just got done watching a hunting movie. about half way through they tell you that they are wanted to take high shoulder shots to drop the deer in it's tracks. i always knew that a shoulder shot will drop a deer in its tracks but it ruins a lot of meat. yet these guys where shooting them right above their shoulders and right below their spinal cord. i was just wondering if this would ruin the meat from the front shoulders much?

its going to ruin some meat...the exit should be massive if you use a bullet that stays together but expands good......bone fragments through it all too......if you can find that spot in the shoulder id just move it up to the neck....that spots about the same as a neck shot......only thing is you can hit lower and be safe....

what about just square in the shoulder,not high just right square in the shoulder how far will one travel,ive alway hit just slightly behind the shoulder closer to the lung area bc its a better sized target.

thanks, i do use the neck shot at times but when i need a body shot i would like one that drops then on the spot like a neck shot

eddie- i tried that and the entire front legs get blood shot so you get no meat from them

but did they drop pretty quick thugh?a couple of places i hunt dont really want them goin far.

i dont care about ruining front shoulder meat. we get enough deer that we dont need every last scrap off teh front shoulder. i woudlnt worry about ruining meat

slayer

When I hunted State Property with fixed stands I would always go for shoulder shot as I knew the deer would most always drop in tracks. I never had to worry about deer running to adjacent stands for the final kill shot or into marsh and vanish into thin air! That can really suck if its a nice buck(been there done that). It does trash alot of good meat.

Now that I hunt private farm I'm not so paranoid. I have my smoke pole and shot gun sighted so I can most often get a good spine shot. They drop in their tracks and expire in seconds. I've taken 4 deer so far this year and 3 were drop dead spine shots. A good meat shot and humane kill.

AJ- do the spinal shots mess up the tenderloin? that is my favorite part of the whole deer. wouldn't want to ruin that.

Attached is a skelton picture of the anatomy of a deer. The red dot shows the high shoulder shot placement they refer to. One can see when excuted this not only takes out the front shoulder, it also will affect the spine. Thus the bang and flop result that occurs.

Anytime you shoot meat expect some meat loss be it shoulder, neck, spine, etc. The bullet construction can limit this loss somewhat, so if shooting at the bone then pick a bullet that is constructed to stay somewhat in tact when encounter resistance. Basically don't expect a Ballistic tip or other soft tipped standard bullet to pierce right through with no damage resulting.

For me my preferred shot on a mature buck is quarter away through the ribs and into the opposite shoulder. When excuted this shot leaves very short tracks, but damage is evident as well. If I am strictly trying to fill my freezer I'll take the rib in/rib out and let them lead me to where they lay. Quite simply take out the ability to breath you have a dead animal.