Under ideal conditions what's your favorite shot to take? Neck/spine, Shoulder, Vitals, Other?

I prefer right behind the shoulder so I don't damage and meat. I don't eat the ribs so nothing is lost.

Perfectly broadside and tight behind the shoulder.

Kill shot....

Fixed it for you

This is for a rifle shot obviously.
For a bow, I do want to be tight behind the shoulder and a little low.

With a good rest inside of 100 yards or so, neck. In less than ideal conditions, shoulders.

Ground level, behind shoulder.



From up high, spine.

Perfectly broadside and through the lungs if I am meat hunting.

If I am close to property lines or just don't want to deal with one running, then I'll run the bullet through the shoulders.

Quartering away and aiming at the offside leg is probably my favorite for most conditions when possible.

If its not too far away and the animal is pretty still or barely moving, I like a neck shot. It puts 'em down for the count. No tracking or BS, it's over as soon as I let off the trigger. If it's moving, like walking slowly or much over 100 yards, behind the front leg in the ribs, in front of the guts, not in the guts. My .270 Win. with a 130 grain SGK at 3100 FPS puts 'em down for the count.

^^^^ This if I'm sitting in a stand or the rare time or 2 when I walk up on one unalarmed.

Stalking, I take what they will give me which usually ain't much.

Close....

What Battue said

Closer is always better.

I find rarely do I get a full broadside presentation. I truly suck at judging the angle of a deer so I take a shot where the bullet will either enter or exit through a shoulder. Some meat is lost but the kill is quick and if my judgement of angle is wrong as it so often is the bullet will still go through the thoracic cavity.

Before 2012 I usually shot low behind the shoulder. ( heart/lung)

Since 2012 because of property lines....
Hi Shoulder - just above the shoulder = spine.
Neck facing me or facing away works wonders.

I've shot a 'few' heads and that can get messy so I don't any longer.

Jerry

Jim Beam

I'm always meat hunting, head gear is gravy.

When I can, I try to send it through both lungs, taking off the top of the heart.

Jump shooting blacktails from their beds is fast and furious. I try to use a cartridge that will work no matter the angle. .284 with a 145 Speer btsp has never let me down on deer or bear. Very deadly load.

I shoot through the shoulders, they are dead right there.

Double shoulder punch thru, or straight on chest shot to exit hams, just busted a wide old spindly 6pt like that with a 150yr old Sharps rifle in 45-110 at 30 yards, the 514gr round nosed paper patch bullet exited ham next to his nut sack, BOOM! drop! didn't move.

Good to see nobody is using the Texas Heart Shot.

Double lunger. Just used to it because of bow hunting. If I'm using a gun and I don't want'em running, hit the shoulders. If they're walking towards me or quartering towards me, I like to put it right in front of the shoulder at the base if the neck. I killed three like that this year. This one I almost missed.

Inside of fifty yards if Bambi has no idea I am there quite often I will run a bullet through just underneath the skull. No mess no fuss and no chasing them down. Beyond that I like to watch for a quartering angle where the bullet will travel just over or maybe through the heart but not touch the shoulders. If it's a deer I want and it doesn't give me that quartering shot I like just behind the shoulders. With the crossbow, double lung behind the shoulder or if facing me straight on and does not know I am there, in just above the sternum and out near the umbilicus. I shoot exclusively for my table and will not waste meat, but for rare occasions when I have to put then down right now when I will use a high shoulder shot at somewhere past 200 yards.

Yes, as a lifelong bowhunter, the heart/lung right behind the shoulder. Low in the body for a good blood trail.

Yep

Agree

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS !^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Wow, I thought you had good taste Scott ?

Apparently, I have to re-evaluate !

Neck shot when it's presentable (not to often), otherwise as stated above right behind the shoulder broadside.

I'm just tossing this out... ever look at bone structure in the neck? How it goes from center to not center etc... necks it doesn't take much off to not hit CNS. Thats why I've never taken that shot. My mentor showed me that when I was very young. Then he compared how round the brain and stem is as a target its much more forgiving than the neck. The only thing, and that goes with the neck too, you have to figure out how to make sure they are not going to move and make something nice and clean, dirty and ugly.

