head shots

[NONYA]

Dave,the only thing that makes me confident is the many days I spend laying on my belly before the season opens sending bullets down range,I believe almost anyone can become an excellent marksmen if they want to,all it takes is a capable rifle,handloads and practice.I start as soon as the snow is gone and I try to shoot out to 600 every week,even if its 10 rounds fired thats all it takes to keep me sharp and confident.My father was like your uncle,he could hang up his rifle for 6 months and still outshoot me at long range,he didnt need the days of practice i need to be accurate,he just was.

[SHOOTALL]

Noyna , good and honest post !

[rex6666]

I keep thinking we are talking about head shots, head shots do not include jaw shots.
I have found a few dead deer, have to my memory found one that had been HEAD shot, or
NECK shot. I have found several that were Gut shot, some one that could not shoot in the first place
shooting at the BIG area. If you can't shoot please stay at home, or on the range till you can.

[SHOOTALL]

the difference in a heart shot and a gut shot is about the same miss as a brain vs. jaw shot at some angles !

[Davemuzz]

If you can't shoot please stay at home, or on the range till you can.

Echo's of Nonya......and darn good advice.


Dave

[*ROCK-MAN*]

Man I can tell none of you ole' boys are from Tx.Down here we take the ultimate head shot.Ya wait till they are walkin dead away from ya.You shot them through the arse,the bullet exits the mouth WALLA no meat loss no bloody mess and if your a trophy hunter the racks still there.hehehe  J/K
I always take the shot right behind the shoulder with about a 50/50 drop dead ratio but never much of a tracking job.Always a blood trail.
Good Hunting,
Rock

[DDelle338]

  Man,,,,   I read all that about neck shots and I forgot all about the headshot and ethics and ability thing. All I can think about is what is the BEST meat on a deer? = NECK ROAST!            What is the WORST meat on a deer? =  RIBS!   HHMMMM  Where to shoot?

[Davemuzz]

  Man,,,,   I read all that about neck shots and I forgot all about the headshot and ethics and ability thing. All I can think about is what is the BEST meat on a deer? = NECK ROAST!            What is the WORST meat on a deer? =  RIBS!   HHMMMM  Where to shoot?

Yeah....when I butcher 'em, I don't even bother with the ribs. However....you raise a good point.....maybe if I took the time to painstakingly cut the meat from the ribs, and not include any of the nasty tasting fat, perhaps I should go for a tail shot?.....'eh?

Dave

[SHOOTALL]

cook ribs on the grill and if ya do it right , it falls off in your mouth !
no need to make it harder than it is !
that butt shot is that not a Texas heart shot ?

[Davemuzz]

Ha! No....I was just funnin. But I did give a doe the "Texas heart shot" last year with my T\C muzzloader. I shot her with a Hornady Pa. Conical. She was up hill from me, facing dead away (of course) so I lined 'er up and squezzed one off. The conical hit about 1" "left of center" and it went up and hit the spine right above the liver. She went down and spun around in a circle a few times and that was the end of that.

When you think about it, it's really tough to miss any vital organs on a "Texas heart shot". It's like shooting on a quartering away.....and way different than a quartering too shot.

Dave

[SHOOTALL]

good shot !

[Brithunter]

Hmmm surely shooting through a deer length ways where it be from front or rear means you going to get tainted meat from busting the guts. perhaps that's why I see the mention of poor tasting Venison so often the carcase was not shot clean.

[Davemuzz]

Hmmm surely shooting through a deer length ways where it be from front or rear means you going to get tainted meat from busting the guts. perhaps that's why I see the mention of poor tasting Venison so often the carcase was not shot clean.

Birthunter,

Um, No. It doesn't work like that. We are not talking about a deer that has been shot, ran around the woods for a week or so with a bad wound, and then finally died or shot again. (What we refer to locally as "pussing 'em up). If you give 'em the THS the bullet may open up some intestine, but that would be a low THS. But I digress. The shot passes thru the back of the animal and will hit vitals (there is a chance it will travel above the lungs and not hit anything vital) and the animal will "usually" drop in under 100 yards. The meat (I do my own cutting) of a deer is in the back and the hind quarters, with some in the front legs and the neck. When I butcher the animal, if a bullet has passed thru a "good" section of meat, I cut around the bullet damage....ie" cut out the bullet tear as this is usually damaged and clotted anyway.

I use to get bad deer meat when I had it processed by a "deer meat guy". In fact, do this day I'm not even sure it I got back my own deer. The key to great tasting deer is to remove all of the fat that you possibly can, remove as much silver skin as you can, and understand the different "cuts" or types of meat in the hind quarters. I hang my skined deer in a 36 to 38 degree cooler for 5 days prior to butchering. I have yet to eat a bad tasting piece of meat from doing my own cutting.

So, unless you shooting some kind of explosive bullet, the tainted meat theroy doesn't hold water.

That THS doe is half eaten and she is\was mighty tasty on the grill!

Dave

[beemanbeme]

IMO, everybody ought to do a THS ONCE.  And the best time to try it is on a cold, windy day or when you've got a couple of kids along to dress the deer. Also, FWIW, the only time I'd try another THS is if the animal was already poorly hit and in danger of getting away.

[Brithunter]

On my first deer I placed the shot a little too far back and hit just in front of the diaphragm and when we got to the deer some of the intestines were hanging out of the exit wound but lucikly they were not busted. I had never butchered a carcase before but took it home and did it in the bath as I lived in a first floor apartment. Not the easiest way to do a carcase I can tell you but I have always except once or twice when I took it to an old school friend who had a butchers shop and he jointed it on his block and it took a few minutes not the half hour plus it took in the bath on on the small kitchen side.

Now I have had a carcase which to bullet on passing through did rupture the stomach and what a mess. Luckily at the keepers cabin there was a hose pipe with clean drinking water so we hoses it out straight away and the meat was saved. Unless it's a wounded beast I will take a shot from the rear except possibly from a High seat and then only if the deer is standing still and it's fairly close and a neck shot can be taken. I think I have passed on more shots than those that have been taken like this young Roe Buck:-



I was looking for a nice 6 pointer and not this 4 pointer. Oh the time of year was May which is the season for Roe Buck and yes he was that close, at one point you could have poked him in the eye with a fishing pole. Notice he is still moulting the winter coat with the summer reddish coat just showing through. Roe Buck season opens April 1st.

[SHOOTALL]

Sorry if i don't share ya'lls  lack of confidence in a head shot . As many of you place such a premium on shot placement .
We kill many deer here in Va. in counties where buck shot only is the law . If you have ever hunted with buck shot you know that surgical shot placement is not the norm . We also hunt with dogs so a standing shot is also not the norm . If you only take shots at stature still deer standing broad side , you are truly a lucky hunter and i envy you . But please don't feel sorry for us as we kill alot of deer , alot !
and the aiming point for a running deer is the nose , at least with the hunters i run with !
and we hunt with rifles and slug guns in some counties also . Truck looks like a golf bag with guns instead of clubs !
bottom line if you can make the shot do it if not don't !

[Brithunter]

Yes shooting at running deer unless it's a wounded one is frowned upon here in the UK and shooting at standing deer is the norm and as my photo showed actually getting close to deer is not always difficult. Whilst I must admit that I have only hunted White Tailed deer once it was not difficult then to get close to them two of the three I shot were under 40 yards distance. Shotguns are not allowed for Deer unless it's for humane reasons and only certain people can do this.