Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game The neck shot?

I shot my first bull in the neck at 60 yards because another was behind his chest, a split second correct decision. A follow up made sure it was over quickly. Finished another a 300 yards on the move with 2 already in the back of his lungs. I’ve killed many deer with neck shots it’s my favorite shot from behind or facing. It’s not for everyone & broadside I’m always going for lungs but it’s worked for me. In several situations- love DRT.

I’m 60. I been hunting deer and hogs since I was in my early 20’s. I never been a neck shooter. I got nothing against neck shooting I just always shoot for the boiler room. In some conditions I will take a shoulder shot if I am worried about recovery.

AGREED

That will do it Roger! Hard on the racks though

???
If you normally neck or head shoot them how do you put an insurance shot into them? Don’t they drop instantly (assuming you hit when you aimed)?

Do you mean that when you walk up to them, you always put a second round into them from a few feet away?

I've taken just over 20 moose. About half have been head or neck shots, if I can get them per above listed criteria. Moose are big, the neck bone is fairly big (6-8") and I limit myself to about 100 yards, and these were usually "do it now!!" shots, standing, offhand. For reason....thick cover after I lost one that over the course of the day I had walked within 5 yards several times. The next weekend I followed my nose to what was left of him, about 3 inches of maggots, hair and some bone. As I forced my way through the spruce branches, I literally stepped on his remains. He was invisible from 1 step out. I really don't intend to feed bears, maggots, and wolves anything but guts.

He had made it into a 10' circle of 10' tall spruce ,with over-lapping branches, obviously an old squirrel midden, so surrounded by 5-7 ' high deadfall that it diverted me from entering into the circle of death. If I knew then, what I know now, about shot moose, I'd have climbed over and through that tangle and found him on the first, 2nd or 3rd pass across that hillside, and not wasted a whole day not finding him. Makes a guy sick, losing an animal like that..

The shot was bout 160 yards, standing, off-hand with the arm sling wrap. I was yards from any rest or better position. The shot looked good, but after a day of searching until dark , we concluded I had flat missed, with zero evidence of a hit. Th bull had traveled about 90 yards down a trail, where we lost the track when he did a 90 in tall grass to go the 40 yards or so to reach that spruce circle on a burned over hillside heavy with deadfall and second growth.

I shot the next one ( and as many after that that I could manage)at 40 yards just under the antler base. No looking for that one, cuz he went straight down, legs under him, between two 3' high hummocks about 4 ' apart. Hunting solo, he got dressed out from above.....

On one 42" bull, the only shot I had was at his back half, the front half being hidden by a spruce when he stopped about 100 yards away. He was about to continue his boogie. I put the 250 gr. .338WM slug into his spine just forward of the pelvis. I lost a couple meals of backstrap, but secured 500 lbs of other meat.

I was exactly one step away from him before I could see to finish him, as he was down in waist high grass. behind a couple waist-high deadfall logs. But Dammit Jim, I knew where he was! I like neck shots in such conditions.

Everything else - species, distance, etc. - gets double lunged by choice.

most of my does get shot in the neck. Have also killed a couple bucks that way too when that's what they gave me or I needed to anchor them right there.

The risk of a neck or head shot is that even with a superficial wound they typically hit the dirt like you brained them with a sledgehammer. Nobody wants to go into a canyon with a “dead” deer laying on the other side & find one running away when you come back out (happened to me on a steep angle chest shot). So a little time observing no breathing or an unhurried finisher is good insurance.

Yup. Shock the spinal cord. They can stand up after a minute or two and scamper away. Happened to me in Namibia on a red lechwe, but put him down as soon as he got back up.

I used to neck shoot spikes/does, but wasted too much meat. I'd rather shoot them in the ribs as I don't save rib meat- ribs go to the dogs anyway.

Killed a cow elk yesterday afternoon with a 30 yard shot to the back of her head/neck. Went straight down

Last year's buck showed me something about bullet construction. A previous buck ran away and hid from a 140 grain TSX too hard a bullet, so I am firmly into the softer is better deer bullet camp currently. I switched to Ballistic Tips from my 7mm-08 and last year broke a deer down with a spine shot a little too far back. The deer needed a second shot and when I hit it in the high neck, the permanent cavity stretched the neck skin and tissue to almost double size. The exit wasn't that large, but the internal damage must have been horrendous. Even if the spinal column wouldn't have been broken, that much shock to the spinal area surely would have put the deer down and kept him there.

Made a few neck shots in my 20's. Now approaching 60, I'm a high shoulder guy.

I have made a lot of neck shots over the years, but I don't ever try it unless I am sure of the hit. I favor the middle of both lungs.
Still, when I have the neck as a target and the chest is obscured I will take them when I know I can make the hit. Here is one from a few years ago
2018 #1 Ant. Buck by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

No ! You will never see a self defense instructor teach a neck or head shot for a reason. Shoot low and you have an animal with a tracheotomy. Shoot for the biggest, fatal target.....chest heart and lungs.

Yep, the neck shot works most of the time on deer.

I took a buck a few days ago with a neck shot because that's what was offered. With an open sighted .54 caliber caplock hawken from 80 yards. This is added to a looooong list of successful neck shots. I've never had an unsuccessful neck shot. I'm the first to admit that I would have shot it in the lungs had that shot been offered but neck shots aren't nearly as dramatic as some of you are making them out to be. Or some of you have no confidence in your shot placement... Not sure which but dang.....

This is my buck but my daughter is a way better model than I....




Todd

The neck roast is one of the nicer pieces of meat and has more meat than a shoulder.

I prefer a Barnes TTSX to the shoulder and drop where they stand.

The more nervy the animal is, and especially if it’s a monster buck, the less apt I am to think about anything other than boiler room. I’ll take a neck shot, if it’s presented, and the animal is calm(and I am too). Don’t specifically look for a neck shot, but haven’t passed on a good one meeting my criteria. All have been DRT, except one doe that was a clean miss with a really accurate inline muzzleloader. (Guy on the trigger didn’t execute the shot properly that time.) 😎

Doc_Holidude

On bucks I like to break shoulder bones. I don't like stuff to run off after I squeeze the trigger.