[SwedeSteve]

While I feel confident enough in my shooting ability to make a headshot, I am not confident in a deer's head to be where it was when I pulled the trigger. Heart/lung shot is my preference. Where you shoot a deer doesn't change the taste. Proper field dressing and hanging the meat ensure good tasting venison.

[killer]

Go to any gun range the week before a deer opener and watch the circus of just trying to group a rifle. Correct me if I'm wrong but it is my understanding the NRA was started after the civil war partially due to both sides realizing the terrible shooting skills of their soldiers. A bayonet wound was more common.

Deer frequenty jerk their head at any little sound and I've known a few hunters to be going for a neck shot and miss completely. My advice is take the lung shot and after a dozen deer or so maybe do some "dude shootin."

If your a good shot that knows his/her rifle fine...otherwise be prepared to come back to the cabin one night and tell your buddies you shot a jaw off a nice big fat doe. The coyote will get some good eating eventually, well maybe not...that big fat doe will slowly die probably and be just a sack of bones with the lower part of the face infected with maggots.

[ShawnF]

I almost exclusivly try to bust both shoulders, I am colour blind, and can't see blood on the ground. I have found this to solve my sight problem, cause they are in the same spot that they were when i pulled the trigger, just closer to the ground. Yes it wrecks alot of meat on the front shoulders, but I consider it a good trade, when i don't have to call anyone to track my deer for me.

[Wingwiper]

The GREAT thing about a HEAD SHOT, you either have a CLEAN KILL or a CLEAN MISS.

Actually Swede, a head shot helps to ensure better tasting meat. If you wound an animal it becomes fearful and the Amino Acids and Adrenline starts to flow.. That has been said that is what makes it taste gamey.

I have asked a lot of people if they like Bear meat and most said NO! and few said yes! when I asked where the Bear was shot? The ones who said they didn't like it almost all said they didn't know or somewhere in the guts. When I asked the ones who liked it, they almost 100% said the head. I shot mine in the head and it tasted a bit oily but good. I have never had bad venison either for I have shot head shots. Whether this holds true across the board, I do not know. Numbers aren't high enough to draw a fair conclusion. I would put odds that the meat will taste better if the Andrenlin or amino acids don't have a chance to flow.

[irish murphy]

I wouldnt hesitate to head shoot a meat deer.If i want its head ill heart lung shoot it.I have culled a LOT of roos and you have to shoot them in the head,brain shot.Anywhere from 50m to 200m under light.

[Wingwiper]

Quote:       Originally Posted by irish murphy

I wouldnt hesitate to head shoot a meat deer.If i want its head ill heart lung shoot it.I have culled a LOT of roos and you have to shoot them in the head,brain shot.Anywhere from 50m to 200m under light.

do you all eat Roos? I have a pair of boots from a harvest in 97. Great leather.

[MOD 70]

I`m sorry I said that bit about the meat being less gamey! With hindsight the only deer that I`ve headshot were at close range and previously wounded by someone trying a headshot when they didn`t have the skill to do it. The first one was a bottom jaw(2x2 , all I could see was the head, don`t need to see that again!) and the other was a 4x5 hit in the front of the upper neck (from side).Once again,could only see the head over the brush. Both ran towards me and stopped within 50yrds or so. 300 mag in the head at that range was way overkill. That aside I stand by my initial post on this thread. P.S. The first time I almost quit hunting, the second time I quit hunting with people who try headshots that shouldn`t.

[forestgleaner]

In Pa, most of the shots are taken in brush, and not always at a still deer. Head shots would be nice if they would pose for them, but for the most part, I try for the lungs, heart area. I know of people that shoot for the head, most of them are not hunters, but are poachers, shooting over bait (illegal here) or spot lighting. I have no problem with hunting in any way that is legal, I am not against useing bait, just it isn't legal. I suppose if you have to shot a deer quietly, and make sure it goes no where, a small calibur rifle, over bait with a spot light would be the way to go.

[rebel 100%]

Quote:       Originally Posted by MOD 70

I feel headshots are not the way to go because the target (brain) is too small. Should you miss just slightly, the animal can be hit in the jaw,nose or throat areas.An animal wounded in this nature can run off to die a miserable death. More importantly, in my opinion an animal shot in the head does not bleed-out. As the greatest percentage of blood is in the lungs, a good hit there will be the easiest(largest vital area)and will result in massive blood loss into the chest cavity. Your meat will be less bloody at the table with a lot less gamey taste. I personally will not hunt with someone who prefers headshots.

it matters to show off how good of a shot you are

[MOD 70]

Quote:       Originally Posted by rebel 100%

it matters to show off how good of a shot you are

I hope that was meant to be sarcastic, showing off what a great shot you are is why God created 1 gal. milk jugs.

[toolman]

Quote:       Originally Posted by killer

Deer frequenty jerk their head at any little sound and I've known a few hunters to be going for a neck shot and miss completely. My advice is take the lung shot and after a dozen deer or so maybe do some "dude shootin." If your a good shot that knows his/her rifle fine...otherwise be prepared to come back to the cabin one night and tell your buddies you shot a jaw off a nice big fat doe. The coyote will get some good eating eventually, well maybe not...that big fat doe will slowly die probably and be just a sack of bones with the lower part of the face infected with maggots.

