The Neck Shot?

I am in the the throngs of reading about Alaskan hunting in the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. There seems to be a prdominent reference to the “neck shot” and “ear hole” shot. Having grown up in the 50’s in Wisconsin I also remember the old timers touting the same types of rifle shots.

I quickly moved to bowhunting at an early age to remove myself from the crowded rifle season. I had no experience with this type of shot with a rifle and bowhunting taught me to put my arrow in the chest cavity.

As I aged and long since moved from Wisconsin to Colorado I again took to firearms for hunting (and love it by the way). Given my bowhunting experience my rifle shots have always been chest cavity shots.

I am curious as this type of shot as I have never tried it. I have always opted for putting the bullet in the “boiler room”.

I believe I understand the benefits, animal drops, less damage to the meat, etc. But what is the shot to the neck, where do you aim, how does it kill, and there seems to be a lot of chance of missing the right spot?

What is your experience with this type of shot?

On a side view ,if the bullet passes over the vertebrae thru the muscles it may put the deer down momentarily . As your patting your self on the back that animal might get up and run off. Dang near happened to me in 1996 as she stood back up I run another thru her ribs. 100 gr corelokts in a 243 at 125 yards but I missed the spine by an inch. Best shot placement is in the chest , it's the largest vital target. No more stunt shooting for me.
.mb

I`ve done it a number of times with no problems. My furthest about 100yrds. IME, the shot requires the the animal to be relaxed and unaware of your presence.
A plus is if you butcher your own deer, knowing where the bone is helps. I`ve killed them facing to me, facing away, and from the side. I find facing to and from the best, as I center the neck and cut the spine. DRT.
Deer feeding to me with their heads down present an excellent shot to the spine at the neck/shoulder junction, bullet will pass into the chest cavity. DRT, in my experience.
Do not attempt this neck shot with buck fever, and the reticule dancing all over the animal.

I like neck shots. I put the bullet high on the neck, close to the head. Instant bang-flop, clean field dressing job. Conditions don't always allow for it but when presented I will take it. I prefer when the deer has it's head up. They will usually wag the tail before putting the head down to feed. When the head is down, they will often jerk it up with no warning. It's a small target and I prefer it when harvesting does. With a big buck I am often too excited to risk it.

This! X 100

The neck and ear are SMALL targets and very mobile.

Also they don’t bleed out well on a spine/ ear shot. Much better for your meat to have them bleed out.

I have taken many neck shots over the years, but like you I am a bow hunter as well and we both know that the pass-through lung shot is the highest percentage shot with the biggest area aim at.

When I am hunting moose and it's within 150 yards and I have a clear shot at the neck I have no issues taking it. My longest was a nice bull moose at 157 yards, he was facing me, so I shot right under his chin with my .30-06 with 180g. Dropped him in his track.

The best part of a well-placed neck shot is ZERO meat loss and I hate losing any of the delicious moose meat!

I would only recommend a neck shot to hunters that are excellent shots and know their equipment and do not suffer from any type of buck fever. If you cannot consistently shoot 2" groups at 200 yards, I do not recommend it, and for the average shooter a well-placed lung shot is always the preferred option, IMHO

Cheers and Happy hunting!

KillerBee

It's not just the size of the group. It's knowing the POA/POI relationship for the particular distance.

The neck shot works well with small calibers (which allow very precise shot placement because of low recoil) such as with a .222 at reasonably close range when you're a good shot.

Much more meat on a big bucks neck than on its ribs....Joe

That is where hove shots come into play! hehe

Do it quite frequently, but only if I have a very solid rest for both front and rear of rifle.
Especially when shooting does.
Facing me, head up the white patch on the throat is point of aim.
Broadside, base of neck just forward of shoulder junction.
Killed a 10 point buck on my Missouri lease several years back w a broadside neck shoulder junction at around 85 yards because he was standing in CRP grass that was 5-6 feet tall and I couldn't see anything other than head and neck.
I shoot my hunting rifles year round, handload all the ammo for them.
Also wait until weather cools off here then take them all to the range and verify cold bore zero at 50,100 and 200 yards before the season starts.

Luck was with me when I’ve done it. You gotta know where and you need to be sure you’ll hit the right place. I go for the ribs close to the heart if I can. Of course the darn animals don’t want to stand broadside for me all the time and I’ll aim the best place I can.

