handgun shots on deer

[rickyp]

On a side shot where do you try and hit the deer?
dead center behind the shoulder?
behind the shoulder just below center line?
behind the shoulder above center line
straight trough the shoulder?

[jhalcott]

just behind the shoulder and below center

[volshooter]

I'm a sholder shot man myself. For my bang white tail rarely go more than 15 yards before tagging. It is messy and ruins both sholders but here in the south our deer don't have a whole alot of meat on the fronts anyway. Unless it is a big deer I only keep the hind quarters and loin. I know it is a waste but we can take over 10 legally during all seasons and life is to short to eat neck roast or meatless sholders.

Rick

[RCL]

Depending on the shot presentation, anywhere from just on the shoulder to just behind it, centerline of body to just below it. :wink:

[Mikey]

Usually either on the shoulder at centerline or just behind the shoulder at centerline.  Mikey.

[Redhawk1]

I like the shoulder shot.  

[WD45]

Anytime I can take out some running gear thats the shot I'll take.. Most of the places I hunt are thick with briars and honneysuckle and grape vine.

[WNY_Whitetailer]

I cannot get the archery thing out of my head...I aim just behind the shoulder right in the vital area...

[safetysheriff]

On a side shot where do you try and hit the deer?
d

with a .41 mag' or larger i'd go with a lung shot -- in the middle or lower -- with a jacketed bullet, and in the shoulder with a cast bullet.

with a .357 mag' i'd go for the lungs or shoulder with a 180 gr' jhp, but would use a flatpoint with that caliber if using a lighter bullet in order to make it through any bones.   the .357 is a caliber that i love, but it's marginal on  deer if the right bullet isn't used, or the hit is made poorly.  

good hunting to you,

ss'

[jcunclejoe]

I'll put in a vote for the shoulder shot. They don't run off that way.

If there is a question about loosing some meat, that is an easy one to fix. A few minutes with 5gal bucket of cold water and a little salt. Put the salt in the bucket of water and knead the shoulders in the water. It pulls the bloodshot right out and you can eat right up to the hole. The technique works best if applied as soon after the kill as possible.

And it works great. I used it on a pair of nasty bloodshot shoulders last year and had them cleaned up in 20 minutes. Those shoulders made great burger and only lost about a pound of meat from right around the hole.
A small price to pay for not having to search for 1 or 3 or 4 hours.
Have yourself a great hunt and a bunch of fun.
Joe

[mr.frosty]

I'm a sholder shot man myself. For my bang white tail rarely go more than 15 yards before tagging. It is messy and ruins both sholders but here in the south our deer don't have a whole alot of meat on the fronts anyway. Unless it is a big deer I only keep the hind quarters and loin. I know it is a waste but we can take over 10 legally during all seasons and life is to short to eat neck roast or meatless sholders.

Rick

what he said for me either a shoulder or lung shot them thangs are little
since we are in the eastern part not very many big ones to find but there
here.

[S.B.]

To be honest, I've never shot for the shoulder. I shoot for the lungs. I'm interested in the meat as much as a possible trophy. My $.02 worth.

[TScottO]

When people talk about shoulder shots and breaking bone they are talking about shooting the upper leg bone. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not accurate enough from field positions to hit something an inch and a half in diameter such as the leg bone. It’s a great concept but if you miss the bone you’re hoping to sever some arteries that feed the heart or maybe the front lobes of the lungs. If you’re too far forward then your sol. That shot isn’t for me.

If you divide the body in three lateral sections I shoot for the line that divides the bottom one third of the body. I aim for this line where it crosses the rear muscle crease of the shoulder muscle. Aiming here gives you both lungs, possible artery severing/heart, and a margin for error left and right the point of aim.

It’s far better to hit a deer low rather than high when you’re using non expanding bullets. A high hit in the lungs takes a long time before you will have any sort of blood trail. The lungs must fill up with blood then overflow through the wound channel before you’ll have a trail. This takes a long time… I learned this the hard way.

Anyhow, lower one third of the body in the muscle crease works best for me based on my experience.


Take Care,
Scott

[Greeenriver]

I try to hit the Deer at the top of the frt shoulder. There is a little "hump" on the backbone line just over the sholder blades, and I aim about 4" below this hump, trying to hit the top of the sholder blades and the bottom of the backbone.  Up or down a cuple inches still makes a deadly shot.


Greeenriver (Notice I said, Try to hit this spot")

[Mikey]

I've used semi-wadcutter bullets for a number of years and have always found that I can eat right up to the hole.  Mikey.

[Doc T]

Unless the deer is heading straight at me or quartering toward me, I aim for the shoulder on the FAR side, meaning to shoot through the deer and have the bullet exit through the shoulder.  It works at almost any angle except those mentioned iin the first sentence.  Quartering toward me I shoot the shoulder closest to me. With a true side shot, again I aim for the shoulder on the far side.  It may have to go through the close shoulder first.

[longwalker]

I have always considered where the bullet will travel to. Our target is in the center of the animal not on the surface. I try and place the bullet so that it penetrate the lungs and heart. I consider where the bullet will travel too, because I want to save as much as possible. The idea of purposely destroying the shoulders so I won't have to walk as far is lost on me. Be patient and let the critter die in peace.  

A solid heart lung shot will stop any animal.  

longwalker

[poncaguy]

I shoot them through the eye or left nostril...... :-D ................well, usually low , behind shoulder, go for the heart  lung area. If they don't know ur around, they usually drop like a sack of potato's

[John]

I've always been a heart lung shot kind of a guy no matter what I'm shooting, and I've never lost a deer doing that. I have had some run a ways, but I doubt any went more than a hundred yards.

It gripes my butt to bust bone and have fragments in the meat, and that happens now and then on the off side shoulder.

I guess to each his own, but to just cut out the loin and back quarters seems like alot of waste to me. I've killed some babies, and even those little bambies have some meat on those front shoulders and neck.

I bone it out, grind it up, make stew meat, chili, or jerky.....those necks are pretty good crock pot roasts as well.

[jakes10mm]

I understand the beauty of a shoulder shot and the ease of retrieval, but....last deer season my hunting buddy surprised us back at camp with a slow cooked shoulder roast that had simmered all day while we were out hunting.  Incredible roast!  Since that meal, I aim for the boiler room to save the shoulders...if at all possible.  "Food" for thought!