I know how to do that with a head shot so that its head or nothing. No low jaw shots etc...

I still like head shots but I don't take em because it gives Tiger no trailing practice.

I"m good with anyone doing what they want but I often wonder if anatomy wise how many neck shooters realize there is a bigger target thats as quick a kill and doesn't tear up the neck meat either.

Bottom line we all do the way we want anyway.

Another "yep" here.

Slight quartering to, or away, trying to take out either the near or far side shoulder and the top of the heart.

Yep, that is where I love to put my shots as well!

Works for me.

Shoulders

This is my general idea, most places aren’t good for tracking and they don’t tote that shot off very well!!!

Lung

Shoulders.

With my 300 win mag I love a frontal shot. Most other calibers I prefer both shoulders. I do not like tracking or dragging. Ed k

Broadside, in the middle of the front half.

It depends on the range, which rifle I'm using, the deer's position, if they are moving and if they are a meat doe or a mountable buck. Since I process my own animal, a mid to high heck shot on a meat deer results in a very tidy carcass. I'm not ruining the cape on a mountable buck with a neck shot and those get a heart/lung shot. A crossbow doe taught me a valuable lesson a few years back when she came out at last light. She was quartering toward me, but I thought that she was a shorter coupled fawn of the year and I took a behind the near shoulder shot. What I got was a heck of a long tracking job, a nicked lung, liver and gut and a mess to clean.

Broadside tight behind the shoulder, or if quartering then through the offside shoulder. I don't mind a little tracking and want to save as much meat as possible. I've taken a few neck and frontal shots, but the margin for error is a little slim for my liking.

I like a broadside shot. I aim to break both shoulders when presented.

Brian---that's a nice buck. I'm a double lunger also. Bob

Good morning Bob. I also shot his little brother two weeks later. He was walking directly towards me and I shot him at less than 10 yards. Same shot, in front of the shoulder at the base of the neck. That way, if they're quartering towards you, you'll exit behind the opposite shoulder and not get the guts. This guy was dead in 15 seconds. I hit the first one too low and had to track him a couple of hundred yards. But dead is dead.

First available

Codybrown: That is all I ever try for on game - heart/lung shot - preferably broadside!
It kills rather quickly 6 - 7 seconds and the game animal bleeds almost entirely out thus enhancing the meats taste.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Under the conditions that you postulate, I prefer a high neck shot.

I have killed many, many deer this way. They go down where they are standing and there is no meat damage.

Bucks moving around trees and brush often don't stop to pose, when this is going on I try to put the vertical cross hair between their front legs from any angle. When they are considerate enough to pose I would like to shoot through the shoulder quartering toward me.

Well...you are a WI boy. Lol

Quartering away right behind the shoulder aiming right through vitals.

I ain't afraid of that frontal brisket shot or even frontal neck shot. That's a dead right there shot on the handful of times I've been presented. Otherwise tight to back of shoulder, broadside. Quartering will work too.

T R

You are right about the neck shot for sure.

2017 this guy was trailing one of two Does with his head down coming straight to me. I said "HEY!", he looked up.BANG



2017 this guy was walking straight away from me @ 175 yds. Back of the neck, no exit, BUG eyes.



2016 this guy was RUNNING a Doe straight over me... I YELLED hey, he stopped and dropped 24 or 27 steps away.



2016 She, well,,,




THEY WORK

Jerry

I like the base of the neck, front of the shoulder shot. If moving or I just need a bigger target, top of the shoulders. At my age, I try to balance out my "need for every ounce of meat" with the very real chance of having a heart attack while dragging or packing out! I try to drop them, keep them out of these deep holes (some call them canyons, etc...no! they are bottomless pit!) Or the "tricky" deception of Oakbrush ! Add knee deep snow....Wow! And I had the opportunity to hunt Freer, South Texas once. OMG, South Africa and Namibia were far easier to hunt! ha

If I can choose I like broadside, about a hand width behind the crease of the shoulder mass, and center of the chest.
No meat loss, and I have never had any animal get away or go far with a hit there.