Growing up, my dad shot all his deer and elk through the neck. Works good for a drt. I still use the neck shot quite a bit if shots are under 50 yds.

Absolutely not…..never! Same with head shots! memtb

I’ve done it once when it was the only shot I had. His body was behind two big oaks and he was a little nervous and I was afraid he was going to bolt. It was about 90 yards and I was shooting a very accurate 243 with a good rest. Worked as advertised.

Neck shots are pretty effective. At least the three I've shot. Lots of vital structures are lacked in that neck.

The problem is, you are at risk of screwing up a neck roast, which is a dang good cut.

True, but not as good as other parts, like shoulder meat for Jalapeño and Cheddar Cheese Smokies, or Hot Italian Sausage!

I shoot does in the neck, good bucks in the shoulder

Not me. I much prefer a double lung shot, and can’t think of an exception.

Maybe somewhat different against an animal that might be inclined to put holes in my hide.

My first bull elk was a neck shot. Went down in a step or two.
Finest big game shot I’ve ever made was on a very large bear, in one ear and out the other. Tipped over mid step.
Both shot placements work in competent hands.

Osky

I’ll do a neck shot if the shot isn’t too far and if the animal is facing me. I aim just below where the head and neck meet.

Regarding saving meat, I find you don’t waste any meat if you put it through the ribs and use a non-frangible bullet.

Ture that Jeffrey, the biggest meat wasting shots are Shoulder shots and for the life of me I do not understand why anyone takes them.

I’ve shot 3 kinds of deer, brown and black bears, caribou, elk, and loads of pigs in the neck. It is a very effective shot if you can pull it off correctly.

I generally don’t go looking for a neck shot but there are times where it’s what you get. A buck rattled up in tall grass and brush, better shoot him in the throat patch or miss your chance. Does feeding unaware and you don’t want to trail them, right behind the ear wastes no meat and they go right down. An elk in the timber and you can see his neck between two pines but not his chest. All real life scenarios that I’ve lived. Never yet had a rodeo due to a neck shot.

Neck shot for me whenever possible, every single time. But, I hunt close range, with plenty of gun, 6.5 Swede to 8mm Mauser. A hit at close range with a garden variety rapid mushrooming cup and core anywhere in the neck is a kill...it's not necessary to fracture the spine. 60 years of Blacktail hunting, most of the time took the neck shot, two tags a year, I have lost 1 and only 1 buck. That was stupid me, he was down but kicking and I was sure he was done, me farting around looking for the fired brass.

TheKid;
Good evening to you sir, I hope that the week has been a good one for you and your fine family.

Thinking back on a few hunts, I've ended up having no shot but a neck shot on a few whitetail bucks but can't recall if I've shot mulie bucks there or not.

I do recall shooting at least a couple mulie bucks either in the ear hole as you mentioned or a couple between the eyes as they stuck their heads up over a sagebrush.

On whitetail, this one was trotting straight towards me in a grown in cut block, so as you mentioned I put the crosshairs where the neck and the front legs come together and broke two vertebrae. That silly bullet then clipped the top of a lung, bounced back through a full grass bag and ended up underneath the hide on it's left butt cheek.

Standard sort of 2nd rack Okanagan whitetail.



The butt cheek bullet is the one on the right - 167.5gr .308" TSX started out at 3150 or so.



This buck came from the same cut block 3 years later. It came in through the replanted Doug Firs like it was on a string to my second series of grunt calls. Was super still that morning so perfect for calling. Anyways we can see the trickle of blood on the neck. I hit it as it cleared enough of the Doug Fir to give me a good shot.



Same rifle, same bullet but this time it left the deer and went into the great beyond.

This one died within a kilometer of the two above, but in '92 so 20 years before that - maybe '93?? I'd have to check. I was poking through the timber, this thing snorted and flagged, but stopped when I let out a loud bleat. When I looked through the binos, I saw it's brow tines and thought, "Oh nice, a little spiker" so I brought up the rifle and slid one in a couple inches below the base of the skull.



Funny when you look at the racks close from the '90's and from the 2012 one you can clearly see they're related. Sort of neat how that happens even over decades.

Anyways those were three times that I used neck shots where I took a photo of the buck afterwards. Since we process our own game we might not lose as much meat as if a commercial meat cutter had to poke through it, but I'm guessing on that.

