Neck shots vs. head shots

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
This is more of a theoretical question more than anything. But suppose you're hunting a rather large game, say from whitetail to elk, but you're in a survival situation where you don't have the optimum caliber gun. Let's say that all you have is a .223rem, and don't have confidence that the round will penetrate to the vitals. OR, similar situation, you're surviving on the land, and you have a bigger gun, but the only target that presents itself from your game is the head and neck. Which do you aim for, and why - the head or neck? Seems like the neck is better because you don't have to penetrate a skull. But if your answer is head, then where exactly on the head do you aim for if given a choice? If your answer is neck, then where exactly on the neck do you aim for, if you have a choice? If your answer depends on which angle the game is facing, relative to you, then what are each of your answers with each possible angle? Thanks.
 
first off.

Like you said unless I was forced to take one of those two shots I wouldn't, but if I only had a small caliber it would be in the head. I would aim just below the ear. Although the neck itself is a bigger target the area in the neck you would have to hit for an immediate kill is smaller in my opinion.
 
I'm sure you could shoot an animal in the neck without the bullet even hitting anything vital. Unless you hit the spine or a major artery that animal is going to live another day.
 
You need precise knowledge of the anatomy of that animal and be able to precisely place the shot .Many animals and people have survived a head shot because the bullet glanced off the hard curved skull.For a neck shot do you know exactly where the spine is in the neck ? A pig's spine connects to the center of the head , the deer's to the top of the head. A deer's spine starts out at the rear top of the head ,drops down to the midpoint of the neck then back to the top of the neck where it connects to the body....You must know these things because in a survival situation a miss or lost animal and you may starve to death.
 
I'm sure you could shoot an animal in the neck without the bullet even hitting anything vital.
Click to expand...
And that's the truth. In that situation, go for the head. If it's a deer or elk, aim just below the ears.
 
I've done a lot of both, but not with smaller calibers. With say, a .223 with varmint bullets, I think the neck shot would be safer since there is more area. But....with a bullet that doesn't rupture violently, I'd take the head. A bad shot in the neck can miss vitals as mentioned above. When taking head shots I aim slightly behind the eye from the side. You need to picture the skull case and not the whole head as your target. I wasn't the cause, but I have seen a few deer with jaws that were shot clean off and would run for days.
 
If you don't think you can make a good shot! Take out both lungs with a broadside shot. The deer will run but not to far. It will run out of air and lay over and die. This will work with a 22lr if you were out in the wild and needed some food.

If you think you make a good shot! With a 223 and varmint ammo a head and neck is good. Just try to hit the skull with a head shot. It will blow most of the head off the deer. A high neck shot works well to. don't worry about the spine! The HP bullet will put it down if you are close to the spine. I say this because this is the only way I hunt deer. Did it for years with a 222 and 50gr nosler BallisticTips. Now I use a 270 with 135gr sierra match kings. People tell me I can't hunt with match bullets! Till they see the deer I shot with its head blowed off. No destroyed meat and a easy deer to clean. To this date I have never had a deer take one step after being shot. One shot drop kills! Well!! the first deer I shot was through the lungs and it run 60 yards! Forgot about the first deer :rolleyes: .

Pigs are a good nongame food source. Same thing with pigs! High neck shots. You want to put a pig down fast! They may run at you after being shot but not likely. Most of the time they will run for cover. Places you can't go. Dense and thick cover. So it's best to put pigs down on the first shot. The first pig I ever shot was through the lungs and the pig charged me. Then ran off in thick cover and I never found it. I'm sure the coyotes did later! Now I use a mini 30 and a marlin in 444 with 240gr speer Gold Dot pistol bullets. The 444 will almost blow a pigs head clean off. When I say high neck I mean at the top of the neck and base of the skull.
 
head

id shoot for the head ive seen too many deer run too far after a neck shot and im only 17 i heard once that you should draw an imaginary line from the eye to the ear and shoot halfway up it
 
hard to pick on this one...

If I was stranded and starving either or......... that is likely not going to be the issue if I have done my homework and or have any good luck.....

The other 99.9% time I refuse to take either of these shots.... just me....not saying it's bad but for me not what I look at when I go hunting....
I like the boiler room or the ventilation system.... Again that's just me.... :D
 
There is more to a neck shot than just the spine

The windpipe and the major arteries are there as well. A solid neck shot (not a crease) is lethal.
 
I'll have to side with Impact on this one. My uncle who taught me to hunt was very, very effective with an open sighted, 30-30 Winchester, even on running deer. His favorite shot was the neck, high and up close to the head, just where it bulges good.

His justification was simple, . . . you either get the deer or you don't. A little high and the deer has at worst a minor flesh wound, . . . low gets the same. Either is a deer that won't become buzzard bait.

Hit your target right, . . . venison on the table. The only time I have ever seen it fail, was with me. Just as I was touching off my 12 ga, the deer jumped and turned at the same time. As it was, the slug broke its back just in front of the hips, and I was able to finish it with a neck shot. No lost meat, good clean kill, even if it took 2 shots.

