Deer Shoulder Shot

[Farmer]

i think shoulder/heart is less than 99% and thats when your tracking skills come into play

[Metronome]

Originally Posted by ArkansasHunter

BRAVO !!!! My feeling to. Now I think were over reacting to shoulder shots. The meat loss is not that great.
You do have some meat full of blood and I guess from the bullet impacting the animal.
As I enter in to older age I have became tender hearted. I to have probably killed close to a 100 or more Deer legally and in my teenage years Illegally. WHAT !!!!!!!!
I have repented of my past and am no longer a Slob Hunter and I give every game animal a sporting chance.

The shoulder shot to me is the best shot to take to anchor a Deer in his tracks.
We own it to game animals to humanely kill them where they want suffer.

Like I said as I grow older I'm more tender hearted and don't mind wasteing a little meat to instantly kill a Deer.

Huh?! You mean you don't have to shoot them more than once?
My first experience was a less than favorable shot (hip shot) that I took in a moment of 'Buck Fever'. Even though he didn't get more than a few feet, I had to give him another shot (neck) which actually needed me to reload because I missed the previous 2 shots (yeah, 4 shots with a 7mm Mag). Needless to say, I ended up with some intact backstraps. I learned my lesson, and have passed up shots I wasn't comfortable with ever since.

In all honesty, there are many ways to cleanly take an animal, it's just a matter of positioning yourself for the opportunity, and having the confidence to take the shot or the patience to wait.

[thrillbilly]

If it's broadside or quartering I aim right behind the shoulder, I don't like wasting the shoulder meat. If the deer is facing me, or straight away from me I like the neck shot. The broadside neck shot is to open to error due to the curvature of the spine.

[tappedandtagged]

When in close and using buckshot, I don't have any qualms with someone taking a headshot. But, I don't think you can account for enough variables to take a head shot with a rifle. The deer could twitch and you could risk blowing his ear tip off. Or worse, twitch the other way and you could blow his jaw to pieces and the deer would run off to starve and suffer.

Shoulder/behind the shoulder are the best for ensuring that the deer doesn't suffer, and as Sportsmen/women, that's what we need to ensure.

[Packerfan2600]

Originally Posted by Farmer

i think shoulder/heart is less than 99% and thats when your tracking skills come into play

i didnt follow that

[ArkansasHunter]

Quote Metronome::: Huh?! You mean you don't have to shoot them more than once?

That's what I mean but I did shoot a gaint Buck one time 5 times and he got up and ran off.
I was useing a 30-30 Marlin, I aimed behind the shoulder and he was about 40 ft away. If that.
He went down and started flopping around trien to get up so I kept shooting him.

He managed to get up and hauled azz. Since I was so close I could see where the bullets entered him.
Me and 2 others looked for the Deer that hardly left any blood until dark. We never found him.

Since I've been shoulder shooting they go down. Well I had one fall in a creek one time, but hey he was standing next to it.

Also I might mention that most of the Deer I've killed were probable less than 70 yards with one close to 300 yards and I broke his neck with the same 30-30 I mentioned above.

I was 15 years old, up in a deer stand on a pipeline right of way. Another hunter was about 200 yards past the Deer in a Deer stand. This fellow kid had never shot a Deer before. He wouldn't look to his left where he could get a shot at the Deer.
I got down on my knees and propped ny forearm of my rifle on the wall of the stand and as soon as the Deer came to the woods line I shot him.

I aimed a little high back from the shoulder and when the bullet got there it hit the lower center of his neck and he crumpled.
Not a bit of meat was waisted on that Deer.

That night I drove home and told my father I needed another gun because something was wrong with this one...But there wasn't LOL

So he and I went to TG&Y and traded the 30-30 and a Ruger single six and 10 bucks for a Remington 742 in 30-06 that I still have. This rifle was sighted in out of the box.

I lost a few Deer when I used this gun shootin behind the shoulder at close range as stated above.

But when I started shoulder shooting they all hit the ground dead and when I retired it and started useing my Marlin in 375 caliber Deer seem to fall down dead before I pulled the trigger.
You can shoot behind the shoulder, shoot the shoulder and may be the tip of there tail. That rifle is the best Deer rifle I own within it's range.