All the best to you all and good luck on your hunts.

Dwayne

Taken two elk with neck shots, both where my horse spooked the elk up, they ran 40 yards, then stopped and turned to look back at me after I exited the saddle. Neck was the only clear area through the trees. Overgunned with a .300Win but it seemed to work.

100%

In my mind I draw and imaginary line between the ear and shoulder and endeavor to place the bullet about two inches below the ear.




























At worst, they just Drop and Paddle!



ya!

GWB

Great pics Dwayne, that second buck is a real bruiser.

A friend and I were once climbing and fighting our way up a mountainside on Kodiak trying to get to a vantage point to look for a bear to put his tag on. We popped out into a little opening and as I looked across the deep gully about 80 yards wide I saw a buck peek his head over the grass and look at us. I whispered to him that there was a buck across the way and I could only see his head and neck. He responded by telling me to “stick one in the patch”. I thumbed the hammer back on my 1886 Winchester and sent him a 350 Speer when the blade looked centered on his neck right below his head. When I recovered from the recoil he was gone but I’d heard the whop when it hit him. We made our way across the cut and I’d hit him perfectly in the center of the throat and vaporized the uppermost vertebrae.

Wasn’t a big buck but it was a memorable shot on a fun adventure with an old friend.

That second buck is a slammer! Nice one!

Kid, cool story and 1886!

I had the same experience with my last neck shot on a broadside buck. I try to avoid it now.

👍! memtb

Good morning Dwayne, hope you doing great today.

That second deer sure has lots of character, big and beautiful and GREAT SHOT!

Like you I butcher all of my own animals and only bring trimmed venison into my butcher to make Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Smokies and Hot Italian Sausages. He does an awesome job.

Butchering my animals myself, has become part of the hunting experience, a ritual for me and I actually enjoy doing the job myself. Can't even imagine handing my animals over to someone else.

Cheers and have a super weekend

90% of my shots are head/neck shots. All these are less than three hundred yards. If I need to shoot farther out, I will punch shoulders/lungs. Lots of great advice in this thread

That second buck is a beauty!

Buddy and his dad were pissed off that I shot an elk in the neck! Whine whine whine. I knew damned well the broadhead would work! Blood everywhere, dead elk not too far! LOL

i learned from my father early in life always behind the front shoulder if you can with bow or rifle , a neck shot you could lose the animal otherwise.

Hmmm. Mine said in the crease behind the front leg, but of course head or neck is better. Deer, straight on, 1 inch above a line between the eyes.

Works pretty good on my axis meat hunts.......

Most of my neck shots have went as advertised.

Hit a nice buck like Magbob, said.
He didn't even go down, just jumped into a thick patch where I couldn't
see enough to shoot him again.

Thankfully, I was ready when he bolted.
Truly believe I only killed him because of the 760 i had that day.

Not a pump fan, but firepower came into play in the 30 yard window
he bolted into.

the first 20 years of my hunting life i never heard or saw anyone shoot a deer anywhere but the neck or head. then the magazine gurus started pimping the heart lung shot as the only way a deer/elk/wooly mammoth could be killed. just about the time the spray and pray doctrine came to be.
i would venture over the last 60 years of hunting 60% of my shots on deer/elk/bear have been neck or head. i have seen them just stunned by this though. a insurance shot is so small of an expenditure i always pay the premium. have lost 1 deer in my lifetime. .257 ABC bullet through the shoulders on a buck.
drilled a .257 hole through and through. saw him a couple months later with w twin white spots of hair. picked up those target loads off the shelf in the dark that day.

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/156296479@N08/]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.

I don't like stuff to run off after I squeeze the trigger."

+1

I've used it pretty often but only a game standing completely still and 100 yards or less. It is very effective if done right. I can't remember ever losing an animal with it.

My dad knew a guy in PENN who neck shot a couple of black bears with a 35 REM, range wasnt very long and they were standing still.....which isnt very common when hunting black bears in PENN. He said both of them dropped and twitched a little.

How far have you found that they run usually when lung shot vs shoulder shot? Personally I have seen next to no difference unless both shoulder bones are completely broke. That is, compared to being shot in the forward lung area right behind the shoulder as opposed to lungs back near the liver. Those lung shot further back can run a ways.