To me, . . . it also seems to be an easier shot (the neck shot), . . . but again I was taught that way.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I'd still go with a lung shot myself. It doesn't take much to wreck both lungs, and the bullet doesn't need to exit to do the job. Your going to have to be close for either of the other two, so it's not likely that a rib is going to turn away a 223.
 
I have 2 experiences with this topic and know of a third:

I shot a big whitetail in the neck with a 20g & sent him tumbling. I hit him high on the back of his neck about half-way between his head and his shoulders. He was not dead; however completely immobilized. A second shot standing over him finished him off. He was pretty far off & at a full sprint, so I tried to lead him & give some room for the slug to drop; apparently he wasn’t as far away as I thought… Maybe a little buck fever, but I was like 15 years old at the time.

I also shot a doe in the neck with an arrow. She too dropped in her tracks; however she was killed immediately. I hit her just behind the jaw. I drew back expecting her to step out from the bush, but she heard my arrow draw against the bow & froze. I finally got tired of holding the bow back, so I took the only shot I had; It turned out to be a good one.

A friend of mine – and this is an absolutely true story – shot a mule deer in the head with a .22. To make a long story short, he grew up near Colorado Springs. His father purchased a piece of land about 1,000 feet above the city, built a house, and hunted in the area. The neighborhood grew, and eventually got to the point where it became very exclusive (gated, guarded, etc). Needless to say, that put the breaks on hunting in the area. His dad, however, is a hunter through and through. My buddy had a doe license & the season was coming to a close, so they went up the hill to shoot a deer. They brought a .22 because they wanted to avoid drawing any significant attention to themselves (7mm Mag wouldn’t have been a good choice in the case). My buddy cracked the doe in the head at about 75 yards & she dropped. They quickly loaded her in the back of the Suburban & headed back to the house for dressing & cleaning. The thing is that the deer wasn’t dead; it woke up in the back of the truck. Now picture this: these two are driving through this very exclusive neighborhood, they drive by a couple walking their dog, and the deer gets up inside the truck. My buddy jumps into the back of the truck & is trying to finish her off by banging her head against the wheel well – his dad casually says “hello” to the passing neighbors & continues down the road at an idols speed. Thank god for privacy glass.

I’m not sure what my point is, but the topic made me think of these three stories…
 
Spencer

As a fellow bowhunter I got to ask you why you would take a neck shot? If you were desperate and needed meat I could understand. I have been busted before too....... It was my thought once she busted me and all I have is a neck or not to make a shot.........I picked to pass on trying to put the deer down at all. I guess it's just the way I was taught...... I am glad it worked out and you got the deer :D
 
I agree Rojoe

Any ethical bowhunter should know that it should be a double lung / heart shot or nothing. Saying that, I've shot and missed my target and hit a doe in the gut but it certainly wasn't intentional.
 
ya... I know heart break......guys

I had one bowhunt that ended up with me putting an arrow to far back.... I think it was liver area but at the time I thought good shot and reaction seemed like other deer I have got. Well, I made the bad mistake of starting to track to soon......and forced her up and moving.... after I tracked her awhile I called it off for the night.... I was not liking myself at all and didnt sleep a wink........well, when first light showed I stuck my head out the cabin door to hear coyotes singing me the blues. I knew what they were so happy about....and once I got up to what was left of her (1/3) I was ready to throw my bow as far as I could. I replay that hunt and what I should have done different.... and I wish I could have that shot back...... This was my only lost deer.....even temporary is all it took...... :( It also reminded me to wait out the tracking.... I like to wait an hour now.......and I never stop for darkness anymore.........just me

I limit my shots to 20 or less yards....... And I practice more as I age...
 
The one recurring theme I keep hearing over and over when game is lost, is people tracking too soon. You've got to wait it out folks - hard to do when the adrenaline is pumping, but if they're not DRT, then let them lie down and bleed out close by so you can find them, regardless of how good you think you hit them - bare minimum half hour, I would think. More like an hour if you think it's a so-so hit, and 2 hours if you think it's a poor hit. Easier said than done I know. Not picking on you, because many have done it, and I appreciate you sharing so that we can further learn the lesson too, as you have. I place an artificial range limit on myself for bow shots of 30 yards under ideal conditions for deer, and 25 yards or less under adverse conditions - bad lighting, very cold, rainy, snowy, funky shooting position, etc. Oh yeah, blood is easier to see at night with a flashlight then during the day, so I agree, if there's predators around, keep on looking at night, until you find it or are so exhausted or cold that you literally can't go on (or the trail ends).
 
I've taken headshots that didn't seem to kill the deer right off though it did drop them 100% of the time. Perhaps the movement was "nerves" but they always seem to have some reflex kicking after shot in the head - same for pigs. Neck shots will be next year's experiment. Every neck shot I've heard of (right behind the jaw) seems to drop them dead instantly.
 
Most of my deer hunting has been done with an '06 and a .243; about 20+ each. With the .243, the great majority were neck shots. I just followed my father's idea that you either kill or miss. So far, I've not missed. I'd guess that none were inside of 75 yards; none outside maybe 125.

With a .223, I'd be real picky about the distance and whether the deer was not particularly alerted. I'd go for the center of the neck. Frontal, the center of the white spot is my preference.

Art
 
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