Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Neck Shots

I did until I missed one, don't anymore.

I certainly prefer a neck (or any cns) shot on moose in heavy cover if I can get it. Relatively big target, relatively short range (under 100 generally) , generally slow or not moving, and I don't have to search for the damned thing. A "high-shoulder" shot is also good, as it takes out the spine, usually.

Longer ranges and open country I prefer double-lunging critters for the larger target area and bleed out.

I've only ever killed 2 deer, so....

right behind the ear,[/quote]

This too.

Myself, no. I had a bud, whom I left hunt on my property, who shot at the neck. After he missed the spine on several and I found them ruined a few days later, I told him if he ever shoots a deer in the neck on my place again, he was done. He then did shoulder/lung shots. He has not not lost a deer since. I have found a couple deer in which the shooter tried a head shot. The deer obviously died a horrible death from the nose or jaw being shot off. So they are a non starter on my place too.

There has never been a deer lost at my place with a solid heart/lung/shoulder shot. Some that were liver/gut shot required some effort but we always managed to find them. The neck/head shot deer we lost left no blood trail at all after a short distance.

Never.

I steer clear of neck shots. I prefer the more stationary heart/lung area. When a deer is bobbing it’s head up and down or whipping it around to look in multiple directions there is no way to time a perfect shot w/o risk of misplacing it.

i shot 2 or 3 in the neck, but mostly i'm a behind the shoulder type of guy. i shot deer in the shoulder, but i hate to throw meat away.

Table deer, ear hole or neck if possible. Neck has some meat, but I would rather not ruin 2 shoulders. Trophy deer, high shoulder if possible. Going down even if I am off a little.

Yes, absolutely. Shot my doe last Saturday with a neck shot.

Old Rooster……a very hard no! The same answer with head shots……when successful, they are very successful! When they fail, which is more often than one would think……the animal can linger for several days with a very painful injury sometimes lasting long enough to die if thirst! I’ve seen such animals….it ain’t pretty! memtb

I tend to go for chest vitals nearly 100% of the time. I've shot neck shots on deer that were still kicking on shoulder shots and I've even made a few close range neck shots when I was absolutely steady with my rifle and the deer was giving me the stare down, but I've also seen deer that were wounded by attempted neck/head shots. Not pretty. Horrible way to die, starving to death from a missing jaw or dying from infection from a nasty flesh wound. Deer deserve better.

I will take a neck shot on a feeding hog if possible, as they neck area is a pretty big target and they are not turning their heads as much as a deer.

Amen Brother! memtb

Years ago I was processing a whitetail buck that I had shot, and when I was cutting out the neck meat I found a .35 caliber bullet tight against a vertebrae. I had not seen any scar on the hide or when I cut the hide off. The neck muscle had grown back tight against the lead core of the bullet, and some type of membrane had grown around the copper bullet jacket.

Another year, two of the guys that I was hunting with each shot at whitetail bucks trying for a head or neck shot, and both of them hit their deer in the lower jaws and both lost those deer.

I will not take a head or neck shot!

+1

Have a good day

Clifford

When I hear about neck shots at my lease I tend to ask questions. Exactly how far away was the deer? At that distance, what is the relationship between POA and POI? I don't recall ever getting a precise answer.

I’m appreciating this conversation.

Of the five bucks I’ve killed this year, two were with neck shots, both DRT. Although I have shot a lot of deer with neck shots, 2 for five (so far) is a higher than usual proportion. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s, overall, about one out of eight or ten.

I have no particular fixed spot where I shoot a deer. It’s always a matter of circumstance. If there’s no problem with a deer running a ways, I usually tuck it in the shoulder crease, staying away from big bones and muscles. If I need it DRT it’s usually high shoulder. Occasionally the position of the deer and other factors makes a neck shot the best choice. I’ve cut up enough deer that I know where the spine is and I shoot my rifles enough that I know where my bullets are going to go.

I have no problem with neck shots.

I have intentionally taken two deer with CNS shots. First deer was a long poke for me. developed a a steady rest & settled on the high shoulder at 254 yards yards as he quartered away feeding. As the trigger was pulled the 6mm Arc let out a light bark. A thaw crack was heard an instant later. Brute was out cold in an instant. I was shooting a 108 grain Elite hunter & had concerns if the bullet would expand adequately, Thus I chose to hit the spine shoulder junction. worked like a charm on a sample of one.

Last season I had a doe at 100 yards or slightly less. Only her head & neck could be seen in the tall CRP. Again I developed a very steady rest settled the cross hairs on the base of the neck as she faced me. Dropped her in the bed she has been spending the day in. These deer were taken with my CZ 527 in 6mm ARC. If it wasn't for the set trigger, I may not have been confident enough to make the CNS shot placement.

I shot a doe last year right behind the ear, shot was approx 110 yards.
This year's shot was approx 90 yards.

I have no idea how many deer I have shot in the head/neck. But I do not remember ever having an issue.

I will say that I really like quartering to presentations. Put the bullet in the crease of the neck/shoulder, and you made meat.

Two years ago I shot a buck in the upper neck with a 140 grain BT from my 7mm-08 and the deer looked like it had a goiter the skin was stretched so much. A softer bullet like that puts more violent expansion into a smaller area like that than a harder bullet. Even if I'd had missed the spine, I can't imagine that deer wouldn't have gone down.