head shot/ethics
10-30-2009, 10:53 AM
#123
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: maine
Posts: 139
maybe i should get banned for starting this thread, guess i shouls have looked in archive first then would have known it was going to blow up.
thanks everyone for the replies and ill be in the woods tomorrow season starts in less than 24 hours im pumped,, and yes if a headshot is all i get thats what im gonna take if perfect broadside 1/4 away shot shows ill take that, either way something is gonna die
thanks everyone for the replies and ill be in the woods tomorrow season starts in less than 24 hours im pumped,, and yes if a headshot is all i get thats what im gonna take if perfect broadside 1/4 away shot shows ill take that, either way something is gonna die
10-30-2009, 11:40 AM
#125
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
I didn't read all of the replies, so I don't know if this thread has taken a turn to a different topic or not, but I'll give my opinion on the question that was asked.
Ethical hunting, when considering ANY shot, means you are confident that your shot will end in a clean kill.
My father was a crack shot, but he was never a big game hunter. I'm not sure I ever saw him fire anything larger than a .22lr (although I had heard fables of his ability with the .44mag levergun he carried in the truck).
This is an unethical story, but because of the legality of the weapon used, not the shot placement. When I was in college, my dad and I were hunting raccoons with Jack Russel Terriers one afternoon under a grainery, the dogs were working hard and chasing several coons back and forth around inside the foundation when a herd of deer ran up. A massive chocolate nontypical buck with bases as thick as my wrist was in the mix, standing about 50yrds away staring right at us. "My God", I whispered under my breath, "I wish I had my rifle". (It WAS in season). "You do." My dad whispered back, eyeballing my .22lr Marlin 60. I replied that I couldn't take a shot with my .22. My dad shrugged slowly as he raised his rifle whispering, "I owe you a tag next year" as he slowly raised his open sighted.22lr Marlin 60, took a deep breath, and before I could even object, cracked off a single shot.
The buck dropped like a sack of concrete. Being shot through the eye will have that effect.
While I don't condone it, my dad had no doubt that he could cleanly kill the deer, and he did. Nothing unethical about that. (yeah, the illegal weapon is a different story
Granted I'm not so bold as my father, but I'm a fan of venison, and I'm a fan of using different guns to bring it home. One evening while calling coyotes a buddy questioned my use of a 9mm carbine (kel-tec), since it was "so underpowered". I boasted the number of coyotes I'd killed with it and bragged that I felt it viable for deer even-under the proper circumstances. So the bet was clinched, and later that year I punched a 9mm hole (9mm rifles are legal for deer in Kansas) right behind the ear of a fat doe from 35yrds (I like upper neck shots, high likelihood of hitting the spine, windpipe, and arteries). She dropped with a single shot. Again, I had no doubt I could make the shot cleanly.
I also have a friend that's a terrible shot. His deer hunting weapon of choice is a 6.5x55swede in a sporterized mauser. He's so terrible that he has me sight in his rifle for him, and only to 50yrds. The rifle is sweet, I can get sub-MOA groups to 100yrds with ease, but he knows his 100yrd groups will never be less than 6", so he just will NOT shoot past 75yrds. Ethically, he knows he can't ensure a clean kill at 100yrds.
The moral of my stories is confidence dictates ethics. An inexperienced shooter taking a 150yrd lung shot with a .30-06 that he knows is marginal for his ability is far less ethical than a well seasoned shooter taking a 100yrd neck or head shot that he knows he can produce a clean kill with.
Ethical hunting, when considering ANY shot, means you are confident that your shot will end in a clean kill.
My father was a crack shot, but he was never a big game hunter. I'm not sure I ever saw him fire anything larger than a .22lr (although I had heard fables of his ability with the .44mag levergun he carried in the truck).
This is an unethical story, but because of the legality of the weapon used, not the shot placement. When I was in college, my dad and I were hunting raccoons with Jack Russel Terriers one afternoon under a grainery, the dogs were working hard and chasing several coons back and forth around inside the foundation when a herd of deer ran up. A massive chocolate nontypical buck with bases as thick as my wrist was in the mix, standing about 50yrds away staring right at us. "My God", I whispered under my breath, "I wish I had my rifle". (It WAS in season). "You do." My dad whispered back, eyeballing my .22lr Marlin 60. I replied that I couldn't take a shot with my .22. My dad shrugged slowly as he raised his rifle whispering, "I owe you a tag next year" as he slowly raised his open sighted.22lr Marlin 60, took a deep breath, and before I could even object, cracked off a single shot.
The buck dropped like a sack of concrete. Being shot through the eye will have that effect.
While I don't condone it, my dad had no doubt that he could cleanly kill the deer, and he did. Nothing unethical about that. (yeah, the illegal weapon is a different story
Granted I'm not so bold as my father, but I'm a fan of venison, and I'm a fan of using different guns to bring it home. One evening while calling coyotes a buddy questioned my use of a 9mm carbine (kel-tec), since it was "so underpowered". I boasted the number of coyotes I'd killed with it and bragged that I felt it viable for deer even-under the proper circumstances. So the bet was clinched, and later that year I punched a 9mm hole (9mm rifles are legal for deer in Kansas) right behind the ear of a fat doe from 35yrds (I like upper neck shots, high likelihood of hitting the spine, windpipe, and arteries). She dropped with a single shot. Again, I had no doubt I could make the shot cleanly.
I also have a friend that's a terrible shot. His deer hunting weapon of choice is a 6.5x55swede in a sporterized mauser. He's so terrible that he has me sight in his rifle for him, and only to 50yrds. The rifle is sweet, I can get sub-MOA groups to 100yrds with ease, but he knows his 100yrd groups will never be less than 6", so he just will NOT shoot past 75yrds. Ethically, he knows he can't ensure a clean kill at 100yrds.
The moral of my stories is confidence dictates ethics. An inexperienced shooter taking a 150yrd lung shot with a .30-06 that he knows is marginal for his ability is far less ethical than a well seasoned shooter taking a 100yrd neck or head shot that he knows he can produce a clean kill with.
10-30-2009, 12:19 PM
#126
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Mont County, Pa
Posts: 7,368
I wasn't going to touch this subject because I don't really think it even deserves the attention that it's getting. I'll just say this. The words "head shot" and "ethical" don't EVEN belong in the same sentence!!
10-30-2009, 03:23 PM
#128
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 36
do u remember the game show "Family Fued" back in the early 80s when a question was asked & family got the answer wrong, a distinguishing buzzer sounded thats the sound i heard after reading your post, u either hitt em or u miss em no wounded deer ehhhhhh wrong, ive known guys who had the same opinion & chased deer round without jaws because of missed head shots ,so yes it is highly possible to wound deer by taking head shots & that isnt an opinion its a fact
10-30-2009, 03:26 PM
#129
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 36
i'll admit i'm new here, but reading some of the "expert opinion" on this thread is hilarious. I cannot believe people are actually saying that it is impossible to wound a deer with a head or neck shot! i can't be the only person that's seen a moving jawless deer. makes me think a lot of people on here have never shot a deer, head, neck, or otherwise!
10-30-2009, 03:31 PM
#130
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 36
i suppose every deer u have shot with a rifle in the lungs has dropped dead in its tracks huh. apparently u havent shot enough cause ive shot plenty of deer behind the shoulder with big & small cal. & half of them ran 30,40 yards,obviously they bled to death before falling dead in there tracks