Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Neck Shots

I’ve taken neck shots when I felt they were the right choice and have passed on them when I felt they were not.

Not “in love” with them, don’t dislike them, I think they are a useful “tool” to have at a hunters disposal.

JD45;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope the day in your part of the world is going at least reasonably well so far.

With the understanding that I don't consider myself an expert on anything hunting related I'd offer the following thoughts on neck shots.

One needs to understand the animal's body language and be able to place your shot where you need it to go in a timely manner.

Back in the day when our sheep herd was in better shape, I learned from several of the sheep guides that far and away their biggest problem with visiting hunters was that they took forever to shoot from field positions.

The first requirement then is having a rifle sighted in so the shooter knows exactly where the bullet should land at the distance the target is from the muzzle AND as mentioned above be able to shoot quickly.

We're blessed here in that we have yard mulies usually several days a week, depending upon the local yard bear movements the last couple years, but enough so that in the past 30 plus years here we get to observe them a fair bit. We can tell when they're relaxed, when they're tense and about to leave or just tense and trying to figure out what it is bothering them. I'd suggest that knowing how to read the animal's body language then helps immensely with successful hits.

Lastly we've been cutting game for ourselves and friends for 30 plus years, enough so that we're not guessing where the vertebrae run up from the shoulders and into the back of the skull. That's the last vital component in my view because one wants to hit the vertebrae or close enough to it to disable it and the spinal/nervous system.

Hopefully that made some sense and was useful to you or someone out there.

All the best to you in 2023.

Dwayne

Neck shots are great until they don't break the spine or the bullet doesn't deliver the right amount of shock to the spinal cord.The other thing that can be bad about neck shots is,the neck is the toughest muscle on the animal.Though it has large arteries and veins around the windpipe that can dump a lot of blood if ruptured,miss those and your not going to get much blood if the animal is not dropped right there on the spot because the rest of the tissue has very tiny veins and arteries.I recently had a bad experience with neck shots on a red stag I killed.These bulls get rather large necks during the rut and that can also give you more room for error.This bull I was after never would give me a good body shot.He was in some brush with three other bulls.All I could get was a high neck shot,so I took it.I don't know,I could have clipped the top of the brush before the bullet hit the stag,but he left with the three other bulls after I shot.I went to the spot where he was standing and sure enough I hit him.I found bone,some tissue and and just a few tiny specks of blood,but that petered out after about 50yds or so.After about a half an hour of searching,I finally located the bull again about 200yds from where I originally shot him.I could see the blood on his neck,but the only shot offered was a high neck shot.I shot him and knocked him down for about 15 seconds and he got up and slowly ran away.I knew I hit him good and figured he shouldn't go too far.Went to the spot I shot him,found a lot more blood this time,but after about 30yds or so,it once again petered out.After searching again for about a half an hour in thick thorny brush,tall grass and weeds,I found the bull about a 150yds away from where I shot him for the second time.And again the only shot offered was a neck shot.I shot and he went down for good this time,third time was a charm.The bullet I was using was a 180gr Nosler Ballistic Tip,fired from my 28" barreled 30-06,mv 3000fps.I've used this same bullet from my 30-06 and 300 Win Mag on a couple of other stags with great one shot,dropped on the spot body shot kills,so I'm not going to blame the bullet.It just shows you sometimes things just don't go right.I was really glad I was able to recover this animal.I did recover the bullet from the first shot.Like I said,I may have clipped some brush before the bullet hit him.The bullet hit the tongue,lower jaws,blowing both of them and most of the sinus cavity completely out.I found the jacket of the bullet resting against the spine.The other two completely passed through.Second shot raked the side of the spine,the third breaking the spine.Talk about tenacious.The recovered jacket of the 180gr BT weighted 70grs and held together quite well considering the amount of bone contact.

baldhunter;
Good morning to you sir, I hope the day down on the Texas coast is giving you good weather and behaving itself.

Thanks for taking the time to post the story and photos, congratulations on both sticking with it and the interesting racked bull as well.

For a long time now I've held the opinion that we don't learn nearly as much when things go well as when things go off the rails, through the fence and into the rhubarb.

Your example is a very good one for that I'd suggest.

When I responded I should have been more clear in that my results for neck shots are mulie and whitetail bucks only, so the amount of neck tissue is way less than a moose, red stag, elk or even a ram for that matter. I'd say that black bear necks while for sure shorter are built not that much stronger than a deer.

I understand your comment as well that you'd had good success with the bullet used that day too, so it's hard to say if the other two held together better or not really.

It's interesting to me too that different firearms will show different results with similar bullets sometimes. The working theory I have is that the twist rate, groove depth and then velocity can all be factors. When we've discussed the Hornady 220gr RN here for instance, some reported having very good luck with them while I was not happy with them coming apart on an immature bull moose first and then a frontal shot on a first rack whitetail.



As you mentioned too, brush has a huge effect on bullets or that's been my experience on a couple of occasions with a .270 130gr TTSX or GMX - sorry forget which just now - and then with coyotes and 55gr BT in a .22-250AI which is no surprise I suppose.

Anyways, thanks again, it's food for thought for sure and you made valid points.

Best to you in 2023 - from another bald hunter.

Dwayne

BC30cal,Thank You Sir.You always have kind words.Sometimes it is what it is and not always perfect.

