Outdoor Channel - Shot Placement

[charles p]

Watching a whitetail program tonight.  Very nice buck approached head on.  Shooter waided several minutes for a broadside shot.  The deer nearly got back into the woods.  IHunter was waiting for a broadside shot.  've taken nearly 200 whitetails and I guarantee there is nothing wrong with shooting a deer straight on.  You just raise your crosshairs a few inches so that the bullet hits the spine,

Most deer hunting programs today are bow hunting programs and I think beginning hunters believe that the best shot is a heart-lung shot.  Nothing wrong with such a shot but the deer will almost always run.  A forward-upper shoulder shot where the neck and shoulder join is a "dead right there" shot with very little meat damage.  A straight on version is just as deadly if the spine is the target, rather than the hear-lung area.

Been there, done it, and have the t-shirt.  What are your experiences?  In NC we can shoot all the deer we wish, so a shot that anchors a deer vs a shot that preserves meat (but results in a tracking job) is not a concern.

[Oldshooter]

I say take em how you can get em, head on, broad side, neck , head, and I have been known to take a Texas heart shot.    Just kiddn!

[mike243]

i go for the heart /lung shot no matter which way they are headed.i did shoot a button buck in the head last year @ 50yards.never did find the skull plate but i know the buttons were not above the hairline    .i also dont do upper shoulder/spine shots as it wastes a lot of prime meat.2 years ago i dropped 2 doe's with MZL & ruined 1/2 of the loin on each.wasnt no tracking though   .

[jhm]

     Most of the TV hunters are doing all their heavy breathing and panning of the area for the CAMERA and their sponsors, they always have to mention their broadheads, arrows, bow, sight, stabilazer, under armor sent blocker, etc. etc.    Ant the rifle hunters need to mention their range finders, spotting scope, ammo, rifle and of course their scope.   After all it is a 30 min. commercial.   Jim

[eye shot]

What gets me is about one third of the time they don't even hit the deer! Then you see Molly or Joe holding the deer head up.

[Swampman]

I try to shoot through the front shoulders when I can.  I'll take any killing shot if I can't.

[wareagleguy]

I have killed two deer with a head on shot.  One was a really nice buck that went down like he was struck my the all mighty.  The second was the most crazy thing I have ever witnessed.  I shot him and he ran about 40 yards and fell dead.  When I got to him I noticed that his rear looked odd.  I started to gut him and that it when I noticed what happened.  The bullet entered in his chest and traveled straight down the spine and exited right out his bung hole. 

[Hooker]

I say take em how you can get em, head on, broad side, neck , head, and I have been known to take a Texas heart shot.     Just kiddn!

I'd take any of those shots and have in the past. No kiddn!
The right bullet at right time in the right spot, puts the meat on the table every time.

Pat

[Land_Owner]

I took my first head-on shot this season.  270 Winchester 150 grain Hornady SP from a steady rest through the brush. The 6-point buck was 45 yards away, slightly uphill and would not come into the open for a clean (or broadside) shot.  So I shot him through and through, end to end.  The bullet entered the chest cleanly, nicked the upper lobe of the heart, made a mess of the stomach and intestines, and exited through the middle inside edge of the left side ham.  He ran 125 yards and bottled up in a ravine with 12-foot vertical clay faces on 3 sides.  Twenty minutes of instinct along his direction of flight took me to him as he bled internally.

[yellowtail3]

I try for shoulder, sort of, a little low - if angling away ideal is aim for off shoulder (going through lungs on the way).

This last Monday I shot a 9 pointer in the evening... and for the first time ever, I took a head shot. The deer was about 50 yards when I saw him, directly behind my tree... by the time I turned around that way he was moving into thick stuff, about to disappear... I grunted, he stopped w/large tree obscuring chest/neck... looked right at me, and I got a solid sight picture and shot him between the eyes. Unlike most of my deer which run off 40 yards or so, he went four feet, straight down. See below (after being boned out). Bullet hit between eyes, ended up in neck; recovered the core (30-30, 150gr Federal)

[cwlongshot]

Watching a whitetail program tonight.  Very nice buck approached head on.  Shooter waided several minutes for a broadside shot.  The deer nearly got back into the woods.  IHunter was waiting for a broadside shot.  've taken nearly 200 whitetails and I guarantee there is nothing wrong with shooting a deer straight on.  You just raise your crosshairs a few inches so that the bullet hits the spine,

Most deer hunting programs today are bow hunting programs and I think beginning hunters believe that the best shot is a heart-lung shot.  Nothing wrong with such a shot but the deer will almost always run.  A forward-upper shoulder shot where the neck and shoulder join is a "dead right there" shot with very little meat damage.  A straight on version is just as deadly if the spine is the target, rather than the hear-lung area.

Been there, done it, and have the t-shirt.  What are your experiences?  In NC we can shoot all the deer we wish, so a shot that anchors a deer vs a shot that preserves meat (but results in a tracking job) is not a concern.

AMEN Brother!!! I'll take the shot that's offered as long as it's a safe, humane killing shot!
The hishoulder is bang flop central!!

CW