Not trying to argue with you as I know you to be an ethical hunter from past posts, but FWIW, I talked to three different people this last season that made heart\lung shots on good deer that lost them completely. One of them is my BIL who is an avid long-time hunter with dozens of deer under his belt. He shot a nice 11 point buck @ a measured 110 yds standing broadside to his blind. After the shot, he and his brother tracked it for over 3\4 mi before losing the trail when it crossed a fence onto posted land. The other two guys are well-respected hunters as well. All three deer were shot with either a .270 (2 of them) or a .30-06.

[MOD 70]

What`s that tell you! At 100yrds if you can`t do it ! Please don`t! Why do you even try to make it sound like the gun wasn`t up to it, when obviously it was something else. Respected by who? The other drunks? I`m sorry to be harsh , but why would you even tell such a sad story on a otherwise decent forum. I mean no malice but please get a grip! I hope that this is all you`re going to hear about this, but really doubt that you will get off that lucky! Save the B.S. for the bar! I can`t believe I even responded to that post! If you get any support, I don`t wish to be involved with this forum in the future. Damn.....

[Sav .250]

Shoulder area..........first and for most.

[samuel]

There are shooters that can make a head shot cleanly and efficiently but they are few and far between.Most cant even sight their own rifle in.While worried about the deer that is maimed and dies a horrible death from a near miss that tore their jaw off,I also worry about shooters that are discouraged from hunting because they listened to bad advice about head shooting. sam.

[win39]

I like the shoulder area for one reason and that is because of the hunting pressure in my area. If you don't drop the deer immediately there is a good chance someone else will shoot it before you can track it. If I am hunting private land then I prefer heart lung area because that what I was taught growing up. Head shots give to much room for error. There is no doubt that most everyone on here could make a head shot, but that doesn't make it the perfect shot. The perfect shot to me is when the deer is recovered without a lot of suffering. This is why I am not a big fan of bow hunting.

[texnmidwest]

Have to chime in on this one. The main thing in choosing a shot is knowing what YOUR limitations really are. Me, I know two things. 1. I don't take shots more than 300 yards on game even if everything is perfect. I don't practice enough to be confident. 2. When shooting at game I am not confident in my ability to hit a head shot over 50 yards away. So, I don't.

Even if the game is 50 yards or less I opt for a base of the neck shot. Bigger target and I am more confident in that shot.

I had a buddy when I was in college that all he took were head shots with a 22-250. He hit most of what he shot at. When he did miss he missed cleanly.
So, if someone has the confidence and ability to hit a playing card at the range he/she is shooting at I don't bash them for taking it. I just wouldn't do it myself.

[toolman]

Quote:       Originally Posted by MOD 70

What`s that tell you! At 100yrds if you can`t do it ! Please don`t! Why do you even try to make it sound like the gun wasn`t up to it, when obviously it was something else. Respected by who? The other drunks? I`m sorry to be harsh , but why would you even tell such a sad story on a otherwise decent forum. I mean no malice but please get a grip! I hope that this is all you`re going to hear about this, but really doubt that you will get off that lucky! Save the B.S. for the bar! I can`t believe I even responded to that post! If you get any support, I don`t wish to be involved with this forum in the future. Damn.....

You need to check your PM's-NOW!

[lefty o]

toolman, if your friends are not recovering deer from heart/lung shots, they did not get the heart. if they tracked one 3/4 mile, they probably did not even hit the lungs. ive never seen a deer shot thru the heart go more than 40yds, even running flat out.

[toolman]

Quote:       Originally Posted by lefty o

toolman, if your friends are not recovering deer from heart/lung shots, they did not get the heart. if they tracked one 3/4 mile, they probably did not even hit the lungs. ive never seen a deer shot thru the heart go more than 40yds, even running flat out.

I agree totally, which is exactly my point. How can three very experienced hunters\shooters lose a deer after making a text-book kill shot? My BIL's shot was witnessed by his brother who saw the impact through his bino's and swears the bullet struck just under halfway down the chest cavity right behind the right shoulder. The other two guys are hunting buddies who've hunted almost every animal in the U.S. and a few in Africa as well. Between the two of them, they have over 75 yrs. of hunting under their belts. One guy around here thinks that maybe the overpopulation\inbreeding is affecting the physiology of some of the local deer population, but it sounds a bit far-fetched to me. I've been fortunate in that I've never lost a deer, but I have had a lung-shot deer go almost 60 yds before dropping.

[kyhorseman]

at close enough range to a confident and skilled marksman headshots are fine and if you drain the meat,preferably over night,it is actually better.I have always taken either head or neck ( spinal cord) shots and have found them to be very effective.Plus the added bonus fact that you don't have to go around in the dark trying to track a deer that you shot at three in the afternoon makes it all worth while to me.