Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The high shoulder rifle shot

if i get this perfect shot always the high shoulder , but my biggest set of antler buck i only had one quick shot got a Texas heart shot he went down real fast with a 100 gr, Swift A-Frame at 30 feet with my 257 Weatherby mag. buck dressed 217 lbs. probably would score close to 200 B.C. non-typical and i would do it again with a Texas heart shot if i have too. i lost very little meat when it went thru the bung hole.

#varmintstooge
#sheesh

Anywhere in the magic triangle puts them down. We all do well to intensely study the anatomy of the game animal.

i blast right through the shoulder pretty much dead center usually. front shoulder is stringy tough meat anyway and i use whatever is left for jerky. they don't go far if at all with that shot. if i was using something lighter like a 223 though i'd go for lungs and heart. but its rare that i am hunting with anything less than 35 cal.

Agreed Ky221. High shoulder for me as well.

I’ve only had one high shoulder hit.....very impressive! A hurried shot very near dark, I quickly “guesstimated” the range at 400 yards and held high on the shoulder! I hit where I aimed....finding the range to be only around 300 yards....my “zero” distance!

My much preferred shot is behind the shoulder taking out the lungs.....a much larger target area. It may not be an instant kill......but, is very effective! memtb

So you that say "high shoulder" I assume you mean through the shoulder blades? Looking at a deer anatomy it looks like I would need to hold in front of the leg, maybe 2/3rds up the body? I have been a " behind the shoulder" guy ever since I shot my 1st deer in 2001, most run 20-50 yards, though some go further. Just not sure where on a deer I should hold for said shot. Someone care to enlighten me?!

I think I was marking the exit on this deer. Ideally I like to be a little higher but this buck was still drt.

Something like this but my mark is a little large. Center that mark and they never take a step.

What kind of range do you all normally take that kind of a shot at? I'd have a difficult time mentally trying to purposefully hit that high.

With most of my rifles sighted in 2-3" high at 100 yards, for the shot ranges that many of you whitetail hunters seem to take, I'd have to sub-conciously hold low. Hit just a couple inches higher than intended and you'll be nicking the spine, at best.

On this buck I would normally align my vertical crosshair with his near side leg and put the horizontal about on the level of the bottom point of the diamond. That gives the greatest margin for shooter error or wind or whatever you want to blame it on. It’ll hit the scapula and more or less center the lungs. Sometimes it drops them and sometimes they’ll run but they don’t run far.

This shot wastes a little meat on the neck, and just a tad on the shoulder, but no deer run. I like higher powered scopes for this shot, and if you shoot high, you knock the deer down and it may get up as you approach it...maybe. 22/250 and 243 are supurb rifles for neck shooters.

Was wondering when someone was going to say this. If you're holding on the vitals and your shot ends up 3" high, you're still in the vitals. If you hold for this high shoulder shot and are 3" high, you've either paralyzed or permanently disfigured an animal. Wonder how many times higher the incidence of wounded or lost game is with people attempting this...

T Inman;
Good afternoon to you my cyber friend, I hope the day's been a good one for you so far and you're well.

I'm with you on purposefully aiming that high. In my case it came from more than half a lifetime of shooting cup and core bullets behind the scapula and old habits not going gently into that good night.

While I have hit a couple in the upper scapula and spine, it's usually because I've once again either held too high overestimating the range or underestimating how flat the bullet will be travelling. It's worked on all but a couple occasions for me where the buck was knocked down initially, then got up and left - unfortunately not to be found by me.

We've had really good results breaking the knuckle joining the scapula and ulna or either side of it.

I liken it to taking out the front differential in a 4x4 - it might coast for a short ways, but not too far.

So much depends on the hunting conditions too I believe.

Just this morning my neighbor and I were up chasing late season whitetails on the mountain behind the house and we both commented on their scarcity this year as well as how thick the timber is where they seem to be. In those conditions we're typically getting bits and pieces of the animal to shoot at, not the broadside presentation we used to get on the Saskatchewan whitetails coming out onto the alfalfa for instance.

Anyways, as always there's many roads to Mecca and all that right?

The terrain and conditions where you and I hunt might be so dissimilar that the only common points might be that we're both chasing the same species and using rifles, but otherwise it'll make for fairly different methods I'd suggest?

As always, I like to read how other folks in other areas hunt for just that reason. Swamps for instance are usually small hanging lakes way up the mountain where moose hang out here, with a noticeable lack of large reptiles such as our 'Fire friends in the south east might experience.

All the best to you as we head into shorter days my friend. Stay warm and well.

Dwayne

This shot waste very little meat and drops them on the spot.Just an inch or two above the center of the body,tight up against the shoulder.If the animal is at an angle,aim where you want the bullet to exit.I find it's better to shoot the animal broadside or quartered away than quartered towards you.This deer was shot with a 7mag,150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

You too Dwayne. Good luck with those late season whitetails.

I tend to aim for the most forgiving spot, as I am not exactly the best shot in the world and doubly so from field positions and with my heart pounding.

Add to that---cliff edges or blowdown canyons---much like private property borders, and I often am willing to take a short death run vs a quicker death but smaller target. Sometimes not though, depending on lots of variables and especially distance to those bad areas. It is all situational, I guess.

100 yards or less. I haven't shot at a deer over 50 yards in my last 20 or so kills, in fact I bet I haven't shot at any over 35 yards.

This is my typical hunting set up.

High shoulder slightly forward hits the brachial plexus, a major nerve center that drops the deer in its tracks when shot there.