Shot placement

[semperhunting]

The one shot one kill thread got me thinking about shot placement. Where do y'all put the scope. If it's an ol' buck, I go behind the shoulder, but if it's a doe, I put it just below the ear. If I hit her she drops, if I miss she runs. That saves tracking and meat. Just wondering what everybody else does.

[str8 shot]

if ican get a neck shot on a ol buck thats were its goin...i want him to drop in his tracks and not run 100yrds,same with a doe

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

I aim right behind the shoulder. Even if they do run, they're normally followed by an easy to see trail of red. I also don't mind to shoot a head on facing deer right in the chest, that seems to drop 'em in their tracks but doesn't allow for as much error as the behind the shoulder shot. Personally I'd be a little nervous about taking neck shots, but then again, I've never tried one.

[huntindawoods]

I aim right for the shoulder, I know that messes up the shoulder meat but I know them lungs are all jacked up and with them front legs nearly out from under, they generally don't go to far.

[philipfleek]

With a gun I like to Bust that shoulder. Bow as tight as i can get it behind the shoulder, like the front leg to be extended if possible.

[JohnChops]

Neck shots are not the best to take, IMO. There is a lot of tissue in that area that does not contain major vessels or spinal cord. Even worse with a bow than a rifle.

Now if it hits the right spot, that carotid will be severed and they will drop right there. But...

The arrow, if it does not pass and is not a fatal shot, can actually apply pressure to the vessels causing them to not bleed as much which will give you low yield on tracking via blood trail. Recovery can prove very difficult.

I still aim for the boilermaker and hope the lungs drop, fill with blood, and cause a fatal blow.

[lowlock116]

Does anyone shoot top of the back?

I 've never tried it and missed out on a nice buck over a hill last year. All I could see was top of back and head.

[Georgia Transplant]

I shot a 8 pointer one time in the neck with a 30/30 Marlin while it was lying down next to a big pine tree. All I could see was the neck, head and antlers and at 30 yards I fired. He jumped up after the shot ran up and over the hill laughing at me.:eek: I never take those shots anymore.

[str8 shot]

with a bow ill take boiler room shots but like in my last post if i have that buck within say 80yrds ill take a neck shot and hadnt had one get away yet...knock on some wood though

[BigBoyKY]

Double lung shot every time, gun or bow. I never take a head on shot in the chest or a walking away shot. I have let a couple of nice deer pass in the last few years because I didn't have the shot I wanted and never saw them again. I just think it is good Sportsmanship, my opinion only.

[notimlmit]

If with a bow right behind the shoulder low and hopefully quartering away -- with any gun I x right on the shoulder or if facing me right between the shoulders low in the neck -- always had a motto, knock the legs out at the same time lung/heart and they can't go far -- used to shoot right behind the shoulder with a gun but after having to track several started the shoulder shot

[GSP]

Front 1/3rd of the body. 30-06 180 grain and it is DEAD ASAP.

[keith meador]

With a gun, I shoot them right behind the shoulder, same with a bow, but will wait for a quartering away or broadside shot.

I dont mind a deer running a bit after the shot, most of the deer I shoot with broadheads are pretty much empty of blood after a good jog;), less blood while field dressing is always a good thing.

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

Double lung shot every time, gun or bow. I never take a head on shot in the chest or a walking away shot. I have let a couple of nice deer pass in the last few years because I didn't have the shot I wanted and never saw them again. I just think it is good Sportsmanship, my opinion only.

Not protesting your opinion in the least, Im just curious as to why you think a straight on chest shot is un-ethical? I have taken two before on does, both were within 60 yards, they dropped like a sack of wet sand and were dead before their heads hit the ground.

[semperhunting]

With a bow I aim behind the shoulder no questions asked. But with a gun, sepicially on a doe, I just don't like wasting all that good meat around those shoulders.

[drakeshooter]

Does anyone shoot top of the back?

I don't, but I have a hunting buddy who loves to aim and shoot just below the spinal cord. I've seen him drop multiple deer in their tracks without taking a step. There will be a huge swollen up lump right on their spine where the shock wave severed it I guess. Works for him, but I was always too chicken to shoot that high.

