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Where do you shoot your deer???

bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,669 ✭✭✭✭
edited October 2012 in General Discussion
I have taken a lot of moose with neck shots, just behind the ear but deer are smaller and more apt to move fast so I tend to avoid head shots unless very close. I have shot one doe right up the nose as she looked at me but that was with a crop destruction permit using the 6BR and 105A-max with an 8 twist barrel.

When hunting with a hand gun or ML I try to never hit the shoulder bone, it destroys a lot of good meat. My favorite shot is the deer broadside, head down eating with the front leg on my side in front. I try to sneak the shot in just behind that front leg, hitting the lungs and heart for a fast kill.

Shooting big bones makes a heck of a mess.

Where do you prefer to hit them??

Comments

  • bigoutsidebigoutside Member Posts: 19,443
    edited November -1
    In all honesty, I've never shot a deer.

    But the shot you describe is what I've always heard as the optimal shot.

    And the shot described in the hunters' ed course I had to take last year for an out of state license.[;)]
  • MercuryMercury Member Posts: 7,836 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I prefer to shoot my deer in the woods. They get really mad when I do it in the zoo!

    Merc
  • saserbysaserby Member Posts: 1,873 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    deer broadside, head down eating with the front leg on my side in front. I try to sneak the shot in just behind that front leg, hitting the lungs and heart for a fast kill.

    Broadside to quartering away is the only good shot for a bowhunter. I would take a neck shot with my slug gun.
  • LaidbackDanLaidbackDan Member Posts: 13,142 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Mercury
    I prefer to shoot my deer in the woods. They get really mad when I do it in the zoo!

    Merc
    Same here, and the screams and crying throw off my concentration at the petting zoo.
  • 35 Whelen35 Whelen Member Posts: 14,307 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've yet to attempt a neck or head shot. Seen too many deer and elk hit badly, resulting in cripples that required lots of extra tracking. For me, broadside, behind the shoulder only. Haven't lost a deer with that method.

    When most of your deer hunting involves 53gr bullets, you've got to really pick your shots, and I'm not about to take a chance at an animal running off and suffering due to a bad hit. And yes, bullets of that weight are perfectly capable of dropping a deer.[;)]
    An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.
  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'll shoot them where I can, as long as I know the bullet will hit the boiler room. I will go through the shoulder in a heartbeat, since I knwo that anchors them straight away. If I need more meat, I shoot another deer.

    I've even used the ole Texas Heart Shot (straight up the *)[}:)] it works like a charm.

    I have shot them in the neck, the head, in the chest straight on, up the *, through the shoulder, through the vitals, etc etc etc. I'll take anything but a gut shot, as long as I know it will work.
  • M1A762M1A762 Member Posts: 3,426
    edited November -1
    Heart/lung is my firts choice, it has never failed yet. Has worked with .30-30, .270, and .308 without fail, usually dead in the tracks. I have taken a neck shot with a .223 75 gr. black hills HP. Worst destruction I have ever seen, the bullet followed the spine and exited the rear hip with a lot of fragmenting. Small buck was dead in it's tracks, just flopped down. It was nearly a 300 yard shot in the open. It was a quick kill but really bloodshot a lot of meat, I felt bad and will not use .223 to hunt deer anymore.
  • MudderChuckMudderChuck Member Posts: 4,105
    edited November -1
    Depends, If the Deer is near the property line or a big thicket I shoot a neck shot. I don't try to get fancy, the thicker part of the neck 4-8 inches from the base works just fine. Every one I've shot that way fell in a pile. IMO it actually makes for better tasting meat, the adrenaline changes the flavor of the meat. The shock from a neck shot seems to partially disconnect the glandular processes some, it sure seems to short circuit the nervous system.

    Coming at me at an angle, I usually lung shoot, well forward. I try to avoid the possibility of gut shots.

    I shot one small Buck that had to be the toughest Deer on the planet. Iirst shot I laid right on his heart while he was feeding, he took off running and ran up a steep ridge maybe 60 yards, he stopped to blow at the top and I took the second shot, same spot. He took off again and ran another 30 over the ridge where I couldn't see him fall. When I gutted him his heart ran through my fingers, it was that loose, pretty much the consistency of thin pudding. After I skinned him I saw the two holes on the back of the pelt, both through the heart and maybe an inch and a half apart.

    I've never had a neck shot run off, I can't say the same for a lung or heart shot.
  • CapnMidnightCapnMidnight Member Posts: 8,038 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I shoot most of my deer in the back yard.
    W.D.
  • xstuntmanxstuntman Member Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    On the Wii with the orange shotgun thing.
    Don't have wear camo and scent blocker either but i find it makes it more realistic.


    [:D]
  • KodiakkKodiakk Member Posts: 5,582
    edited November -1
    With a rifle I've always gone for just behind the shoulder. Hit them like this with a 7 mag, 50 cal muzzleloader. I didn't like the lost meat. Shot another one head on with a 270 Weatherby right in the chest. Still lots of wasted meat.

