Question for experienced hunters only. (No posers please)

haha, yeah. I kneel next to it and use the seat as a rest, for a steadier shot. ATVs work well because horses like to move around ;)

YK
 
To me it comes down to how much of the animal is showing. Where we hunt in Maine,it is thick. The chances of a shot at a deer broadside can happen but not usually. Sometimes it is really thick and all you see is the head and neck so you shoot at what you see.

Sure if I had the chance at a heart/lung shot that is what I would prefer. But if the animal is only showing its head or is quartering away then a head/neck shot can really come in handy. If you shoot a deer and made the neck shot you will know it immediately. You will hear the vertebrea crack and see the deer collapse in its tracks. Kind of sounds like breaking a stick over your knee.

If shooting at a bear, I wouldn't recommend a head shot. A neck shot is fine, but a bullet in the front shoulder works better IMHO. The bear I shot in Maine was a shoulder shot. It dropped, as I took out both front shoulders. When I got up to the animal it was still alive but couldn't get up so I finished it off with a neck shot.
 
at one time i would take a head shot, i liked the clean field dress job, but mainly i like to brag to my buddies about how i shot the animal. i had even made head shot on turkey, i tell this to illustrate my marksmanship abilities. the day i made a low shot and knocked off a bucks lower jaw, and lost the deer, i quit shooting at the head. years later it makes me feel ill, thinking of how that deer must have suffered because my ego exceeded my respect for the hunt.
 
I hunt with a .308 rifle that has had considerable work on it, and I am capable of clover leafs at 100 yards. Since most of my stands are in areas that only allow me about an 80 yard shot, I don't have to do any split second sight adjustmemnts. Just put the cross-hairs on, and shoot.

With that being said, I generally let the deer decide for me, where I intend to shoot. If the deer steps into my clearing, and acts nervous, like walking fast, or looking around while he walks, or moving his feet or head nervously, then I will take a heart shot. If he comes into my clearing in a calm matter such as stopping to look around, or possibly stopping to get a little browse, then I will take a neck shot. I hate to trail a wounded deer, and this is by far the best shot for leaving them in there tracks.

I have a very steady rest on my stands, and feel very confident about my rifle and ability. If you are not confident in your ability, or your rifles capabilty to make pin point shots, then I would stay with the heart and lung area exclusively.

I try not to take a head shot, unless it is the only available option, and I can see the base of the ear. Shooting the base of the ear gives about a 2" kill zone and will drop them immediately.
 
Head shots, Never ever under any circumstance, any distance, any weapon.

Neck, I wouldn't, but if it will keep you from trying headshots....

Heart/lung, Broadside or quartering away is a go. Quartering away is just as dead but with bullet, bone fragments in the guts. Chest is ok facing you direcly, not much room for error but at least you're not risking blowing off a jaw or snout for a headshot.
 
Only neck shots I have taken have been under 150 yds, and all were with 22-250 back when that was only rifle I owned. All of the shots were at does, but I had and still do have a lot of confidence in that rifle, .5 moa and all handloads. If you know your rifle and your ability, I don't think there is a problem with it. Never have tried a head shot. To me a neck shot will either put the animal down in its tracks, or be a clean miss. And for the most part neck shot will not spoil much meat.
 
spongiform = no head shots

I haven't seen anyone mention this, so I'll touch on it.

Being a bowhunter, I don't take unnecessary shots despite the fact that I work darn hard to hone my skills to get that close to an animal. So, that means heart/lung shots all the time for me. Even if I wind up looking for does at the end of rifle season with a 308.

The idea of the head shot sounds good to a lot of novices who like the idea of being a sniper or those who lack the skills to track a deer.

But, with the cases of hoof and mouth or Crutchfield/Jackobs or chronic wasting or kuru, or scrapie, or whatever you want to call it, making a head shot is a very very bad idea. The C/J prion is a nasty critter that, if isolated within the brain and spine of an animal you are attempting to harvest, isn't something you want to let out on purpose. And, an ungulate or bovine with this disease in early to early-mid stages is very hard to pick out of a crowd of healthy animals.

So, leave the gray matter alone. Either do a neck shot or a heart/lung shot.
 
Kraven, I agree with you. That being said, it is impossible to remove a head for a mount and not cut the cord. I have thought about prions while butchering many times.
 
you ask when to make that decision. i make it when the target presents itself. you say that you are new to hunting so asking these questions shows you respect the task ahead. i have been hunting many years and every time i thought i knew what i was doing nature knocked me flat. be very carefull about the headshot. rather grow into the headshot. you did not mentioned what you are intending to hunt. i favour the lung hart shot. over here in africa we shoot a lot of dangerous and pest animals. in these animals we go for the most damage- the chest shot- this dissable the front legs and 90% of the time hits the hart or lungs. after all is said and done only experience will teach you what to do an when to do it. so this is good news, no? this means a lot of target practis and lot of hunting awaits you.enjoy
 
Hello123, good point.
Being educated about the dangers of the prion gives you something to consider when taking trophies.
To me, it's not worth it, as it is with the head shot.
 