I avoid neck shots but won't tell anyone not to take them if comfortable with them.

This may help explain some of the deer size dispairity. Different sub species by location.

If I have a very steady rest, the animal is not moving and I know the exact range I may take a neck shot only if the heart / lung area was cover up. Example an elk head and neck exposed and I could not see anything else - my buddy ranged it and I had time to figure out the hold for my zero - shot from a steady kneeling position. If this opportunity was off hand and at that distance I would have passed

As I still hunt and about 15 years ago moved to predominately black powder I am closer and taking shots that give a high % for a blood trail. Reload time is slow

I made a head shot on a ruffed grouse with my 300 Win Mag at 35 yards using a 168 gr Barnes TTSX. One shot kill. Does that count?

Only if you also shot the species you were actually after the same day and that shooting the ruffy did not scare them into the next county so you got skunked lol

Very interesting map kenjs1, so thank you for posting it, appreciated!

Very surprised to see that Montana's state record is only 199 3/8 inches since it is right on our southern border.

Alberta and Saskatchewan produce a serious amount or Whitetails that break the B&C 200 Mark, they may be the same as the sub-species as the states below but our deer are bigger. I am thinking it has everything to do the the colder climate as las pointed in his post yesterday.

My biggest was 203 or 206 typical, because two different certified taxidermists came up with different numbers.

Interesting site with the scores:

https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/the-biggest-bc-record-whitetail-deer-from-every-state/

North Dakota's is only 195 2/8 inches
South Dakota's is 194 1/8 inches
Minnesota 202
Wisconsin is 206
Wyoming is 191 5/8 inches

Hunting pressure and age class also have a great effect. Saskatchewan and Alberta have basically the same deer with the same antler growth potential. Alberta has about 4 times as many people and much higher hunting pressure than Saskatchewan. The deer on average live longer in Saskatchewan as they are not getting shot so their potential to grow old and fully develop their racks is higher there. Basically Saskatchewan with far less hunters than Alberta take pretty much the same number of mature large antlered bucks as Alberta hunters take, probably more in recent history. Older age class Alberta bucks are getting thinned out as opposed to Sask where there are still many areas with bucks that see very little pressure.

You don't get big deer if they get shot off before they get big. Same scenario in the US.

I can only address PA whitetails.
I have only ever shot two in the neck. One with 45-79 and this year with a 4Marlin 44 mag. That was the only shot presented.
My preferred shot is still broadside, double lungs. I shoot larger calibers with loads that provide good bullet expansion so they drop right there. The only ones that have run a few yards were taken with cast bullets in original Trapdoor and Sharp's carbines. But vocity was only 1350 fps.
The chest gives me some room for error. I fear not hitting the spinal column on neck shots.

I yearn for that shot at every deer I see. "Most" of the time I am presented with that shot if I am patient.

Montana has that EHD problem with there whitetails if they did not Montana would have some real giant racks otherwise in the record book.

Hogs only get head or neck. More and more of my does are getting neck shots. Our deer hunting is from elevated stands where a good support is a given. A shot to the neck midway down to just in front of the shoulder is a drop on impact shot. The meat loss is minimal on small Southern deer.

GreggH

Could not agree more GreggH and AMEN!!

I posted the same thread on Alberta Outdoorsman which is an inferior hunting forum in Alberta Canada, and was treated like a heretic and called an aZzHOle and told that lung shots are the only way to shoot ethically. Lots of Canadians are as dumb as a brick and can't shoot lol

Wishing you an excellent 2023, full of Drop Dead Neck Shots

I relied on the neck shot for a number of years when it was feasible - clear shot, relaxed animal, steady rest and never had a problem or a lost critter. I’ve backed away from it in recent years as I worry more about potentially wounding and losing an animal. I’m primarily talking about southern whitetail.

I’ve never taken a head shot due to an early experience. I was on a stand and had a doe trot by that looked it was wearing a red collar. As I got a better look, I realized the collar was blood and killed her. Someone had shot the deer’s lower jaw completely away. I’ve always assumed they’d tried to headshoot the doe and were just a tad low. After that, I never wanted to be responsible for something like that.

I think the neck shot has it’s place but it is a riskier shot than the heart/lung area.

At about 100 yards stood up in his bed and busted me stalking him.

I have 6 does hanging in the meat room that are all shot where the head and neck meat. It's by far the best place to shoot a meat deer and makes for a nice clean gutting job. I have missed, wounded and lost a few deer through the years neck and head shooting, but I've also lost deer shoulder shooting them. Stuff happens.

Good morning Fireball2, I trust your morning is treating you well and your coffee hit the spot.

That is a pretty big hole, would you mind saying which caliber you were using? Looks like a .30-06 or .300 Win Mag.

I am sure the shocking power of that round put him back to sleep instantly!


Hi TrueGrit, Wayne did a way better job than Bridges in that great classic movie, don't you agree?

While you guys are playing golf and watching The Masters, us Canadians get to watch it after we shovel the snow, must be great!

Yes I love the clean cutting job without the blood with neck and head shots. I do most of my deer the "Gutless Method and just have a little blood on my hands after doing the job, it's great! I always feel ripped off watching everyone in Golf Shirts, while I watch lol

Was wondering, what is the typical distance of your shots where you hunt, and atr you hunting from a deer shack?

Have a great Sunday to you both,

KB