Unfortunetely whitetail/mule deer do not always give you the perfect shot and for 25yrs I have had to take few neck shots to close the deal. Curious to other's opinion on bullet choice if ONLY a neck shot is presented.

I have no doubt a Barnes or Partition is top-notch for "bone crushing", but placing an "explosive" Berger VLD, Amax or Nosler BT be a better choice for a side neck shot in your opinion?

For instance, this buck was shot with a VLD bullet and after dressing the deer, I noticed the bullet entered BELOW the "windpipe", but a VLD fragment got a piece of his windpipe/esophagus(spelling?).

IYO...Barnes tsx/ttsx have the same effect(or pencil thru BELOW the windpipe of the deer? Just curious to opinions on weight retaining bullets compared to explosive bullets during a shot like this. Just making conversation people........

I prefer rapidly expanding bullets for whitetail deer. My favorites are Sierra Game Kings and Nosler Ballistic Tips. I usually shoot deer in the neck or lungs but I have put those bullets through both shoulders with good results and big exit wounds.

It's a very argumentative topic that simply boils down to; use the bullet that works for you.

I would choose whatever was in my gun at the time.

Heck of a buck btw.

Yep....done it more than a few times, for more than a few reasons...

I've taken neck shots with FMJ's out of a 223 and they did the trick. If you take an animal in the neck, more often than not you are going to take out his wind pipe or spine or hit a major blood vessel, in any of those cases they are going right down or in short order. I once had a case where the bullet only nicked the spine and the deer was DRT. IMOI any bullet that is suitable to hunt big game with is good for a neck shot.

I've taken three in the last two seasons with 165gr GameKings. Very happy, drop in their tracks and don't get up.

I also use that bullet as my general whitetail round. I've shot behind the shoulder, drilled through the shoulder, and neck shots, at the velocit that Federal factory loads them they just plain work. Not to mention they shoot little groups in my rifles.

A hunting pard swears by that bullet in his '06.....Ive seen it work so often for him that I can't say bad things....

Nice buck. And I'd agree that a follow-up shot usually doesn't present the shooter with a choice of bullets. My son shot his first doe this season, and I had to finish it with a shot to the neck. He had 6mm/250 caliber 85-Gr. partitions in his rifle and that's what I had to finish with. No big deal, and I don't really think it matters what type of bullet is used with a shot to the neck. Deer will be dead no matter what. My son definitely didn't care.

I have had DRT with neck shots using cartridges ranging from .223s (and its parent .222 Rem Mag) up to Nosler 165 Partitions from a .30-06. All worked well. That said, I have found pieces of the bullet jackets in the ears using cup and core bullets from a variety of chamberings. The animals died, but a lot of them finally died after I took blood samples from the jugular vein and the let them bleed out after I had my samples...

The consensus, and I agree with it, seems to be; nothing special in the way of bullets are needed for neck shots. If it is good to go to shoot a deer anywhere else it is good to go for the neck.

BCR

I have followed up to many deer wounded with neck shots to condone the practice.

With good shotplacement anything works.

To look to the bullet to provide the most lateral wounding as margin for error is dicey.

Not for me. I still get to go out and follow the deer of others not having yet come to this conclusion...

Odd, I've never seen a deer not drop right there at a neck shot. I do limit myself to only taking them if i have a solid rest. I figure there is a 4 inch window so to speak on the neck that will insure a spine breaking shot. Out to 200 yards with a solid rest I can make that shot all doay (its only 2moa).

But I do understand we live and hunt in a world full of bubbas, and well bubbas do stupid stuff I guess.

I'm going to load and shoot what works best in my rifle, for the shot that I expect to take 90+% of the time... a solid shot to the chest. And that means any reasonably constructed, appropriate for that round, bullet, preferably with a bit of stoutness for a margin of safety. It surely won't be a very frangible bullet on the off-chance that the neck is the only shot presented (I'll wait for a better presentation, or take that neck shot with my "body shot" bullet, with full confidence).

I guess I can't see the point of wondering which bullet might be best for every unique shot, as I'm certainly not going to have a variety with me, or change them before the shot even if I did, or have different zeroes memorized, etc.

I dont opt for it, but if thats what's there and I can make the shot, then thats fine.

This one just wouldnt take the extra few steps out from behind the tree, and wind wasnt quite right so I figured he'd sniff me sooner or later.



12g brenneke. took only 2 steps... straight backwards.

Necks can be tough stuff....rut toughened muscle and stuff.The target is small,but still I would rather take the shot with assurance I will smash bone,and not depend on flying shards to do the work.

Been awhile since I killed a buck with a neck shot, but 2-3 years ago a mature bull elk caught a 160 Bitterroot from above and behind,into the neck forward of the shoulders.It stopped against the hide under his chin,inflicted trauma all the way including smashed vertabrae;expanded to 60 caliber and still weighed 158-9 grains.

