having a convo. with a guy at work, and thought i would ask yall here as well. He only shoots for the vitals (heart/lungs), I mostly go for head/neck shots. His argument is a bigger target area. My argument is my gun is sighted in at 100yards inside a 1"-5shot group, so why bother, if i miss its a clean miss, if I hit it drops rite there. Why sight your gun in for even a 2" circle and not go for a head/neck shot?? I meen trophy bucks ok yea you dont wanna mess up a good shoulder mount, but just your average buck that your gonna prolly just have to eat. Why not go for the one shot wonder? just my 2cents in a ?
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RE: Bullet Placement
A debate that leads neither party to agree but I'll play along. I for one don't advocate head and neck shots b/c it is the one part on an animal that moves the most and often without warning. Also the fact that most don't consider their true zero when aquiring the target of a within range animal can make the perfect hold and shot to be misery 1 or 2 off can be a big deal on a neck or head shot. I have seen botched head and neck shot, it was enough for me to take this placement out of the question. It has nothing to do with ability but rather respect for the animal in my case. I consider myself a decent shot but shooting off a bench means nothing in the field IMHO. All it tells me is my scope is on and what I am capable of under little pressure. Yeah it is a confidence boost to bang out .5" groups but thats it. WhenI hit an animal in the lungs the feeling is much better than measure CtoC after a range session and I have yet to try to figure out if I hit within an 1" of where I was aiming. Notched tag and no suffering are allI need to go home happy.
As far as wasing meat, that is bogus the amount of meat that comes from the ribs of the deer isn't worth the worry. Butcher one and you'll see their is more meat off the neck then the ribs!! I agree with your co-worker larger room of error makes the vitals a higher % shot and the best one to take. Put a bullet into any portion of the lungs and you have a filled tag. You can't say the same with aslight missof the neck or head. Oh itprobably will kill them but you might not be the one doing the eating[&:]! Just my pennies worth:D |
RE: Bullet Placement
Ihave shot deer in the neck occasionally but the one shot I take the most is top of the shoulders . I prefer it over heart lungs anytime .
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RE: Bullet Placement
Head shots are a no no because you don't want to take a chance on blowing off it's jaw then it dies a slow painful death. Just stick with the neck shots if you must but I always go for the vitals.
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RE: Bullet Placement
I have killed many deer with head/neck shots. It depends mostly to me on the situation at the time, and most importantly, the distance to the target. I ALWAYS try to get a rest of some sort. If I don't feel comfortable about making that type of shot, I'll put it in the heart/lung cavity. I have killed FAR more deer with chest shots than head/neck shots, but I am not at all adverse to taking that shot if the situation is right at that time.
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RE: Bullet Placement
A high neck shot is pretty much lights out - but the high shoulder shot is equally disabling gives you a lot more room for error.
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RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: Pawildman I have killed many deer with head/neck shots. It depends mostly to me on the situation at the time, and most importantly, the distance to the target. I ALWAYS try to get a rest of some sort. If I don't feel comfortable about making that type of shot, I'll put it in the heart/lung cavity. I have killed FAR more deer with chest shots than head/neck shots, but I am not at all adverse to taking that shot if the situation is right at that time. |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM A debate that leads neither party to agree but I'll play along. I for one don't advocate head and neck shots b/c it is the one part on an animal that moves the most and often without warning. Also the fact that most don't consider their true zero when aquiring the target of a within range animal can make the perfect hold and shot to be misery 1 or 2 off can be a big deal on a neck or head shot. I have seen botched head and neck shot, it was enough for me to take this placement out of the question. It has nothing to do with ability but rather respect for the animal in my case. I consider myself a decent shot but shooting off a bench means nothing in the field IMHO. All it tells me is my scope is on and what I am capable of under little pressure. Yeah it is a confidence boost to bang out .5" groups but thats it. WhenI hit an animal in the lungs the feeling is much better than measure CtoC after a range session and I have yet to try to figure out if I hit within an 1" of where I was aiming. Notched tag and no suffering are allI need to go home happy. As far as wasing meat, that is bogus the amount of meat that comes from the ribs of the deer isn't worth the worry. Butcher one and you'll see their is more meat off the neck then the ribs!! I agree with your co-worker larger room of error makes the vitals a higher % shot and the best one to take. Put a bullet into any portion of the lungs and you have a filled tag. You can't say the same with aslight missof the neck or head. Oh itprobably will kill them but you might not be the one doing the eating[&:]! Just my pennies worth:D |
RE: Bullet Placement
I too, agree with Skeeter. A proper shoulder/high shoulder shotusually drops 'em where they are. Behind the shoulder is a dead anything and the ribs don't blow up like a shoulder or neck roast!
I'm sure most of us have had a deer make that small move or take another step just as we were squeezing off.Aiming at the shoulder or ribs still amounted to a clean kill. I can't say what would happen if the crosshairs were on the neck and it moved!! Coyote bait? |
RE: Bullet Placement
What Skeeter Said!!!!!
