Head Shots on Deer?

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Why am I posting this is not going to change anything at all? well here goes.

Where do you teach a kid to shoot a deer? In the chest because it is the easiest best place to put a round in an animal especialy when you are shaking from buck fever. Anything else is just show boatin in my opinion.

I have 2 buddies who decided to do head shots on does they both in the same night blew the jaws off of does. Luckily they both finished the deer off. One of those guys is a really good shot the other is also a fine shot.

When I was younger I shot 2 or 3 deer in the guts on accident and they did not run off and suffer they where all down in less than 50 yards and 2 of them dropped right there. The only time I have ever seen deer run a long ways when gut shot was with Archery gear.

Do what you want I guess. Those guys on the hunting shows do a great job of making hunters look bad enough already, but even those guys don't do head shots on purpose.
 
I've never in my life shot at a deer.

I've shot at a specific point ON many a deer, however.

There is a difference...
 
Todd, I agree completely with you.
A dificult shot at best.
Plus, most guys in the woods are lousy shots with unsighted rifles. And, please, guys, don't come back at me and say you are a good shot with a sighted rifle. I know you are. But those of us here are not "most guys in the woods".
 
Never shot a deer in the head but have taken a few in the neck. They went down quickly....I was also using a Rem 7mm Mag. Lemmon
 
Basically, I think you can hunt anyway you want that is legal, unless it rudely interferes with other people enjoying a day in the woods. I have my own limitations I follow, but have not started any political movements to make them laws yet. It depends what you grew up with. I won't use buckshot(One bad experience), I will not shoot at a deer in a sapling thicket (There is no such thing as a brush busting bullet if it clips the side of a sapling), I consider baiting deer cheating (I used to trap and used bait), I am rather disgusted by people that shoot deer until they are out of tags, even though they have to give the deer away (we always stop when the family has enough).
I don't know who said it but: It is not so much what you stand for when people are around, it is what you do when you think nobody will know.

I just remembered the "deer hanging from the neck" post. People don't do it out of disrespect, the carcass drains better that way.
 
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Just got on to this thread- I've notice we might have a difference of opinion based on region. A lot of Southern hunters seem more for head/neck shots so....
I'm a displaced Yankee who hunted up North but have now spent over a 1/3 of my life in Florida. The first buck I shot was at 37 yards, a trophy-worthless spike, and I did what I always did- I instinctively took the fabled "Heart/lung shot", the spike shuttered and then took off through the jungles. I found blood on the undersides of leaves, etc but with no snow to track and the under cover so thick I couldn't see my feet, tracking was a nightmare. I had been sitting along a fire cut in a draw/dip. As I came to the realization I wasn't going to find any more sign I started kicking myself that I didn't take a neck/head shot and drop the animal in it's tracks. You have to remember 30 yards is 90 feet, like a third baseman throwing to a catcher, you could hit the deer in the head with a BASEBALL so a rifle shot is fine or you had been get in some more target practice or...keep a baseball handy :D:D:D.
Well, I used an old trick, I fired a round in the ground and fortunately the deer was still alive and moved a bit, only about 30 yards farther on and unable to stand. So, I got the buck but I sure did learn an important lesson.
Nowadays do I always take a neck/head shot? No, not really, especially on a buck with a worthwhile rack but I am more aware of the option.
Regarding ethics- the most humane method and without wasting the resource. A heart/lung shot is fatal but if you lose the animal it is a waste. If you have time and opportunity, a head/neck shot in some cases is the more ethical choice. Someone else mentioned the base of the skull, top of the neck. That is where I usually aim on that type of shot.
 
Some of the places I hunt often present situations where the animal (Deer, Elk, Antelope... whatever) must drop where it is standing. If it is given a chance to run even 50 feet, recovery will be impossible or extremely difficult. (Cliffs, 70 degree canyons, shale slopes, water bodies, incredibly dense foliage, etc.)

It may be a small target, but I have confidence in myself, my rifle, and my ammunition. I practice at short and long ranges. I shoot the rifles (different set ups for different types of hunting) year round. I know the limits of the entire combination, and know when I should pass on a bad shot opportunity.

