RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

Why waste good meat? Neck shots are poor percentage shots, and shoulder shots ruin a lot of good meat! Lung shots are far greater percentage shots, and ruin virtually zero meat!

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

i prefer neck shots if at all possible: But only at close range. If a neck shot is not possible or the deer is at longer range i will shoot him behind the shoulders.i will not take a shoulder shot. It ruins a lot of meat. The vast majority of my M/L and rifle shotshave been instant one shot kills. There have been a couple of gut shots. Both those were instant kills also.

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

I don't think anyone can or should argue with neck shots under 100yds...sounds reasonable to me. But anyone with enough field experience will have bad things happen so I'd say that last statement and question are irrelevant.

(I have taken a couple finishing shots but have never lost a deer, FWIW...which is nothing.)

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

When I was growing up, 35 or so years ago, nobody took neck shots. Well, nobody that was really hunting for meat or good sport anyway. Neck shots were considered "showoff" shots used by the local braggardthat frequently ended up w/ deer getting knocked down only to jump up and run off after 10 or 15 seconds. Then, they would complain about bullet or caliber performance and go shopping for a bigger gun.

About15 years ago, while at my uncle's place in North Louisiana I was hunting with a guest he asked me to take out. We spotted a nice 10 point on the edge of a field right at 100 yards.The guesttold methat he wanted to drop it there so he wouldn't have to track it and was going to take a neck shot, "like they did on those shows". I told him don't worry about the tracking, we had an excellent lab and we would get the deer, just shoot it in the heart/lungs and it wouldn't go more than 50 yards. He puffed all up and I could tell he was going to take the neck shot anyway. Well, he shoots and down goes the deer. For the next 45 seconds or so, I probably heard "I told you so" at least 5 times. As we were getting out of the blind, I look up and see the deer's head kinda rolling around. I told my uncle's friend to shoot it again, it was going to get up and run off if he didn't. He didn't want to, said he might hit the horns or mess up the meat. As we were moving toward the deer, it moved even more and I kept telling him to shoot it again. At one point I had my gun up and I could clearly see through the scope he was coming awake. I almost shot myself at one point, probably should have in retrospect but I could just image his whining about shooting his deer so I didn't. Just before we got to the deer, it jumped up and started into the treeline. Mr. "neckshot" stood there like somebody had jammed a hot poker in his hiney as I was telling him to shoot. Long story short, we tracked that deer for a day and a half with a great dog. It eventually went into a greentree swamp, never to be seen again. There were many opportunities for me to tell that moron "I told you so", but I never did.

In my opinion, neck shots really only became popular with the advent of the modern "Pop and plop" that we see so much on the TV shows. They do that because it makes good, dramatic TV and it closes the loop. You get the set up, shot and kill all in the same scene. Because of these shows, this shot has become acceptable when they probably should not be. The more you see it on TV, the more popular they will become. Personally, most folks I see now taking necks shots are more into bragging about the shot or just don't care about the ramifications of being off 2 or 3 inches than they are about being ethical. That said, there is a time and a place for every kill shot on an animal and although I have never taken, and don't plan to, I would not say that I will never take a neck shot under the right circumstances. But, for every day, routine shots on deer and managment bucks, I personally think they are unethical.

Hank

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

Great point Ahankster!

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

Well thats not true in my neck of the woods. my elders and hunting mentors have been neck shooting since the 60's. I have been doing it since I started hunting back in the late .70's early 80's. I have killed a mess of deer with neck shots. Lots of memories. Like one doe that walked out on me so close I actually had to wait till she put some distance between us. She was about to jump the fence and I laid the smack down on her. Put a fist size hole through her neck and the onlything keeping her head atached was some skin. There was a mess of meat and skin hangin on the fence. using of course, a.243 that was 1982 I believe

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

I'm relatively surprised nooneadvocates a head shot at all. When hunting with a rifle or muzzleloader I see absolutely no reason to shoot a deer anywhere other than the head unless you plan on hanging it on your wall. If you hit it, its dropping in its tracks, if you miss its running off. If you connect with a deers brain, or an inch from a deers brain, its dead, no bloodtrailing until2 in the morning, no 500 yard drags, no problems for you, and maybe a headache for the deer if you miss at the most.Where i hunt, there aremore hollers and steep hills than youcould imagine, with no way to get an atv or truck to, and i dont much likethe hastle of fooling with deer under such conditions because if you shoot one anywhere in the chest cavity reguardless of what vitalorgans you hit,it is going to make it to the bottom of the hill or holler at LEAST, and there are so many deer around here, theres no need to risk that kind of trouble, unless like i said its going on your wall. And if your not a good enough shot to hit a deer in the head within range of your rifle you have no businessdeer hunting anyways.Head shots = No tramatized meat and instant gratification. My 2Cents.

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

And if you hit the animals jaw it is running off to a slow painful death.

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

The only case where that might happen is if a deer is completely broadside, and if you are aiming behind a deers eye, or the base of its ear, and you hit it in the jaw, you need not be shooting at a deer simple as that. Any other angle , if it enters the jaw its going to cross through close enough to the brain that the shock carried by the bullet will kill the deer. What you say is no different than aiming behind the shoulder and missing left and resulting in a gut shot deer. One just as likely as the other, and both caused by shooter error.

RE: neck shot vs. shoulder shot???????
 

I agree with thestubbles post. When i was a kid slaughtering beef on the farm ihit one a little bit low down on the skull and the cow ran around in cirlces thrashing its head until i could get another one in it to finish the job. That memory haunts me and will probably always. I could not imagine taking that chance on a deer and having it run off. Gut shot deer die within hours though hard to track, jaw shot deer often starve.