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RE: Bullet Placement
What is so wrong about aiming for the vitals? if you are worried about the deer running very far, either, learn to shoot better, or use a legal caliber. Neck and head shots are for people using less than legal calibers.
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RE: Bullet Placement
No head or neck shots for me.Besides Ive only hunted with bow the last 23 yrs,well ok BP,handgun a few times when iam in the mood.
Never have belived in takeing a risky shot like that,like said befor,to much room for error....... |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: Dixie Rebel ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM As far as wasing meat, that is bogus the amount of meat that comes from the ribs of the deer isn't worth the worry. Butcher one and you'll see their is more meat off the neck then the ribs!! |
RE: Bullet Placement
Same as Skeeter.
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RE: Bullet Placement
We've had to shoot a doe that was laying in a creek because someone tried to shoot her in the head and blew her bottom jaw off. She was laying down trying to drink because she couldn't eat or drink right. We've had to shot another one for the same reason though we seen the shot and shot her before she got away. People think if they miss they miss clean but if they move a little you blow their jaw off and they suffer and slowly starve to death.
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RE: Bullet Placement
I call BS to all these jaws shot off walking around. I've seen a total of 4 deer shot in the jaw, they dropped deader than a door nail and never twitched. I did one and even shot a pig in the face at point blank, he dropped and never moved.
I have put a .222 right through the front teeth and out the back several times, they drop and never twitch. |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: zrexpilot I call BS to all these jaws shot off walking around. I've seen a total of 4 deer shot in the jaw, they dropped deader than a door nail and never twitched. I did one and even shot a pig in the face at point blank, he dropped and never moved. I have put a .222 right through the front teeth and out the back several times, they drop and never twitch. |
RE: Bullet Placement
Sounds like a guy I worked with that was telling me that he only took neck shots at deer with a bow... Said he did it because he didn't want to waste meat...
You ever talk to a person about deer hunting and you just knew they did'nt know jack about deer hunting... Well this guy was one of them;) |
RE: Bullet Placement
Well, I call BS to they "never twitched!!!" I had to finish a doe off this season with my RSRH .44 mag with 240 gr. HP's! Without getting into gross details, lets just say she had nothing left between the ears! She kicked and twitched the whole time we were carrying her back to the 4 wheeler! (I know that was just nerves/muscle contractions, but the point is rarely does ANYTHING just drop!)
Besides this, seeing just ONE suffering animal in a lifetime is ENOUGH to discourage head/neck shots! Making a bad shot is one thing, making a dileberate "bad aim" is another! |
RE: Bullet Placement
If you just break a jaw bone it is not a fatal shot. Are you going to drop over dead because you got shot in the jaw and had your jaw broke? If they are hit in the jaw and the bullet hits up in the brain or sends bone fragments up there it will kill them. If you dropped over dead from a broken jaw I would of been dead a couple of times.
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With all of the hunting I have done, I have seen one time where a neck shot was my only option, i dropped the deer right there....was I impressed...Absolutely not!!! He was still wheezing and his eyes were moving 5 minutes later. To me with when you consider how animals move their head/neck so constantly and rapidly it makes no sense to purposely always go for this shot..There is one guy at our deer camp who swears by this shot but he has by far the lowest percentage of shots/kill/recovered game.
RIBCAGE ALL THE WAY!!!! BTW the horror stories of jawless deer staving and suffering is no BS..seen it personally and have heard about it... |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: JagMagMan rarely does ANYTHING just drop! Ya ok ! 99% of my shots are head or neck and 100% of those drop on the spot. Ya some might twitch a bit, LOL. This one was taken at 225+ yds, he never moved a muscle. .243 right at the base of the neck and head, complete pass through.  |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: Carpmaster BTW the horror stories of jawless deer staving and suffering is no BS..seen it personally and have heard about it... |
RE: Bullet Placement
This one was hit right behind the ear, he never twitched.
 This one however did, he kicked for at least a minute. Couldnt figure that out as he had a huge hole straight through his neck. How can the legs kick if their not connected to the brain ? Hmmmmm. .243 again.  |
RE: Bullet Placement
It is a lot easier to shoot a pig in the head than a deer. We shoot pigs behind the ear as well, but a deers head is a lot smaller target and they are uusually moving. A lot of people say they only take head shots but ask them how many they missed or thought they missed. You could easily be off just a little bit and hit the lower jaw. Personally I don't want to see them suffer if I miss a little.