For example:
In 2007, I put a .277" 130 grain Soft Point in the left eye of a doe antelope at 600 yards, with a called shot, from a 6.5 pound rifle, in 25 mph winds - as Crankylove pointed out, back on page 1:
My grandfather once shot an antelope at over 900 yards (measured distance) thru the left eyeball and into the brain.............after he called the shot. My younger brother also shot a speed goat in the eye......after calling the shot.......at 600 yds (also measured).
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My family has called me "Canoe Head" many times, in reference to my head shot preference. The number of animals I have given 'canoe heads' out number the animals I have taken body shots on.

And every year that I have hunted... My head-shot animals have provided 10-25 percent more meat than any body-shot animals.


Head shots should absolutely not be recommended to novice hunters, or hunters that don't have the confidence and skill required (you don't have to be super-human - just practice and use quality ammo in an accurate rig).

However, a skilled, ethical hunter should never turn down a head shot if it is an acceptable option.

-
 
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I am very much apposed to most hunters taking head shots on deer and other big game.

Frankenmouser you must be an incredible shot and far more experieced than at least 85% of hunters. I feel like someone is going to call me a liar even on this board if I say that all my hunting rifles shoot 1" or better at 100 yards. I am not calling you a liar I would call you a skilled marksman.

Plain and simple if a person can make those great shots consistently I have no problem with that person doing that all the time. I would not want someone to tell me when I should shoot or not. I will say that if someone in my group tries that and does not learn from there mistake and keeps on doing it with poor success they won't be a friend of mine and one of us is going to get his butt kicked. I am an easy going guy and have no problems hunting I done it all my life but show boating with a big game animals life for some silly bragging rights unsuccesfully is sickening to me.

Maybe I should clarify that what really bothers me is if the prefered shot is there and they take the head instead. I understand your example above about if you have to get them down quick and can do it. If someone is needing the meat for there family I don't care what they have to do to get it.

One more thing it is possible for a deer to run 150 yards with a bullet thru both lungs. So everyone needs to know how to blood trail.
 
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I am very much apposed to most hunters taking head shots on deer and other big game.
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I would not want someone to tell me when I should shoot or not.
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Got it. You are opposed to it and are telling "most" of us not to do it, but don't want anybody telling YOU what to do. It is good you have standards.

I will say that if someone in my group tries that and does not learn from there mistake and keeps on doing it with poor success they won't be a friend of mine and one of us is going to get his butt kicked. I am an easy going guy ...
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The threat of violence is a nice touch, from such an easy going guy. This level of consistency is like those guys on those TV hunting shows.

Those guys on the hunting shows do a great job of making hunters look bad enough already, but even those guys don't do head shots on purpose.
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Took Many With Neck Shots

In the late eightys my Stepfather managed a hunting lease in Central Texas that had a large spike pouplation that needed to be taken care of. For several years I filled my tags shooting from a blind and taking spikes. I had to leave the trophys for the paying hunters. This was more harvesting than hunting, we processed and ate every deer I killed.

I shot them with a 22 Hornet with a 4 power scope 30 to 60 yards in the neck. They never knew what hit them. Sometimes I would watch one for several minutes before the deer was positioned right and I took the shot.

If I am actually deer hunting I use a 270 and aim for the heart/lungs.

Have a great day.
James
 
Are you serious Double Naught Spy? What about the part where I said
Plain and simple if a person can make those great shots consistently I have no problem with that person doing that all the time. This is a very big point you missed friend.:) If you can do it fine I got no problems but call me up at 1000 at night to help you find a deer you blew half his face off more than once and we prolly won't be huntin buddies anymore. Do you really have a problem with that statement or did you just missunderstand me?

My friends wised up on there own. I believe you can tell alot about a man by the friends he keeps. In reallity if somebody does things like this I just won't have anything to do with them. But I am not a saint. I put my thoughts out on here and you don't agree thats fine but this is a discussion board so thats what you get.

Only you know your skills and only you know if you should be shooting.
My problem is with people who have no ethics and make us look terrible to the public. I would like for my son to be able to hunt when he is my age.
 
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I hate when somebody quotes you and you see you spelled something wrong in the quote. :) And just because I said I was opposed to it does not mean I want to try to get it out lawed.

