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Shoulder Shots on Whitetail

Old 12-21-2010, 06:39 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by ADVWannabee
Very timely subject for me. I intend to use a shoulder shot on the next deer I get where I hunt because like you, I have a small area to hunt and can't track them off the property. I know a shoulder shot is a sure thing with my 30-06 and figured it would be for blackpowder as well. But a couple posts here have me worried. I am using 100 gr of pellets with a 250 gr SST and was hoping for an exit wound. Sounds like with a shoulder shot, I might not even get through the vitals.
Come on now!, its a deer, they dont have a heavy bone structure. I have shot elk in the shoulders with complete pass thrus using 300gr. Hornady XTP's out of a 50cal. muzzleloader
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Old 12-21-2010, 06:50 PM
  #22  
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There's very little meat on a front shoulder to begin with!

Hammer em!
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Old 12-21-2010, 07:21 PM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by rgv21350
New to muzzle loader hunting, have a question on Shoulder Blade Shots. Hunt on 80 acres of creek bottom ground that has a lot of good deer. The problem is that the land is bordered by ground that you might not get permission to track a wounded deer. Compound that problem with the fact that the best hunting spots are closest to that ground. Need to drop the deer in its tracks. What about shoulder blade shots. Thanks

Another thing to keep in mind when considering the shoulder shot is that if you shoot too high or too far in front, you've got either a clean miss or an animal with agonizing wounds. And if you shoot too low, you've got an animal with a broken leg that can still escape, only to later succumb to its wounds or predators.

Just think of hunting legend Karamojo Bell. It was his fanaticism over bullet placement coupled with an understanding of his quarry's anatomy-that allowed him to tale down so many elephants with his meager .275 Rigby, a cartridge equivalent to today's 7x5 7.


Last edited by Rebel Hog; 12-21-2010 at 07:29 PM.
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Old 12-21-2010, 08:10 PM
  #24  
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I can't speak well on behalf of a muzzlelaoder, as I have only killed a couple of deer with one. Both were shoulder shots however, as my aiming confidence is not as good as with a modern rifle. But with a modern gun I always shoot in the neck. I do this for two reasons... they are always laying where you shoot them, and you don't cause any meat to become blood-shot.
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Old 12-22-2010, 08:05 AM
  #25  
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I never used a muzzleloader, but I find this quite interesting. I would not have thought that a round ball was so ineffective. I did shoot a deer with my 40 pound recurve and had missed and hit it in the shoulder. The arrow knocked a hole about an 1 1/2 round through the shoulder bone (cut the deer up later) and continued through the heart. The deer ran about 50 yards and appeared to be using only 3 legs but it happened so fast I am not sure. Do muzzle loader balls only break a hole through the shoulder bone like that? I have shot plenty of deer in the shoulder with .300 Savage,6.5 Japanese, 6.5 Swede and other light cartridges and those deer go right down even if running. It is enough to break the bone. Not my preferred shot, but sometimes it is the best shot and it does not damage much meat really.
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Old 12-22-2010, 08:45 AM
  #26  
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as long as you hit the esophagus they will drop right in their tracks
Huh? The tube that joins the mouth and the stomach? Are you sure you don't mean the spine?
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Old 12-23-2010, 04:52 AM
  #27  
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its a very effective shot.and theres little meat on the front quarters of a deer anyways.
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Old 12-23-2010, 06:05 AM
  #28  
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That guy means esophagus, I have seen it done with a .22 longrifle. It won't kill them with a .22 but it does drop them and they stay there unless forced to get up. If they can even get up they can't go more than 5 feet without dropping again because they can't breathe.
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Old 12-23-2010, 07:24 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by bwoods14
if you can shoot them in the shoulder you should be able to shoot them in the head
Are you serious???

The shoulder is a decent sized area. The only part of the head that will kill a deer is the brain...basically the size of a lemon.
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Old 12-23-2010, 08:43 AM
  #30  
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If they can even get up they can't go more than 5 feet without dropping again because they can't breathe.
They breath through the trachea (wind pipe). The esophagus is the tube they swallow food through.

Even the wind pipe is not an anchoring shot. A deer can run 100 yards with a blown out heart and no oxygen enriched blood going to the brain. I can assure you they'll go pretty far not being able to breath.

I shot in the neck will usually take out the spine and can also sever the carotid artery and jugular vein. These are probably what is causing your deer to drop.

You guys aren't vascular surgeons, are you?
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