Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Shoot’n hearts or Crushing Lungs...

I did an experiment this past season on 3 separate hunts. 2 buck deer and 1 antelope doe hunt to see if there would be a different result taking game with a heart shot versus blowing up the lungs.

For the purpose of these 2 comparisons, I’m not saying one is better than the other. Though, I definitely have a preference now.

I know some guys like to break axles and bone to reduce the chances of a track. I’m not writing about which is the best of the 3 for hunting...Strictly an observation I watched on 3 animals all roughly the same size, taking direct hits to their heart.

Me, I try to tear up lungs with my shot. I’ve had better one shot drt on game doing it. It’s also a larger target area and because my typical shots can go long, I work that area almost exclusively on game.

After reading some threads and seeing good results from heart shots. I wanted to see for myself what would happen. (Yes, I’ve shot animals in the heart before, but it was accidental)

My Blacktail Buck...Results, took a wrecker hit to his heart that put him into a full 25-35 yard sprint. He acted like he’d been stung, then off he ran until he piled himself up into a hard spot for me to get to him.

Antelope Doe...Results, exactly the same as the Blacktail. Thrashed heart, another sprint of 40-50 yards then piles up dead.

Whitetail Buck...Results, blew half the heart away. Buck jumped straight up like it had also been stung and sprinted maybe 50 yards before dropping.

All animals shot with the same rifle, ammo/bullet.

Is it accurate to say that pump shooting an animal will typically produce these kinds of results where the animal is basically dead on its hoofs but still gonna show you he’s a track star?

😎

I have had both do the death run. A person needs to give that 10 seconds for an animal to die.Each animal uses that 10 seconds differently.
I like the double lung as I usually mess up more meat with a heart shot by catching a bit of the leg.On the other hand a lot of guys only hit one lung and an animal go go a long ways with that. Which usually ends up with the cause as bullet failure.

Over a lifetime I've shot both and admittedly with heavy for caliber bullets to avoid a lot of bloodshot meat in the shoulder area. The only difference that I've personally seen is that the heart shot deer put more blood on the ground sooner than a lung shot deer hit higher up on the body. Run distances have been similar.

I just try for the approximate center of the vitals, from whatever angle I've got. If it's a broadside shot, I want to be at the back edge of the shoulder, about 40% of the way up. Most margin of error if something takes a sudden step and it doesn't wreck much meat on something I plan to eat. If I'm dealing with boar hogs that I'm not eating, I'll try to catch a shoulder, which often puts them down.

IME a heart shot animal will sprint and then die convincingly within a football field.

A double lung shot animal does the same, maybe making it a little further. Bigger target, more variables etc etc.

I prefer hitting the vessels just above the heart, my theory being it keeps pumping the juices faster.
I have annecdotal evidence that supports this, but with a sample size of (far) less than a thousand, its just that.

I shoot slow heavy lead bullets as a rule. ML sabots, conicals, and shotgun slugs. Havent used a centerfire rifle on deer since Reagan was in his first term.

Other stuff I've observed...
Deer arent hard to kill. I like two holes. The only consistently and reliable way to drop them instantly with zero steps to recovery is CNS, though I have definitely gotten DRT zstr results with heart and lung hits as well.

I like for animals to run 59 yards or so with a blown up heart.
I think the muscles pump more blood out of the body thru
the damaged heart instead of the heart just pumping blood back
thru the system if hit else where.
I have found little need for a blood trail when they die w/i 100 yards.

Animals running 50-100 yards in my country typically means bad things for me for recovery.
😎

I ain’t that good of a shot. But I’ve had stellar results by sticking to the advice I used to give clients when I did a little guiding. “ Shoot the in the front half”.

Pharseller has always had the best advice. Want a dead animal? Shoot-em in the ear hole.

That still cracks me up.

😂😎

Folks don’t understand this unless they’ve hunted around here a fair amount. I’m a shoulder shooter

By "shoulder shot" are you referring to a bullet through the scapula, or actually breaking the humerus?
As a follow up, by "lung shot" do you mean way back several inches behind the shoulder?

I aim tight behind the shoulder (if broadside) to catch the front of the lungs, sometimes hitting the scapula if the animal is standing a certain way. Sometimes I also catch the heart with that shot if they're angled slightly or standing with their near leg supporting all their weight.

To answer your question, yes. IME a heart shot critter will often give the 30-50 yard death run. Not always though and rarely any longer. Animals shot far back in the lungs often run a few hundred yards before dying, which is why I avoid that danger area. I have seen zero difference between hitting the front of the lungs and hitting the heart and/or scapula (which I call a shoulder shot). They sometimes run 50 yards, and they sometimes drop on the spot. Even the few times I have accidentally smashed the humerus, hitting further forward than I like, the critter often runs a short distance, and I also absolutely DESTROY some of the shoulder meat.

There's no one size fits all approach....

I am with Judman, I like a fairly high shoulder shot.. The animal goes down right there.. It ruins some meat, but I am not real fond of shoulder meat to begin with... Sometimes a finisher is require from the 6 gun if the shot is too high.. They are disabled, but unable to escape...

I did some Springbok culling last year and made a conscious effort to alter my shot placement and note the results. The sample size was small but they were shot at virtually identical distances using the same load. I was not surprised that shooting them in the shoulder piled them up faster. I always try to break some bones if I can.

Same here judman. I'll be dmned if I'm gonna let a 1300-1700 lb bull moose make the 10 second dash into the river or into a swamp hole. I aim square on the front end.

I just finished my jack o connor "the hunting rifle book" couple months ago.

No thanks to 3000 fps 270 winchester, blood shot mess through the ribs of a moose.

I'll take a 250-300 grain "controversial medium" square through the front end, any day of the week and eat right up to the bullet hole. Its my back and knees.

Mainer you sound like good old Elmer.. He was an excellent hunter and shooter..

Put me in the camp of preferring a high shoulder shot. I've had more hits like this result in quick dead animals than any other, unless, obviously, a head or "earhole" shot.

100% spot on.It's the guys that try the 3000fps with a frangible bullet and the lose the entire quarter and sometimes the off shoulder too,losing 20-30 pounds of meat

Your test is way shy on data to draw meaningful conclusions. As I got older, and over almost 50 years killed many big game animals and watched lots of others others shot as well, in grading these two types of shots I get “I dunno.” I’ve seen bull elk drop immediately with a lung shot, and have seen them move off a hundred yards or so before dying. Similar with whitetails, mule deer and caribou. Even antelope. I have had a heart shot mule deer go down immediately, and a couple others run a death circle of from 50-90 yards. I am likewise dubious of grading shots/cartridges/bullets by the speed at which an animal expires.

I think it helpful if the bullet exits, but I’m not sure I can prove that one either. As somebody else said, I consider the heart/lung area to be one target, and center of mass means usually a lung shot. I also feel better about a bullet that I know will drive through a shoulder if necessary to get to the heart/lung area.

As in many other things, the older I get the more cynical I am about conclusions.

Answered, directly after reading your OP Beav - have not read further comments - Yet !

Yes, a heart shot animal always runs !

Also, add a question of my own.

Heart is great meat, why intentionally waste it ?

Then again, I feel the same about shoulders !

Right in the "slats" for "almost" everything I/we shoot.

My $0.02, others MMV.

& that's OK !

Yes !