Crap you are probably right about the threat of violence thing that was me speaking with a little to much emotion. I still don't think it was that bad though. Not a good representation either.
 
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Only you know your skills and only you know if you should be shooting.
My problem is with people who have no ethics and make us look terrible to the public.
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Right, so the problem isn't with head shots at all. "Head shots" is a convenient example of a more difficult target, but the target isn't the problem. The problem is with hunters taking shots they should not be taking because for whatever reason, they don't have the ability to hit the target where it needs to be hit at the time they are firing. That is the bottom line.
 
Ok I will go with that. Like I said before if you can do it with great consistency I got no problem with it. You are a fine shot doing what you know is right.

If a person passes up an easier targets for a harder target over and over agian and wounds things that is just a shame.
 
"...head shots on deer is just a pretty bad idea in general..." Agreed. Much smaller target. Completely irresponsible, if the shooter is using factory ammo out of a commercial hunting rifle and hasn't taken the time to find the factory ammo that shoots best out of his rifle.
"...in the left eye of a doe antelope at 600 yards..." A miraculously lucky shot.
 
Bad idea.

First off, it's a hard target to hit, especially if it's moving.

Secondly, if it's a trophy buck, you cant mount the head on the wall because...well....ya know....half the head is missing....
 
"...in the left eye of a doe antelope at 600 yards..." A miraculously lucky shot.
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It was a called shot. Similar feats have been recorded, as well. ;)

I'm not the average hunter that shoots 3 rounds before a hunt, slings 92 rounds at various herds during the hunt, and finally gets lucky with a butt-shot animal of the wrong sex.

I know my rifles and practice with all of them, all year. I know the cartridges, my loads, and the bullets. I know the animals and their anatomy. I know what a good shot is, and what a bad shot is. I know when to pass. I know when to shoot. I study my drop tables, windage tables, and take terrain into account when figuring wind speeds. I am not Joe-Redneck, that hunts to kill. I hunt for meat, and do my best to make every shot an instant kill.

Some of you appear to be too closed-minded, as well. I never said that I only take head shots. Head shots are a product of opportunity. If the shot is available, I'll take it. If the shot is risky, I choose a different animal, or different shot. I only said that my head shots out number body shots.

Last year's Antelope hunt, for example: I passed on more than a dozen easy shots, inside 300 yards; and at least 3 easy shots inside 90 yards. Every other hunter I know would have attempted the shots (many of them, successfully), but I didn't like what I was looking at; or didn't feel like taking that animal. I ended up with a lengthwise body shot on a bedded-down doe, and a spine shot on a fawn. Then, I broke both shoulders, and took out the heart on an animal that was running at full speed, after an unfortunate mis-judgement by another hunter wounded it.

A head shot wasn't even attempted last year.

If you don't have the confidence or skill to attempt head shots, or suggest them to other hunters, that's fine. Don't go telling people they are idiots, or unethical, though. We hunters are constantly fighting to keep our firearms, so we can continue to enjoy this sport, while the closed-minded antis try to take those firearms away. If we can't keep an open mind about hunting tactics, we're just as bad as they are... It's just a different subject in the spotlight.

And.... I'm getting tired of having to point this out in the hunting forum, but many members here simply cannot understand the concept:
We live in varying terrain. We live in different climates. We hunt different species. We use different weapons. We have different challenges and problems hunting those species.

I don't hunt the same animals the same way Joe-Redneck does. You don't hunt the same animals the same way I do.

The world is vast and varied. Take the blinders off, and open your minds.
 
I have no problem with head shots if you KNOW your going to hit your mark. The last two for me were at +/- 100 yards with a slug gun and a rifled barrel, topped off with a properly sighted in red dot scope. Very clean kills. More than likely I'll be using that shotgun this fall due to the area I'm hunting, So I'll be sighting it in again for 100 yards and dusting off the sabots. The Rem 700 wil more than likely stay on the wall this year.
 
Neck if they're still and inside of 100 yrds...

Otherwise, opposite shoulder, ...and wreck the heart a/o lungs along the way.

Texas "heart" shot, ...? only if the light comes on.
 
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