Where to shoot to put a deer down.

Mako22

BANNED
Where is the best place to shoot a deer to put it down right where it stands? Head, neck, spine, shoulder or behind the shoulder? Please no lectures on ethics or telling me to get better at blood trailing, I know all that already. I just want to know from you guys where to shoot if you want to put one down right there. Thanks:)
 

Jim Thompson

Live From The Tree
high shoulder shot. IF you miss forward they drop, if you miss back you get both lungs, if you miss low they die quick, if you miss high you get spine...if you are on they drop like taters
 

Attachments

  • highshoulder.jpg
    highshoulder.jpg
    32.2 KB · Views: 92,122

Hunter-Steve

Senior Member
What Jim said
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
Another plus for the high shoulder shot.
 

j_seph

Senior Member
Jim is that your new red dot scope there
 

Gut_Pile

Senior Member
high shoulder shot. IF you miss forward they drop, if you miss back you get both lungs, if you miss low they die quick, if you miss high you get spine...if you are on they drop like taters

took the works right out of my mouth
 

12gamag

Senior Member
neck shot-they will drop in their tracks...
 

mauser64

Senior Member
high shoulder shot. IF you miss forward they drop, if you miss back you get both lungs, if you miss low they die quick, if you miss high you get spine...if you are on they drop like taters

I vote for a little lower and to the right. Just in the crease behind the shoulder. Might not go right down but physically provides the greatest margin of error just in case.
 

germag

Gone But Not Forgotten
I found that the spot that Jim pointed out works very, very well for the reasons he stated. However, I did find also that you will destroy the shoulder on the off-side. So, what I've done now is to move the point of aim back a little so I'm just behind the shoulder and up a couple of inches. If you hit your mark, the shot will still get the lungs and it will shock the spinal cord and he'll drop right in his tracks 99% of the time. If he does run, he'll usually only go a few feet....and you destroy a minimal amount of meat.


BUT....You really need to place that shot well. If you pull the shot and hit a little further back, you might get into the salad bar. Not a pleasant deer-cleaning experience.

If you are a good marksman and are confident with your shooting, you can't beat a head shot or a good neck shot. You have a fair amount of latitude on neck shots....not so much with head shots. The problem with head shooting them is that they tend to move their heads unexpectedly and quickly. You can cause some horrific wounds that are not immediately fatal and may not provide much of a blood trail, and the deer can run off, die a slow and agonizing death, and not be found. One of the guys in my club shot a doe and tried to head shoot her. He shot her lower jaw almost completely off and she got back up and ran. We would not have ever found her, but after we got through spending about 4 hours searching for her and were leaving the area on the 4-wheelers, she ran across the logging road in front of me and stopped out in the planted pines and I shot her again. If you attempt head shots, make sure that you are good enough with your rifle and confident enough in the shot to put the bullet through the brain. If you take a shot you're not sure about, it is an unethical shot, IMHO.
 

Mako22

BANNED
high shoulder shot. IF you miss forward they drop, if you miss back you get both lungs, if you miss low they die quick, if you miss high you get spine...if you are on they drop like taters

Sounds like good advice to me, thanks. One of the places I am hunting this year is VERY thick on either side of the lane my stand is on. I would like to avoid trailing in the thick stuff if possible.
 

GA DAWG

Senior Member
If you put it were Jim shows.Want be no blood trailing..Neck and you want trail em either..
 

Lead Poison

Senior Member
high shoulder shot. IF you miss forward they drop, if you miss back you get both lungs, if you miss low they die quick, if you miss high you get spine...if you are on they drop like taters

Jim is absolutely right! :cool:

For the record, I'm strongly against taking any head shots and this includes shooting does!
 
Top