Note I swear to the above message ...A.H

[rebel727]

Originally Posted by Packerfan2600

i didnt follow that

I think he's trying to justify head shots by saying shoulder and heart/lung shots aren't effective and you'll have to track them. I'm 52 years old and started deer hunting when I was 11. I've always either went through the shoulder or heart/lung. I've killed a lot of deer in the last 41 years and haven't had to track very many. Most of the ones I had to track were shot with black powder and they didn't go far. I started with a 30-06 and pretty much stuck with it except for when I use bp. Nowadays I only use an 06 for one deer a year the rest of the time I use bp.

[samuel]

All of this talk about where they shoot and not one word about bullets used.Further,if behind the shoulder shots didn't work,there would be very few deer taken with an arrow.If they cant breath,they aren't going far. ,,,sam.

[wirehunt]

Interesting you say that Sam, I've seen deer shot with the bow in that spot and man they can go a long way, and that was with good hit's (not by me but by clients).

[chesterwin]

Originally Posted by samuel

All of this talk about where they shoot and not one word about bullets used.Further,if behind the shoulder shots didn't work,there would be very few deer taken with an arrow.If they cant breath,they aren't going far. ,,,sam.

Sam. I noted in my post that I usually use 150 grain .308 ballistic tips that basically explode the lungs with a behind the shoulder shot.

[samuel]

Originally Posted by wirehunt

Interesting you say that Sam, I've seen deer shot with the bow in that spot and man they can go a long way, and that was with good hit's (not by me but by clients).

At one point everyone has "seen"anything that seems to prove someone else doesn't know shit.I have no argument with what you say and believe you.The only thing I will say is I have never seen anything hit with a double lung shot right behind the shoulder that even made 100yds,(usually under 50yds).This includes coyote,antelope,deer,elk,moose, black bear,and many,many varmints.On tv I saw water buffalo,asian buffalo,elephants,antelope of all kinds and your red deer or stag brought down with ease with one shot and no excessive running.I feel bad that your clients can't stop animals in a decent distance.It must be really rough on you and make you earn your money.As for me and many others I know,we never had your problem or we would have hung our bows up.Evidently your clients challenge is to get an arrow to kill within reason.My challenge was to get in position to place the shot.Once the shot was made the next thing on the agenda was cleaning the animal.Otherwise I wouldn't shoot. ,,,sam.

[wirehunt]

I hear you Sam, tell me why don't bow hunters go for just in front of the shoulder into the hilair(sp?) area?

[samuel]

Originally Posted by wirehunt

I hear you Sam, tell me why don't bow hunters go for just in front of the shoulder into the hilair(sp?) area?

I think you and I could like each other if we quit arguing about how to kill game with an arrow.I am jealous over your hunting area and game.I know in my case,I was taught to shoot behind the shoulder,all of my targets were behind the shoulder,when I tried it,it worked,so I just never questioned success.With a firearm I used to think a shoulder shot was the way to go.But after watching hundreds of western movies and seeing the star get shot in the shoulder and shortly he was using the arm normally,I decided that the shoulder didn't hurt much and started using double lung shots,which by the way usually kills movie stars too. ,,,sam.

[Archetype_wyo]

Originally Posted by Farmer

i think shoulder/heart is less than 99% and thats when your tracking skills come into play

Here in the real world theres snow on the ground when its hunting season so tracking...what tracking? Chances are, when I send a bullet down range with my .30-06 if it hits..that deer or elk aint goin nowhere. If it does, it aint goin far. I wouldn't go for a headshot regardless if thats the only shot I had or not...its too brutal and gruesome. I'd go without shootin anything before I went for a headshot. Gross.

[Archetype_wyo]

Sam, I use 150gr Winchester Super X in my Remington 700 CDL .30-06

[Packerfan2600]

I use a 180 grain federal soft point in a Remington 760. Does the job.

[samuel]

I use what is designed for the game I am hunting,at the range I will be hunting at.I advise use what you know works for you. ,,,sam.

[jerry]

Good call Sam. I hunt IL where parcels are short, a bad hit means your knocking on someone elses door asking to go look for YOUR deer. I'm just not that socialable. I'm proud to say I anchor them where they stand.

[moosemike]

Here in the real world theres snow on the ground when its hunting season so tracking...





So I evidently don't live in the real world?

[samuel]

I've sometimes found I had to do a little tracking,whether there was snow to find my way back to where I came from or not.Am trying to find a bullet that will load them in the pickup.I hate lifting any more. ,,,sam.