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RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: JeffS It is a lot easier to shoot a pig in the head than a deer. We shoot pigs behind the ear as well, but a deers head is a lot smaller target and they are uusually moving. |
RE: Bullet Placement
I'm bored. lol
I went and took a pic of one of my hogs skull. Look at the area of the brain,its relatively small to the size of the whole head. Lot of people say they shot a pig in the head but its usually really a neck or jaw shot. heres the pic. Excuse the webs he hant been cleaned in a while. LOL  |
RE: Bullet Placement
I've shot a deer in the neck during my Wyoming hunt back in high school. It was a nice 5x5 that was laying down and had his head stuck above the brush. So I dropped to the prone positionwith my bipod.I don't like head shots so I droped the cross hairs about 6 inches below his jaw and sqeezed off. He dropped right there about a hundred yard shot. When I walked down to him he was still kicking and trying to get up, I had to put another round in his neck. No more neck shots for me, unless I have too. I was shooting a .270 with a X-bullet, can't remember the grains.
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RE: Bullet Placement
EVEN if I took head/neck shots myself, I'd NEVER recomend it to others! Especially not knowing their shooting abilities!
One advantage I'll grant you with head shots vs. neck shots, is that with a hit you are more likely to leave a blood trail, and a chance of bone shattering into the brain killing the animal! STILL, I recomend NEITHER shot! When you compare the kill zone of a lung shot to a head/neck kill zone, well, there just is no comparison! To borrow Mr. Spock's phrase, "its just illogical!!!!" |
RE: Bullet Placement
I can shoot a rifle very, very, well but I never aim for the neck or head on deer. There's just no reason for it. The heart lung shot is a sure thing with a lot larger margin for error. Put a hole throughthe heart/lung area andthey're not going far. Probably less than 40 yards. If you can't track a deer 40 yards or are too sorry to walk 40 yards to retrieve a deer then you should probably quit hunting and take up something simple, less challenging andless strenuouslike checkers. Nobody I know eats deer ribs so the meat damage excuse is a bust. I don't care how good anyone can shoot, deer are prone to and often do move their head and neck rather suddenly and without warning. They do so far more so than a hog which has a much shorter neck and is actually built much different than a deer. Those who doubt that deer are often maimed by head and neck shots gone awry are kidding themselves. It happens more than people will admit. A buddy of mine killed a doe several years ago that had a large maggot and puss filled hole through her jaw. She was also blind in one eye from either a fragment of the bullet or her own jawbone. Not a pretty sight. AndI could describe a few more such encounters. You only hear about the head and neck shotsthat go great. No one runs down to the local diner to brag about the doe whose nose he shot off but didn't find. Nor do you encounter many people online willing to admit it either.
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RE: Bullet Placement
That is exactly what I have been trying to say. We sight in the guns for the police department where we hunt and we shoot alot, but we still don't try to shoot deer in the head. There is no reason for it and there is no way anyone can tell me they never missed a shot on a deer that they tried to shoot, or didn't hitit exactly where they were trying to.
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RE: Bullet Placement
I have taken one neck shot. It was on a smaller 8 pt at about 30 yards with my shotgun. Hit him right below the white patch and he dropped like a rock ! Typically I always shoot for vitals, larger target and more room for error. But he was really close and had not presented any other shot but striaght on. Once he noticed me on the ground I let him have it.
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RE: Bullet Placement
Yep! Right thru orbehind the Ear!
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RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: JeffS If you just break a jaw bone it is not a fatal shot. Are you going to drop over dead because you got shot in the jaw and had your jaw broke? If they are hit in the jaw and the bullet hits up in the brain or sends bone fragments up there it will kill them. If you dropped over dead from a broken jaw I would of been dead a couple of times. Please dont think I am advocating shooting them there. CAUSE I am not. But a large caliber anywhere in the head region and its lghts out. |
RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: zrexpilot ORIGINAL: JeffS If you just break a jaw bone it is not a fatal shot. Are you going to drop over dead because you got shot in the jaw and had your jaw broke? If they are hit in the jaw and the bullet hits up in the brain or sends bone fragments up there it will kill them. If you dropped over dead from a broken jaw I would of been dead a couple of times. Please dont think I am advocating shooting them there. CAUSE I am not. But a large caliber anywhere in the head region and its lghts out. As doI disagree with your statement. We've done this in the past and have no desire to go through the motions this time around. So lets just agree to disagree on shot placement:D...yet again;). |
RE: Bullet Placement
I useually go for 7-8" below the head following the neck. Thats usually my ideal shot. I have no qwarms about takeing the heart/lung shot but for the most part its neck shots. Im not disagreeeing that some hunters should not even be allowed in the woods alone with a loaded gun (ie. my ex-stepdad). But there are some (i like to think myself) that are not going to take a shot they are confident they can make.
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RE: Bullet Placement
ORIGINAL: SHoNUFF I useually go for 7-8" below the head following the neck. Thats usually my ideal shot. I have no qwarms about takeing the heart/lung shot but for the most part its neck shots. Im not disagreeeing that some hunters should not even be allowed in the woods alone with a loaded gun (ie. my ex-stepdad). But there are some (i like to think myself) that are not going to take a shot they are confident they can make. |
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