Here is a shoulder shot by one of my nephews with a .260 and Barnes TTSX 100 grain. Pretty typical result.



Most of the places we hunt are narrow roads cut into thorn brush. So, shoulder shots to drop them where they stand is important to avoid having to crawl in the thorn brush with the Texas earth worms. A young nephew got excited and shot a buck in the lungs last year. It took four experienced men an hour and a half to find it laying only 50 yards into the brush.

Here is my wife with a .308 and 130 grain Barnes TTSX to the shoulder. The distance is just a bit beyond 200 yards. As can be seen, the brush line is a matter of feet away. She does a nice job shooting with her GAP .308.

Those looked like high shoulder shots to me, or basically hitting the spine right at the base of the neck. It is a good way to put them down ASAP but not what I generally refer to as "shoulder shot" and is also a smaller target. Breaking both humorous is the only way I consistently see deer go straight down other than CNS/high shoulder shots. Breaking only one humorous regardless if scapulas are hit produces short runners for me, just like lung shots do.

Where did the bullets strike on those deer?

T.I.

I have them come down 1/3 of the way from the top of the back into the shoulder. Also, I have found waiting for the animal to put its head down improves the result.

The bullet goes through the lower part of the shoulder blade and usually is just under the spine or occasionally clips the bottom of the spine.

The thoracic spine between the shoulder blades is like the master switch to a breaker box. That area between the shoulder blades is about the size of an orange. Impacts in that area put them down instantly.

My favorite placement is quartering towards the hunter, the forward point of the shoulder at the base of the neck with an exit behind the off side shoulder.

So running a bullet diagonally through the same area just under the thoracic spine. That placement also consistently drops them where they stand.

I shot the last 3 does in the head, 2 over 300yds away from the blind and this one thru the eye at 140ish.

I will continue to do this with does, bucks will get them in the high shoulder.

I don't have a nice steady bench in my tree. And with wind sometimes, maybe even some adrenaline, etc...I just dont see it as ethical as a chest/shoulder/lung shot, you literally have an area the size of a basketball that will get the job done. I've done a couple head shots, but I was on the ground, gun resting on my knee. One was at 10ft. Had to put a grocery bag over her head when I dropped it off at processor, it was gnarly.

Experienced shooters, go for it, but even then there is still a margin for error in the field. I've just seen my share of deer that survived poor neck shots walk in front of me from the club shooters from next door.


I had this line hunter less than 200 yards from me. Bought blew me out of the stand one morning, that afternoon a doe walks in front of me with a big gaping hole in her neck. Seen them with part of bottom jaw blowed off too

Even that is a gamble, i had a video on my old phone of a buck my son shot, broadside, that joker almost turned completely away with one step as he pulled the trigger, caught it low behind the leg, passed through front of chest. There is some wiggle room with a broadside shoulder/lung shot if something like that happens. Animals dont stand as still as paper targets stapled to cardboard.

I've had bucks run - push 20-30 yds. There's a lot bone - bullet fragments causing serious damage in shoulder shot deer. The high shoulder shot wrecks the nervous system but there's not much room for error.

There are lots of variables on just how fast an animal will drop when shot. Spine, brain shots anchor them consistently everywhere else can be at least a short trailing job. With deer I’ve had almost every version of a lung shot kill them & anchor them quickly including 30-30, 30-06, many with a 7mm RM & a few with a 300 Weatherby.

Elk have been much harder to stop immediately for me except with neck shots. I had a large cow run 120 yards shot with a 150 grain TTSX from the 7mm at 11 yards.
Switching to the 300 Wby from 7mm has made a difference for me on lung shot elk deciding they are done traveling. That recoil level isn’t for everyone but on elk in my small sample I like the results. So I’ll take lung shots broadside shots & necks if that is what I’ve got or from behind within 300 yards.

I don't strive to take them, but at 66 y/o they are in my bag of tricks. I've taken more than a few animals with a neck shot, at various angles...all with good results. In the NE woods, you learn to take what you're given, or go hungry.

I can only remember taking a neck (throat) shot once. It was pouring down rain and I'd had aout enough fun for the day when a small 5 pointer stood up about 50 yards away facing me. I aimed for the white patch on his throat and fired. The 165 grain SST frm my 30-06 blew up upon hitting the spine and just about decapitated him. No tracking was necessary.