deer shot

[kriss]

where do you shoot a deer? i know turkeys are shot in the head so as not to damage the meat. Are deers also shot in the head? will a shot in the head affect the beauty of the mount?

[fabsroman]

Generally, a whitetail deer is shot right behind the shoulder so that you will get a lung and heart shot. If you place the bullet correctly, about the only meat lost should be a couple of ribs. If the deer is a buck, I usually try to shoot it right in the front shoulder so that I can break its shoulder and stop it from going anywhere.

Head shots can be taken, but they are rather tough and they will definitely destroy what a mount looks like. Since I have never even tried a head shot on a deer, I do not know if they are always fatal when they connect. I know deer have pretty small brains, but I would think any bullet with some oompf behind it would do the job if it hits the deer anywhere in the head. One scenario that I can think of that would prevent me from trying a head shot is where you shoot the deer's lower jaw off and then it will starve to death if it does not die from loss of blood.

[gd357]

I will backup what fabs told you. I've seen a few head shots that didn't kill the animal and a follow-up shot was needed. The smart choice is a broadside chest shot that will take out the lungs and possibly the heart.

gd

[Skyline]

"I know deer have pretty small brains, but I would think any bullet with some oompf behind it would do the job if it hits the deer anywhere in the head."

Ah, sorry fabs but many animals are wounded and left to die a slow death by guys that muff a head shot. You alluded to the jaw problem, but noses and nasal passages smashed to hell, holes through the wind pipe, front of the jaw blown off, the jaw smashed and hanging.......I have seen all of these several times. Why just last fall some muzzleloader hunter shot the jaw off of a whitetail that was later taken down by coyotes in one of my pastures.

A head shot should only be taken if you are absolutely sure of your shot placement to the brain or spine juncture.

Yes absolutely to the lung/heart shot.

[L. Cooper]

The first shot at a deer should be at the largest lethal target. That is the heart lung area. Think of it as a balloon through which the bullet must pass from whatever presentation angle you are facing.

Head shots should be finishing shots only.

There are way too many ways to wound a deer with a head shot (lower jaw shot away is one example I found) that result in a deer that can still run like a deer, but which will die a lingering and painful death.

[fabsroman]

Skyline,

When I said "anywhere in the head" I wasn't thinking of the jaw or nose, but the actual skull area around the brain. Might not have to be right through the brain, because the shock and impact would do the trick.

With that said, I would never take a head shot unless I was starving and really needed the deer. I can kill does out here almost any day of the week, so I have no real desire to shoot at the head of a doe that is sitting behind a tree. I can wait for them to move. It is all about patience. Now, if it is a big buck that is hiding behind a tree and the only thing you can see is its head, you really cannot take that shot either because you will destory the head mount.

[HPBTMTCH]

Yes, head shots should only be taken if the animal is looking directly at or away from you, otherwise a hit in the jaw or nose is a horrible way to die.

[rem 700]

The red represents the area of lungs, heart and liver. Green is the digestive system, which should be avoided.
http://www.pcarchery.com/images/targ...er_vitals2.gif

[WT Kevorkian]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned a neck shot which will drop any deer right in its tracks everytime. I have also seen several deer shot right in the butt of the shoulder with a shotgun slug and muzzleloaders that were never recovered, it depends mostly on the size of the deer,,, that shot will drop does right in their tracks everytime but on large bodied bucks the bullet just mashes out flat against the bone,,,, rifles are an entirely different subject though and they would probably do the job with out much problem even on big deer

[fabsroman]

Depends on the bullet used on the big deer and the velocity of the bullet. I shot a button buck at 25 yards with my .300 Win Mag and the old Remington Core Lokt bullets and there was no exit wound because the bullet completely disintegrated before getting to the other side. It was enough devastation on the button buck (i.e., blood came out of the entrance wound like the Old Faithful gizer sp.) to drop him in his tracks, but I don't know how that bullet would have performed if it was a big buck and I hit bone somewhere in there. Now, with the Barnes X bullets I use, I seriously doubt there would be any problem breaking bone, etc. with the .300 Win Mag.