    This year I'm going to try a neck shot to avoid wasting the shoulders. That's all my buddy shoots for is the neck and he hasn't had one run off yet.
  • MobuckMobuck Member Posts: 14,127 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I usually try to tuck it in right behind the bulge of the shoulder or in line with the opposite front leg on quartering away shots. I've hit deer or seen deer hit in almost every body part/location. During doe season when I'm filling the freezer, I take neck shots as much as possible. If I'm looking at horns, I take any shot that will result in a kill or rapid incapacitation. I don't use wussie cartridge choices.
    Although I've seen and even made several kills using the 223 or 22/250, I definately don't condone the use of varmint type bullets. Regardless of the DRT kills, sooner or later what seems to be a good hit will cost you a deer due to unexpected bullet failure.
  • HappyNanoqHappyNanoq Member Posts: 12,023
    edited November -1
    I've always shot it in the bullethole.
  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I try just below Tenderloin just behind Shoulder I dont like Grape Jello you get when you hit bone. Only ever shot one deer with neck shot
    last day of season years ago and had not put any meat in the freezer.
    25/06 Nosler 115 grain when I tried to drag him out, head came detached from body no more neck shots for me.
  • TopkickTopkick Member Posts: 4,452 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    1- doe base of skull w/ .223 at 30 feet.

    2- does under 50 yards w/ 30/30 broadside

    30+ low chest/heart broadside w/ .270 from 20' to 300 yards.

    Have not lost any so far and the most any ran was under 10 yards.

    Bullet placement and bullet construction rules.
    It's not caliber.
  • susiesusie Member Posts: 7,639 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here is a pic where you can see the shot placement:

    MyDeer.jpg

    Different year and dear:

    downsized_1114091258.jpg

    Forgot-30.06 Wingmaster inherited from Dad.[^]
  • gearheaddadgearheaddad Member Posts: 15,091 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Usually I aim at the front shoulder, right above the leg. It usually breaks both front legs and hits the vitals. We can only hunt with slug guns and I shoot a 20 gauge with Hornady SST's.
    I'm also color blind so I have a real hard time following blood. I like to drop them right in their tracks!
  • woodshed87woodshed87 Member Posts: 23,478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'm With You All the Way On this Post[^]quote:Originally posted by bpost
    I have taken a lot of moose with neck shots, just behind the ear but deer are smaller and more apt to move fast so I tend to avoid head shots unless very close. I have shot one doe right up the nose as she looked at me but that was with a crop destruction permit using the 6BR and 105A-max with an 8 twist barrel.

    When hunting with a hand gun or ML I try to never hit the shoulder bone, it destroys a lot of good meat. My favorite shot is the deer broadside, head down eating with the front leg on my side in front. I try to sneak the shot in just behind that front leg, hitting the lungs and heart for a fast kill.

    Shooting big bones makes a heck of a mess.

    Where do you prefer to hit them??
  • MMOMEQ-55MMOMEQ-55 Member Posts: 13,134
    edited November -1
    Since I don't eat antlers and do not care for the racks I usually shoot my dear in the head when I am rifle hunting. I have never had a deer run when shot in the head. When I am shooting BP or pistol hunting I try to take out lungs. With big hunks of lead you can completely destroy lungs and a deer does not go far without oxygen.

    Bow hunting I like to shoot right above the shoulder straight down into the vitals.
  • Ray BRay B Member Posts: 11,822
    edited November -1
    Deer can be shot in the forest
    Deer can be shot in the plain
    Deer can be shot in the meadow
    But shot in the fracas results
    in a great deal to explain[:)]
  • Mr. PerfectMr. Perfect Member, Moderator Posts: 66,404 ******
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Charles Johnson
    High shoulder.
    Yep. Prior to last year I was unaware of that shot. My normal MO was to shoot them a lot like Just C says above. I dropped one with the high shoulder shot last year and it is amazing how they drop. It makes them jump up a bit, bring their legs together at the middle and fall down dead in a heap.

    It does destroy some meat and that's one reason I'm considering going to a smaller cartridge, but I like that shot placement if it's available.
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    And fiery auto crashes
    Some will die in hot pursuit
    While sifting through my ashes
    Some will fall in love with life
    And drink it from a fountain
    That is pouring like an avalanche
    Coming down the mountain
  • TfloggerTflogger Member Posts: 3,390 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by JustC
    I'll shoot them where I can, as long as I know the bullet will hit the boiler room. I will go through the shoulder in a heartbeat, since I knwo that anchors them straight away. If I need more meat, I shoot another deer.

    I've even used the ole Texas Heart Shot (straight up the *)[}:)] it works like a charm.

    I have shot them in the neck, the head, in the chest straight on, up the *, through the shoulder, through the vitals, etc etc etc. I'll take anything but a gut shot, as long as I know it will work.

    +1 and AMEN!
  • utbrowningmanutbrowningman Member Posts: 2,767 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Right behind the shoulder. Hit my deer in that location a few days ago. Took one or two steps and went down.

    Browning X-Bolt Medallion .30-06 with 150 grain Federal soft point.
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