About 2/3s of the time I don't get to choose.......... so I run a bullet through the middle of the chest and I use guns and bullets that will get through regardless of the angle of the body.

My favorite shot is a Buck chasing a doe nose to the ground grunting as he runs by. Ribs right behind the shoulder.

head

I prefer to pop both lungs if given the chance.

High shoulder shot is my first pick when given the opportunity. Never has failed to drop a deer dead in it's tracks for me.

As always,YMMV...

Old Weller 107

High shoulder shot for me. CNS shot but with a large margin of error for a ethical kill that a neck or head shot can’t claim.

Big fan of neck shots

Looking away back of the head with a 22-250 for filling freezer with does. If im trophy hunting its a broadside shoulder shot with the 25-06.

I like Jack Daniel shots sometimes!

Szihn, I'm with you. (previous page) I rarely get the chance to pick my shot so I hunt with rifles and bullets that will penetrate to and through the vitals regardless of the angle. I imagine a five inch ball in the middle of the chest, between the front legs and one third up, slightly back. Regardless of the angle the deer presents I just aim for the ball and a dead deer results.
But my favorite, if I can choose, is quartering towards me. Goes in just in front of the shoulder, angles through that pretend ball and exits the ribcage on the off side. Not much meat damage and hits both lungs and the top of the heart. This has always resulted in a deer down on the spot or within 25 - 30yards. If the animal is unspooked, I have a good rest, the distance is less than 150yards then a neck shot works well. If it's broadside, like on a magazine front cover, I like the back of the shoulder 1/3 up and a little more. My experience ranges from the .223 to 45/70 and 12 ga. slug guns and regardless of the caliber, a heart shot deer makes a death run from 10 to 100yards. It has been my observation that a deer shot just over the heart dies more quickly than a true "heart shot." Your experiences may be different but that is mine.

Depends on the terrain a bit. I hate to see a game animal run down a gully or draw. I’m in my 70’s and don’t care to drag animals a long ways or up steep hills.
Mostly I shoot behind the shoulders. But I’ll take a head or neck shot on a doe if not to far away. I’ve been known to shoot through the shoulders.

High neck.

this post for the WIN !

spiced RUM

I’m confident in being able to get a quickly lethal shot into the heart lung area of a deer from better than 270 degrees of angles - obviously avoid shooting from the back of a deer but depending on elevation it is still doable but not ideal if meat preservation is priority #1.

Head shots are never preferred because nothing on a deer moves as frequently, quickly and abruptly as it’s head.

On the whole interesting comments....

If things are happening quick, then get into the front third and let the bullet do its work.

With time, most often it is take what they give without giving them the opportunity to take it away. One jump, one tree, one unseen depression, one whatever and they may be gone.

[quote=strosfann]

A. - obviously avoid shooting from the back of a deer but depending on elevation it is still doable but not ideal

B. Head shots are never preferred because nothing on a deer moves as frequently, quickly and abruptly as it’s head.
------------------------------------------

A. I agree, NEVER took a Texas Heart shot, ain't going to.

BUT if a deer or Buck is straight away and head UP --> back of the neck shot works REAL GOOD.
I've done it a couple of Xs. This was the last time. 2017. Knocked his NOSE in the dirt, bugged his eyes.




B. Head shots are lethal -- most of the time ? ?

Sometimes they are very MESSY. I quit doing them.


Jerry

Not being critical..... I prefer more user friendly pix.

Jerry

When buck hunting I'll take any shot that's presented, even a Texas heart shot is a good shot as long as your shooting the proper bullet and caliber. When I'm doe hunting I like shooting them behind or just below the ear, and when their coming towards me I whistle and shoot them in the white spot. We don't eat anything besides the straps, tenderloins and hams. Most years we have to quit shooting does because we can't find anyone who wants them.

Favorite shot is thru the lungs. Nice big target, a deer with no lungs doesn’t go far and it’s well bled when you walk up to it.
Second favorite is Gibson’s Finest (straight up, thank you) by the campfire, complimented by a Cohiba Rubusto.

Same, I'd rather lose a little meat from the shoulders than possibly lose the whole deer. The shoulder shot usually drops them on the spot.