Are you still using the Barnes X bullet sabots in your slug gun? If so, how have they been working on the bigger deer? I would assume well. Last year I didn't get to use them much because I couldn't find them around here. Hence, I used the Remington premium crapola. Wasn't satisfied with the patterning on those rounds, but that was all I could find around here (i.e., Dicks).

As far as the neck shot is concerned, I took one on a wounded doe that Diamante shot last season, and I had to stare at the thing while she gasped for breath for about a minute. I was going to shoot her in the head after the neck shot, but Diamante didn't want me to. No idea why I ever listen to anybody but myself.

[WT Kevorkian]

Still using the barnes x slugs, got them from natchez last time, but I see the price has went up from last year. They have performed well for me although I usually hunt with my muzzleloader most of the time just because it has a much better trigger pull and I feel more confident with it. As long as I hit them behind the shoulder or in the neck it is no problem.

[L. Cooper]

While a shot that hits the brain in a head shot or the spinal cord in a neck shot will be devastatingly lethal, the trouble with both head and neck shots is that there is a whole lot of head and neck that is not brain or spine.

A deer's brain is about the size of a large walnut. Can you hit a walnut offhand at 100 yards? The spine is longer of course, but is not much bigger in diameter, and many people don't even understand where exactly it passes through the neck of a deer. They think it is just under the top of the neck line.

Any shot that doesn't incapacitate the brain or spinal cord of an animal is a wounding shot that will very seldom prove fatal of itself. Starvation, thirst, and infection will eventually make the animal weak enough to attract predators, but that may take days. If the animal is lucky, maybe some vital blood vessles will be severed enough for it to bleed to death in an hour or two, but gunshot wounds are often too "messy" to allow good bleeding in muscle tissue.

The first shot at unwounded non-dangerous big game should be at the largest lethal target. That is the heart and lung area of the chest.

Sorry to be so adamant about this, but I have seen several deer with non-lethal head and neck wounds during my hunting lifetime, and every time it was very sad indeed. One thing hunters must never do if we don't want the anti-hunters to gain any advantage is to allow unnecessary suffering.

Make the first shot a killing shot, even at the expense of a little meat.

[WT Kevorkian]

A bullet doesn't have to hit the spine itself on a neck shot to imobilize a deer, the shock to the spinal column is what does the job. If you center punch the neck that deer will not get up, I have shot close to 100 deer in the head and neck and never had one get up, call it what you want, I hate tracking deer, and its a much cleaner job come time to field dress them too. By the way a deers brain is a whole lot bigger than a walnut and you have got at least a large apple sized area that if hit will completely immobilize the deer instantly, and there are a lot of people who can hit an apple everytime at 100 yards maybe not off hand but with a good rest,,, absolute piece of cake. I don't pass judgement on anyone and I respect everyone's feelings on this but if someone has taken the time to practice with their gun and has 100% confidence in taking a head shot,,,, carried out correctly it is the most humane shot that can be taken, there's no running, walking, nothing,,, maybe a little quivering and that is it! To each his own, and I can agree that there are a lot of people who have no buisness attempting a head or neck shot and do so anyway just for an ego trip, that said the irresponsibility and poor shooting ability of others has no bearing on the effectiveness of head and neck shots carried out properly.

[L. Cooper]

I agreed, if you look closely, that carried out correctly, there is nothing more lethal than a brain or spine shot.

I still say, it is far more difficult to carry out correctly than it is to botch it up. My point is not about the effectivenss of the shot, it's advice about where to shoot deer for humane and certain kills.

Maybe I'm just not a good enough shot. I have for sure hunted enough to know that not every shot goes within a couple of inches of where I want it to go.

As my grandfather once said while I was beating myself up for shooting badly, "If you ain't never missed, you ain't done much shooting." That was 46 years ago.

He was absolutely correct. I have never since taken a first shot at the head or neck.

[rem 700]

If you go for a nervous system shot, unless at close range, I'd go for the shoulder because if you miss it and go low you've just hit the very large target of the lungs, and the deer will die whether you hit one or the other.