[Kydeerhunter03]

Buck or doe, shots go in the same spot...right behind the shoulder.

I wouldnt want to try a head shot on a deer simply because I have seen deer that have been shot in the face and not killed. I have seen deer with their lower jaws missing and are starving to death...not a pretty sight and surely not a clean quick death.

[KuntreeBoy]

I normally go for the chest shot but if I have a good shot I'll shot it in the neck.

[RutNBuck]

if you wanna drop one in his tracks with a GUN
(OR its been the case with me)
aim right where the neck meets the shoulder dead center drop the hammer and he wont move a inch and you wont have to track him either

[BowOnly]

Just wondering why everybody is so scared to have a deer "run off". I have never seen a double lunged deer make it more than 100 yards unless it was rolling down a hill.

[philipfleek]

Just wondering why everybody is so scared to have a deer "run off". I have never seen a double lunged deer make it more than 100 yards unless it was rolling down a hill.
I don't think it's cause were afraid to track a deer, If you do your part the best you can, you don't need to track the deer. I would rather bust the shoulder and IF YOU DO IT RIGHT he/she aint going but feet! To me tracking is the worse part of the hunt- theres always doubt!!!!! JMO....

[hooknshoot]

lung shot take their breath away,about 30 yrds as far as they go.

[RutNBuck]

yeah but usually if they are hit they run down hill thats good if your parked at the bottom but if not your looking at a drag up hill unless you have access with a 4 wheeler ,etc

for some of you young whipper snappers draggin them up hill may be fun but for us with grey hair its not heck you can ask my buddy when i got out of the USMCorp i could throw a full grown doe on my shoulders and could walk up some pretty step hills these days a buddy is only a cell call away
Ahhhhh we got it made these days

[MikeKy]

With a gun I like a neck shot in close quarters. Have taken several that way and they all fell like a sack of wet cement. For longer shots say 30-100 yds I like to shoot them about 4" below the spine and about midway back. They fall straight down and don't even wiggle. No loss of meat. If you run your fingers down their back you can feel about three displaced vertabrae. My last choice, the boiler room, used to be my first choice but I got tired of tracking them. It always bothered me to field dress one that had run and find their heart in 4 pieces and the lungs like jelly and they ran anyway. I want them to be dead before they hit the ground.

[naturalelite]

For longer shots say 30-100 yds I like to shoot them about 4" below the spine and about midway back. They fall straight down and don't even wiggle. No loss of meat.
What do you actually aim at when your taking this shot? Then what is it that you hit that makes them fall without even a wiggle? It seems to me that would be dangerously close to gut shooting one? Why not just shoot for the head that way if you miss you would miss cleanly. Just an idea. My ideas on hunting are surely not the only ones out there just a suggestion.


I actually always try to hit the heart/lungs

[MikeKy]

Haven't got into the guts yet with that shot but that might have been luck. I just aim about 4" below the top of the back and about midway the length of the body. The only two I ever got into the guts on were boiler room shots. As best as I could figure out, one was caused by a bullet fragment and the other by bone chips. Both times the deer were broadside to me and the shot was in the boiler room. Shouldn't have happened but it did. I usually hunt my woods and not the fields. Twenty five yards is a long shot in my woods. I've taken several less than 15' from my tree. I feel comfortable with a neck shot at that range. I've taken them with the spine shot from 50 to 175 yards and haven't lost one yet with that shot. Besides me wanting them dead before they hit the ground, a couple of adjoining property owners would take a dim view of me recovering a deer that made it from my property to theirs. Their No Trespassing signs mean exactly what they say so I stay off them.

I forgot you asked what I hit to drop them so fast. All the bullet hits is ribs but the shock breaks their back. You can feel the displaced vertabrae with your hand if you run it along the top of the spine. When they hit the ground they're not breathing and I've never seen one even kick one leg. They just fall and stay there.

[BigBoyKY]

Not protesting your opinion in the least, Im just curious as to why you think a straight on chest shot is un-ethical? I have taken two before on does, both were within 60 yards, they dropped like a sack of wet sand and were dead before their heads hit the ground.

I am not saying it is unethical, if you have success with that then continue on. I just wasn't raised that way and have never taken that shot, it may be good for some, just not for me.

