Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Informal poll- do you shoot through the shoulders on deer?

and good fodder...

I haven't aimed at the shoulder since I started butchering my own meat years ago and hate trimming the bloodshot shoulders. We're kind of particular about what goes in the meat pile and all that blood between the layers of muscle doesn't help salvage much meat. My pick of calibers has changed as well, the fast 270 loads and the like have given way to the 250 Savage, 257 Bob, and at one time even cast bullets out of the 30-30. Contemplating digging out the old 50 cal sidelock muzzle loader and round balls again. Maybe I can still see those open sights.

Yes. I have had very little issue with ruined meat, especially with the TSX. I little bit of lost meat is well worth the instant fold when hit. I don't care for animals bolting after being double lunged.

I don't mind that 50-100 yd. run from shooting the double lung. A good blood trail makes it easy. miles

+1

My prefered shot is the heart - but have shot necks, shoulders, etc. Still prefer the heart shot.

I am a fan of the high shoulder shot... top of the lungs, maybe stun the spine enough for them to fall on the spot.. have done it to 2-3 deer and they all were DRT!

I'll take a front shoulder shot with a TSX any day of the week but prefer to miss it with a non-TSX. I try not to hit the rear shoulders regardless of type...

I have no qualms on pinning both shoulders. Do it with rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader. My tracking jobs usually amount to marking the spot where the deer was standing.

I'll try to line up on the of side shoulder if I'm shooting at a angle. If a broadside shot, I normally aim behind the shoulder on deer. I shoot for vitals and most of the time I don't care what parts the bullet travels through to get there. Elk and bear I like to get at least one shoulder, they don't seem to go as far after the shot that way.

Sure. Why not?

Just My opinion--- Lung shot. Larger vital target that a missed placed shot has more chance of doing it's job. Rib cage meat loss is nothing. A poor shot on the front shoulder and a deer on three legs can go for miles, and then some. Web

I dont have a problem shooting the shoulders. I dont have a problem not shooting the shoulders.

Kinda depends on the shot that is presented IMO

Since I don't generally have to worry about "hunters" stealing a deer they didn't shoot or toothy critters who come to a shot like a dinner bell or pit vipers which threaten with love bites...I'll take the heart/lung shot (behind at least one shoulder, if possible). I really can't imagine a more inept tracker than me, and I still manage to find my venison without undue trouble. (There have been rare occasions, however, when it took me up to an hour...sometimes requiring me to "walk grids".)

Go in just behind or just in front. 1Minute

That's about my thinking too, 1minute. Going in behind one shoulder and out in front of the other, or vice-versa, sure makes them twist and go down too.

We don't get to shoot very many deer here. And I don't like to buy meat at the store. Maybe the meat means more to me than some, in fact I'm SURE it does, but since I started hunting 8 or 9 years ago, my goal has been to shoot vitals while staying out of the meat.

Ribs have meat, so unless you are shooting them in the eyesocket it don't ring. Granted less meat, but still meat.

I tend to grind the shoulders and since I've never not killed several deer in a year, grinding the shoulders ain't an issue. Course I save the meat from the ribs also.

Shoot the damn deer wherever the bullet will kill it.

Eyeball stew is the chit!

grin

The last buck I shot through the rib cage the amount of meat loss wouldn't fill a tea cup. The last one I shot through the front shoulders filled many. Web

What bullet? The 'stuff' still grinds.