I usually always go for the high percentage shot, which is the shoulder/lung area. This a big target and usually drops the animal with in 100yds and often less then 50yds, even sooner most of the time when the shoulder is hit.

However, I have taken head and neck shots on occasion, usually when I felt like I needed to drop the animal right there on the spot. I did this last year while hunting around some deep ditches, that would have made it very hard to drag a deer out of, and would have more then likely been the final resting place of any lungshot deer. The range was close, so I took neck shots at the base of the head. This always dropped the deer right in it's tracks, and I didn't have to go into the deep ditches to retrieve a deer.

I do not favor neck shots or head shots as a general rule, because for one thing, the idea that a neck shot or a head shot always drops a deer on the spot or you missed is a myth. I have seem deer with blown off jaws still walking around, to die of hunger or something else, and I once shot a deer with a blackkpowder rifle in the neck by accident, I hit the deer hard, 4 inches into it's neck, with a 54 cal roundball and it bled like a stuck hog, and ran off. My hunting buddy killed it, later in the morning, while it was just walking along, a full 200yds away. I would have never gotten that deer.

So don't take neck and head shots, thinking that it is always a miss or an instant kill, because it just isn't so, not always. I only take one when I know for dead certian that I will hit exactly where I am aiming.
 
I taught hunter safety in NY State for many years, where we did some cursory "shoot, no shoot" exercises, and often talked about shot placement. Always recommended the high percentage heart/lung shot and never talked about head or neck shots. I always go for the heart/lungs, and have passed on deer that only presented head shots. I believe this is particularly appropriate when archery hunting, but also for firearms. I've never had to shoot a deer hit solidly in the heart/lung area twice.
 
"Simple answer for you is that you take the most efficient, humaine shot that is presented to you at the time. It is done in real time. If it is an "iffy" shot, don't take it. If you feel comfortable, take your best shot.
dean"


+1 for Dean
 
First you need to be proficient enough with your rifle that you can put the shot where you want it. No two shots will be lined up the same. You must have a good enough understanding of the animals skeletal system and organ placement that you CAN put a boolit into a fatal area from whatever angle that you are presented with.

I usually pick my shot. If it isnt lined up right, its just like a city bus. There'll be another one by in about 15 minutes. I dont shoot does, and I dont shoot fork horns (immature bucks). I do however, shoot out the spikes and 3x3's. (Spikes and 3x3's never become more than that and impart inferior genetics into your herd.) I only search for the alpha buck. I want the oldest largest buck in the herd. By using this technique, I have increased both the number of animals in my herd, and the size of the animals in my herd. So, if I dont find the alpha buck, and I take a shot at a beta buck, I usually take a shot that will break the spine. Either a neck or high lung shot that gets the spine. I prefer the neck shot. I have had too many instances in heart shots of having to trail an animal.

If I encounter what I believe to be the alpha buck, then I want him dead. I will usually take a lung shot knowing I may have to trail him up. I took such a shot on the alpha buck this last season, at about 300 yards, taking out the top of the heart and both lungs, and the bullet exited the off side. I finally found the buck 1/2 mile away where he had crawled in under a brush pile and died. The success was in taking him out of the herd.

You might ask what is my motive here. The whitetail buck reaches breeding maturity at maybe 7 years of age. At that time, his fertility goes to pot and he for the most part is shooting blanks. However, he is still a big healthy buck and can whip off the beta bucks. Result? Fewer pregnant does. By taking out the old bucks, I maintain a herd of young vigorous bucks and almost 100% pregnancy rate on the does. Result is more deer and for some reason larger deer. Because I have water on my place, I have hunting when others are not finding bucks.
 
Because I have water on my place, I have hunting when others are not finding bucks.
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Lucky bugger.:D I have water too but they only seem to come to it at night. My woods are pretty dense too. You've seen the pics.
 
I have a creek that runs through the place, there being no other water for about 5 miles each side of it. When it freezes, I have the only springs that run and do not freeze for miles.

The alpha bucks are almost always nocturnal. But that is why you scout to find the bedding areas. That then is the hunt. Stalking them while they are laying in the bed, and putting a galena pill through their neck. They never know you are there, they never get an adrenaline rush, they just die and relax.
 
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