["KJ"]

I've taken 2 bucks with straight on shots (30-06), after they were within 20 yds, and after waiting, and waiting for them to turn. Both times they hit the ground no questions asked, but the field dressing was pretty bad! Made one ultra-close range(5 yds) neck shot(30-06), and the deer never twitched an ear.I almost always aim for the lungs though, bow or gun. I've never had a deer shot through the lungs with a rifle(30-06,.243,30-30) leave my sight, and thats good enough for me!

[shaman]

As I said in my response in the poll, I'm a boiler room sort of fellow. I visualize a soccer ball-sized target in the chest and think about a line that goes through both lungs and the top of the heart.

Optimally, I am waiting for a broadside shot. I hunt from a treestand, so usually the shot is angling from above and the exit wound is lower than the entrance. In the past seven seasons, my longest shot was at 85 yards.

It seems as long as I stay with a 30-something bullet, running in the velocities of a 300 Savage or greater and take the shots in close, the results are awesome in their lethality. However, I can attest to nothing being a sure-fire , DRT - sort of thing. I have seen mortally wounded deer walk off, stand there and look at me, and also go back to feeding.

My record with blood trails is spotty (cheap pun), but the question has been mostly academic. Until the blood fills up the cavity and starts spilling out of the exit wound, there is going to be nothing. 20 yards later, there's usually a carcass.

[DoeMaster]

I had know idea that it was so common for people to take neck shots. I personally have never taken one. Right behind the shoulder for me.

[TripleGee]

The one shot one kill thread got me thinking about shot placement. Where do y'all put the scope. If it's an ol' buck, I go behind the shoulder, but if it's a doe, I put it just below the ear. If I hit her she drops, if I miss she runs. That saves tracking and meat. Just wondering what everybody else does.

I count down and aim at the spot 28 hairs behind and 163 hairs below the shoulder. Makes for a good heart shot!

[LEAFYMAN]

Behind the shoulder everytime never had one go more than 50 yards, and easy tracking

[bowhunter269]

Double lung shot every time, gun or bow. I never take a head on shot in the chest or a walking away shot. I have let a couple of nice deer pass in the last few years because I didn't have the shot I wanted and never saw them again. I just think it is good Sportsmanship, my opinion only.

My hats off to you........I agree 100%. If you don't have a broadside shot or quartering away shot with a bow, you don't release the arrow. I have also let some dandy bucks walk because I didn't get the right shot, but I've never once regretted those opportunities.........because in my younger days I still can picture the marginal shots i took and spent days tracking wounded deer..........many of which were never recovered.
I think a lot of this comes with maturity, but I have no problem letting a big deer walk if I can't get an arrow behind the shoulder.

[HornHunter]

I take out the shoulders.....There gonna be burger anyway!

[buckslayer23]

Double lung shot every time, gun or bow. I never take a head on shot in the chest or a walking away shot. I have let a couple of nice deer pass in the last few years because I didn't have the shot I wanted and never saw them again. I just think it is good Sportsmanship, my opinion only.


Yea I am with him you should always take the behind the shoulder shot. You owe it to the deer to make the best shot you can!

[keith meador]

With a gun, I shoot them right behind the shoulder, same with a bow, but will wait for a quartering away or broadside shot.

I dont mind a deer running a bit after the shot, most of the deer I shoot with broadheads are pretty much empty of blood after a good jog;), less blood while field dressing is always a good thing.


I forgot to mention, the deer I shoot have little white aiming spots on them...makes shot placement a lot easier when you have a spot to aim at.;)

[bellcountybuckhunter]

With a bow right behind the shoulder with a gun id rather shoot them right in the shoulder.

[chadwimc]

Right behind the shoulder. Works every time. The one old girl pictured didn't even flinch when the broadhead went through her. She tried to run at the last minute, spraying the field in a circle before falling.

[ruger7]

I always aim at the shoulder. I generally hunt with a 7mm rem mag so at any range I'm comfortable shooting it will shatter the shoulder and penetrate at least thru the lung and heart. I'm not much for post shot tracking. I want him to drop where he stands and so far all the deer I have killed with the exeption of one has never ran after he's been hit. I do the same with Does.

Will