Neck and head shots are great for saving meat.
However, I've not been a big fan, unless the distance is close enough to avoid a mess up.
Deer have a habit of suddenly moving their heads and if that happens as the shot breaks, one can cripple a deer. It'll make a believer when one sees a doe starving to death because some boob shot her jaw off trying for a head shot. A neck shot that doesn't hit bone/CNS/big arteries can blast the esophagus with about the same result.
So, head and neck shots have their place. Judgement, as always, is needed.
A chest shot with an appropriate bullet, well placed, is hard to beat. They'll often run, but usually not far with good marksmanship and the right bullet. In super thick stuff where they're easily lost or in areas where they can run onto another property, busting shoulders/spines may be the way to go. Some meat is better than no meat...
Where we hunt, we generally end up with all the meat...
DF