I was happy about all that stuff.

When its not as good...

This one was a small meat-for-the-fridge doe during late muzzleloader season a couple years ago.


Originally clipped it a tad high (spine) on the first shot. It went straight down, but the head was up, so I went for the finisher in the neck. You can see that it wasnt a terrific placement, and only clipped the throat. LESS than ideal for a speedy finish, though surely fatal.

The finisher came from behind the neck (see the tuft of hair on top), and you can see the exit (lower hole)

I think the problem with neck is the problem with head shots in terms of misplacement and hitting throat/jaw respectively. Not a problem if you place it better.

Last one. This deer dropped instantly (as did the first one posted).

A guy in our party hit a buck a week earlier, and it didnt die. I happened across it feeding, moving away from me. I saw that it was the wounded deer (and had dropped it antlers).

It was walking away from me, and the body was partly obscured. (ML, so no quick followup shot).

Back of neck, head was forward, exited near the mouth. Like the light was switched off. Very clean dispatch.

In


out

I had a big whitetail "appear" about 50 yards from my ground blind. When I saw him, he was standing straight at me, staring. My only chance was a head on neck shot, as he was about to bolt.
Anyway, I'm shooting a .280 with Barnes TSX.
It was bang/flop. He never even moved. Looked like the rug was snatched from beneath him. Wish I had some photos. I didn't clean him, so I can't say what the damage was, but it made me a believer. First deer with the .280

slg888 - don't know - but a soft lead 385 grain hollow point from a .50 cal traditional muzzle loader did a fine job when I hit a mule deer doe in the neck with it! Dropped her like a hot rock, all four feet were in the air when the smoke cleared.

Posted pics, but I forgot to get to the point of the post!

Even with a huge 460 grain lead conical, a poorly placed neck shot on a SMALL doe had less than perfect results.

One placed right with the exact load on a larger deer had spectacular results (as did the brenneke slug)

I think the posters previously stating that any reasonable bullet will do fine, and its placement that matters more.

22-250, 70gr sp....bang flop,
I agree with whatever is in the gun at that time.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4543775/First_deer#Post4543775

I will agree - that neck shots doesn't always work.
A local PGC game warden will tell you about how many times a year he is called to dispatch a deer - after deer season is over - who was shot in such a manner that it's lower jaw was broken and the deer could not eat and was slowly starving to death.

Add to that - that just hitting the windpipe isn't always going to kill a deer right then and there.
Unless the deer drowns in its own blood, the only thing that the neck shot is going to do is cause you more grief then what is solves - in finding a wounded deer.

It is also a matter of scale & numbers.

We are a group of dog handlers providing a voluntary service to a very large area and group of hunters.

A guess is about 1500 hunters have our phone numbers.

So that is a lot of hunting and activity - many times things go right, sometimes they don't.

Good thing is - they call...

Whatever I happen to have in the rifle. Makes no difference.

This year, I found the 235 gr .54 roundball works quite admirably and as well as anything at neck shots

I think shot placement is more important than bullet type when shooting deer in the neck. If you shoot them through the wind pipe they will run forever. Make sure you shoot them in the center of the neck and you will be fine.

A lot of it depends on the size of the deer--and the neck.

I have seen big mule deer and northern whitetails with a neck over 15" in diameter during the rut. The spine and blood vessels take up very little of that space. (I'm not even going to talk about the windpipe. They can go a LONG way when hit only there.)

It takes considerable knowledge and shooting skill to hit the vitals inside such a neck. And even then things can go wrong. I have seen a 150-grain .270 bullet hit the neck vertebrae on a big mule deer buck--and not break the bone. The buck fell and then got up again--and was shot again. During butchering I found the 1st bullet expanded and resting against the vertebrae, "perfectly" but widely expanded.

I will use a neck shot on such big deer, but only with no other alternative, and only if the deer is close enough to be absolutey sure of the shot--and is facing directly facing or away, so the spine can be centered with a deep-penetrating bullet.

I'm certain a Sierra GameKing, or a Nosler Ballistic Tip would do what you are looking for. And there isn't any reason that you wouldn't have either one in your gun for hunting deer, anyway.

I'm not big on neck shots however I have taken them. The ammo isn't the major consideration but how well you can place the shot under the conditions. My dad is a mighty fine shot but was fooled by a downhill angle magnified by failing light conditions. He blew the jaw off but thankfully a quick follow up shot finished the doe. I had a nice buck sneak up within ten feet of my blind before it came into view. All he gave me was his head and neck and was nearly looking in my blind. I dispatched him with a single shot in the neck placed in the white patch just under the chin with my .40 S&W Sig. Not the best choice but the only under the circumstances. OBVIOUSLY FROM YOUR PIC YOU ARE QUITE CAPABLE FROM THE SHOT PLACEMENT. I would say whatever bullet you are using is fine.

