Shoulder Shots on Whitetail
 

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

Its bascially a spine shot. A low shoulder shot is bad. High shoulder shot and they won't move a muscle.

It can be a risky shot. Smaller kill zone than just a double lunger.

As long as you are using a jacketed bullet with near magnum loads you should be okay. I shot one last year in the shoulder with an 100% lead bullet and only 100gr. of powder and the bone broke but stopped the round from entering the vitals. She ran over the hill and I thought she was dead. I'm glad I reloaded before topping the hill because she was standing there looking at me when I popped over and I had to put another one in her behind the shoulder. She went 20 yards and was done. I could not believe that the bullet didn't get through the shoulder when I got up to her! Have shot the TC shockwaves through the shoulder with 150gr. of powder and they went through and through, dropping them right where they were.

if you can shoot them in the shoulder you should be able to shoot them in the head

High shoulder shots can be tricky.
I high shouldered a nice buck once, knocked him right down, but he got up in a matter of seconds.
Problem is my gun stove piped the ejected shell, never found that buck :cry:
This was a 15 yard shot with a foster slug.
A neighbor found him in the spring while turkey hunting, 130" 10pt.

Shooting Horady sst 250 with 100g of Blackhorn 209 powder out of an Accura. Haven't tested more powder. Very comfortable up to 150yd with this combination. Thanks for your info.

i just recently ran across an article in a hunting mag advocating the shoulder shot....id always heard it wasted too much meat but the article author made me rethink it. Next time i have a good shoulder shot opportunity im going to try it out.

I don't know about muzzleloaders, but I shot a buck in the shoulder once with a 165 grain Remington Core-Lokt .30-06. He hit the ground like he had been hit by a dumptruck, and never took another step. When a grasped his front leg to try to roll him over, it moved in all directions, so it was clear the bone structure had been turned essentially to jello.

The Deer Shot
 

First, the heart-lung shot was always highly recommended by experts, to hunters, because it was a bigger target. There were other shots, but accuracy, not found in some hunters, is required.

I learned knock down shots, because I hunted deer in swamps, when young. I would take aim at a broad side standing deer, move up its leg, and aim the shot in the upper part of the deer. I found hitting the shoulder/artery area very effective. Move up the leg and target the more upper part of the deer body, rather than the lower part.

I never had to track a deer, five feet or more, through a swamp. Oh, and I used that most powerful of deer cartridges in my rifle -the .35 Remington.
Except when I was using a .50 caliber round ball in my flintlock.

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. :(