I always take a broad side lung shot if possible on an unwounded animal. I have only did the "Texas heart shot" on one moose that some one else had hit and only because it was running towards the thick spruce and I was lucky to hit it. I take great pride in never wounding and loosing a big game animal. Part of that is because I am willing to not shoot if it is not a good shot for me. Another reason is most of my critters in my mediocre 55 year hunting career have been well under 200 hundred yards at standing moose and caribou that are broad side and fairly stationary.

Nosler Partitions and Barnes X bullets at reasonable distances and good shot placement makes for great pictures after the trigger is pulled. I have done a few of the "raking" shots on moose, caribou and bears and the .338 Winny with either one of those bullets always dug deep. I have also done a few head shots on moose and caribou at under 100 yards when I had a good rest and knew I could pull it off.

I have also done a few neck shots. I know of more lost moose with attempted neck shots then any other. I'm talking moose falling down at the shot, the hunter relaxing and working thru the brush to get the animal and it jumps up and disappears before they could take another shot. My three neck shots broke the neck and the moose collapses.

Give me a standing broad side shot with a good rest under 100 yards and I am a happy hunter. Blowing a decent sized hole through both lungs kills every thing in Alaska very quickly. But, if light is fading, the critter is close to water or the thick stuff I may hit the shoulder to anchor it.

I prefer to bisect the aortic arch (top of the heart) regardless the angle. Usually results in a short run and I still get to eat the heart.

Outside of that, I like the cerebral cortex (skull/spine juncture) when culling or sparing meat.

If within 1-200 yards. HANDS DOWN HIGH SHOULDER. (Base of the nexk) its a light switch. Too many times my minds eye can see legs tucked up under the animal seemingly hovering in mid air only to come Slam-in down and roll Over.

If farther center of the lungs is my target.


CW

High shoulder. Usually drops them right there.

Jim Beam Devils Cut or Wild Turkey 101.

Through the shoulders unless it’s just a meat deer and then right behind the ear.

I hate behind the shoulder shots. Yes they work and yes you kill deer but I despise tracking deer.

+1 on through the shoulders

My favorite shot on the body is quartering away at enough of an angle that I can aim for ribs behind the foreleg and drive the bullet up through the legs to just inside the front of the opposite shoulder. They bleed all over hell, never go very far no matter what they are shot with, and little if any shoulder meat is damaged. The same shot reversed works the same, but I can't seem to miss the onside shoulder meat, and lose some meat. Other than those two, neck shots, neck shots, neck shots.

I prefer broadside, or quartering away shoulder. But I won't turn down a shot that I can comfortably get into the lungs with.

No rear end shots though. Just not my style.

I prefer markmanship skills over ruining meat. I like base of the skull, upper neck shot! Of course , I have to pass on many occasions!

Frontal kills in dead. Edk

Right behind the shoulder unless it is a big buck then I will sacrifice the shoulder.

Quartering facing towards me. Bust that onside shoulder knuckle, take out the goodies after.

Amen. That quartering towards you can really [bleep] up some [bleep].

Which is why I prefer to not have an angle that involves shoulder bones, if possible. YMMV.

Deer standing,
me resting on something, semi comfortably.
Clear opening between gun and whatever part I'm trying to hit.

Rarely ever happens that way.

Too much to ask for, but broadside or angled away ribs under 100 yards
is ice cream on the cake.

I try to envision where the heart is from most any angle and aim to that point. I don't recall a single Texas heart shot, though.

Close enough to the buck, that I can't miss.

I like to aim for the neck and shoulder.

I like to shoot for the top of the heart to take out the arteries/veins there and break a shoulder either on the way in or out...

The first year I ever got a deer in 2008 I was 57 years old.
With a 270 at 400 yards where was a button buck walking away.
I estimated Kentucky elevation and fired.
I look through the scope and his nose was shot off and he was staggering.
Then he went down.
How can a nose shot take down a deer?

I hit him 1" above the anus. It turned the spine bone fragments into gut shot shrapnel and then went out the nose.

His spine was shattered into fragments, yet he was still staggering?

I prefer not to track so broadside through both shoulders please

What he said.

Vodka and apple pucker 50/50