Neck shots are show stoppers for sure. I dont think the bullet matters much. I figure the ft lbs can also break the neck if the bullet fails to make contact. Never had one walk away.

Though, I did have one almost get to his feet once. Second shot anchored him on the spot. The first bullet deflected off the neck bone and took a curvy path into the chest. It was a 30-06 and 180 bullet. I didnt see that one coming.

Joseph

Just about anything will work for a neck shot. The last time I took a neck shot I was using my 300 win mag and the old style 165 gr. solid base nosler bullets. The nice muley buck went down in a hurry

If I were only shooting deer in the neck I would be using a NBT or Vmax in my .223.

ymmv

Brett (Mac)

Mule Deer, that is exactly what happened to me in 2009. Shot a Muley at 320yards right thru the neck with a 120gr Barnes TTSX and watched the deer rear up & drop dead (I thought) until I started approaching the deer 45 MINUTES LATER, the buck stood up and ran off.

Luckily, we were able to chase him down a draw and place the TTSX in his side to close the deal. After dressing him I noticed the TTSX penciled thru center of his neck like an arrow which left me wondering 'would a BT/VLD been better for a neck shot? I started this post partly due to the 2009 scenario vs my buck you see above using the VLD.

Yap, last couple yrs I have not been fortunate to have one stand broadside for me. Lol Guess that's another reason I love deer hunting, you never know what there going to do.

even a 250 grain 45cal hornady sst creeping along out of a smokepole works on the neck

I shoot them in the head/neck with whatever I'm toting at the time.
6.5x55 spitting 129g Hornies



7stw and 150 TTSX......this one was facing me, I'll spare you what her face looked like. Thats the exit

Substitute Red and Fallow deer, and the same is 100% true also. I helped a friend to try to track a reg stag he'd pulled a frontal neck shot on, and although there was a good blood trail at the start, with in a couple of hundred yards it had stopped and we never did find it.

That said, I still neck shoot a lot of my deer, especially Roe, and have never had a problem...I don't take side ways neck or head shots though, rather confine my self to front or rear...

Thats about how I view it now, based upon my experiences.

140 gr Nosler Partitions work fine out of my 7 x 57 on the few neck shot deer I have taken. On all of them I was very close well under 50 yards. I had an Uncle that it was the shot he liked the best. He hit them in the center of the white patch on the neck and down they go. He could shoot. I don't think he ever shot pass 50 yards. In his old age he do them in with a 22 hornet and he did in a lot of them, he was never with out fresh venison.

Neck-shot doe ... approximately 75yds away, .243AI, 85g TSX @ a MV of 3450 FPS. She dropped instantly. Have had the same results many times via fast moving TSX's in the 6mm 85g flavor and the 7mm 120g ...



Long story short ... load up with the bullet you NEED when things are not optimal ... and place it where it needs to go regardless of the situation and/or shot angle ... I don't know how to fly any better than that.

243 with a 87 V-Max or 85 Sierra HPBT.
308 with a 150 NBT.
7WSM with 140 NBT.

what ever im carring at the time, as stated neck shots dont take much. What ever im toting is usually spitting out a hornday sst of some weight it seems to do the job rather well, a little messy sometimes but i dont have to track them far Ron

Neck shots are never taken by a sportsman.

What do you know stupid!

never found any?

Posted also in General Big Game hunting under "Neck Shots".

This buck was shot in the neck on Friday night of the last weekend of Wisconsin's gun season in November. There was a full pass through with a slug from a shotgun. My neighbor, who shot this deer, said the shot was about 60 yards.



After losing the trail in the dark on Friday night, the shooter and his family tracked it most of Saturday morning until the tracks crossed into a neighboring farm. That family saw it come onto their property and set up a drive to move it to one of their shooters. The deer escaped and crossed onto my property late Saturday afternoon.

I dropped it at 1:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, a day and a half after the pass through neck shot from my neighbor. He showed no outward signs of being hit before my shot and was moving normally through a scrub brush/grassy area.

Ironically, I also shot it in the neck from 120 yards away with a rifled slug gun. I hit it with a Rem copper solid that hit the spine and ended up under the offside skin. After finding the extra holes in the neck and getting the rest of the story from my neighbors, I am now firmly in the no-neck-shot-for-me camp. I don't ever want to risk losing a deer like this again. If my neighbor had shot it through the chest instead of the neck, it would be hanging on his wall, not mine.

Here's a picture of the slug. Hitting the spine bent some of the petals flat to the body of the slug.



Fast Ed

Now that is quite the story! And one that is hard to poke holes in (pun intended)....

Right, a sportsman shoots 'em in the shoulders, because a sportsman just takes the hams and backstraps anyway......

True sportsman such as yourself like to shoot them in the ass from a golf cart.

Interesting... thats the only game king in an 06 I've ever seen fail to open and pencil through even after hitting a rib in and a rib out. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. Even had scar tissue in the lungs from the bullet pass through 3 weeks later....