buckman11
Member
Just wondering what everyone's opinion is about neck shots on whitetail with bow. I personally don't know if I could do it, with rifle, I'm all for it. But bow, I'm not to sure. What do you think? Pros, Cons? What's your opinion?
Neck Shots with Bow
- Thread starter buckman11
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I did it once, on purpose.
But the shot was only 19 yards.
The deer was already crouched and looking up at me through a hole in a pine tree.
Shooting 73# decent efficicency compound w release, proly around 270 FPS, I just put the pin on him and said "goodbye".
Never saw a deer run so hard.
Branches and stuff from the tree farm rows and CRP.......stuff was flying. His nose on the ground, his butt up, he ran like that for 50 yards and was done.
Gusher.
Following his departure path my Scentlok pants were soaked red (was wet from drizzle too- which mucked up my video camera, which I bumped drawing on him, which spooked him in the first place).
I have passed on other shots, waited them out and just plunked 'em through the chest.
Switched to recurve, so wouldn't take a neck shot. Heck I won't shoot on spooked deer with such slow gear, and limit my range to 25 yards max (even though I can shoot well past that).
But the shot was only 19 yards.
The deer was already crouched and looking up at me through a hole in a pine tree.
Shooting 73# decent efficicency compound w release, proly around 270 FPS, I just put the pin on him and said "goodbye".
Never saw a deer run so hard.
Branches and stuff from the tree farm rows and CRP.......stuff was flying. His nose on the ground, his butt up, he ran like that for 50 yards and was done.
Gusher.
Following his departure path my Scentlok pants were soaked red (was wet from drizzle too- which mucked up my video camera, which I bumped drawing on him, which spooked him in the first place).
I have passed on other shots, waited them out and just plunked 'em through the chest.
Switched to recurve, so wouldn't take a neck shot. Heck I won't shoot on spooked deer with such slow gear, and limit my range to 25 yards max (even though I can shoot well past that).
With the bow...never.
I have a buddy who took a neck shot on a deer with his .30-06 once. It was a poor shot and he hit it in the throat. The deer ran off. About an hour later I was walking over to find him (not knowing anything about the shot) and I called out to him when I heard him coughing in the woods just off a trail. It wasn't him...it was the deer he had shot in the throat...coughing and gagging and dying a slow painful death.
With regard to rifle hunting I've heard lots of people say they take a neck shot "because it's either dead or a clean miss"...and nothing could be more incorrect. I've taken neck shots that are within my limits with the rifle...and it's very deadly when done correctly.
With the bow I'd never even think about it.
I have a buddy who took a neck shot on a deer with his .30-06 once. It was a poor shot and he hit it in the throat. The deer ran off. About an hour later I was walking over to find him (not knowing anything about the shot) and I called out to him when I heard him coughing in the woods just off a trail. It wasn't him...it was the deer he had shot in the throat...coughing and gagging and dying a slow painful death.
With regard to rifle hunting I've heard lots of people say they take a neck shot "because it's either dead or a clean miss"...and nothing could be more incorrect. I've taken neck shots that are within my limits with the rifle...and it's very deadly when done correctly.
With the bow I'd never even think about it.
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Bowhunter57
Member
A bow kills by way of hemorrhage...bleeding. Therefore, the use of broadheads with razor sharp blades.
Taking a high risk shot, that does not induce bleeding, CAN lead to a wounded animal...instead of a dead animal. Obviously, it's possible, BUT once the arrow is released, it CAN NOT be recalled.
A bilateral pneumothorax (pass through on both lungs) will kill a deer in less than 2 minutes...a medical fact. The lungs are a much larger target than the neck/spine, heart, femoral artery, etc.
Shot placement is everything.
Bowhunter57
Taking a high risk shot, that does not induce bleeding, CAN lead to a wounded animal...instead of a dead animal. Obviously, it's possible, BUT once the arrow is released, it CAN NOT be recalled.
A bilateral pneumothorax (pass through on both lungs) will kill a deer in less than 2 minutes...a medical fact. The lungs are a much larger target than the neck/spine, heart, femoral artery, etc.
Shot placement is everything.
Bowhunter57
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Don't even try it!!
A deers spine in his neck most likely isn't where you think it is from most angles anyway.
Until you have dressed out and cut up a few, you will have no idea where to even try it.
rc
A deers spine in his neck most likely isn't where you think it is from most angles anyway.
Until you have dressed out and cut up a few, you will have no idea where to even try it.
rc
illinoisburt
Member
Been bowhunting for the past 30 years. Can tell you for certain the best and really only safe archery shots are lower center chest. Anything else is iffy on whether you get a dead deer or one running around with an arrow stuck in it. Neck shots that work are impressive but very low percentage shot with an arrow. Suggest you get in a bowhunter ed class. I went to one with Ben Bishop many years ago. Even though I had been successful beforehand, it was really an eye opener to see what I was overlooking or doing wrong. You can get a good amount of info from the free online portion of their classes (it's required in some states for non resident hunters, too). Check out their website http://www.bowhunter-ed.com/
buckman11
Member
Yall are just reassuring what I suspected. I never thought it was a good idea, but that was just my opinion. Good to know what everyone else thinks.
Patocazador
Member
I've only done it twice. I shot a 6 pt in velvet in the side of the neck as he was moving broadside at 38 yards (I said he was in VELVET!) but I was leading him thinking it would be a chest shot. So this was just a case of leading too much. He dropped like a stone.
The only time I did it on purpose was a doe angling towards me at 13 yards. I hit her in the neck-shoulder crease and she dropped.
The only time I did it on purpose was a doe angling towards me at 13 yards. I hit her in the neck-shoulder crease and she dropped.
Grumulkin
Member
My only deer taken with a bow was done with a crossbow and a neck shot. The deer lay down after being hit but didn't die. I waited awhile but became inpatient and decided to put another arrow in it. The deer took off at my approach. I chased it down and finished it off with a knife.
Bow hunting is not my hunting method of choice.
Bow hunting is not my hunting method of choice.
243winxb
Member
Neck shot, bad idea, arrow or rifle. May be ok with OO buck shot at close range, 25 yds or less??
Shot a doe last year from a ladder stand with my crossbow. I had the perfect shot lined up at about 12 yards and she moved just as I pulled the trigger.
The arrow hit her in the jugular vain instead of just behind the left shoulder.
The arrow passed all the way through and out the other side under the right leg.
There was a trail of blood a blind person could have followed. She went 30 yards and fell over. It was a lucky shot. Sometimes we get lucky.
I have shot a number of deer in the neck during the gun/deer season. That was the shot I was given and was comfortable making the shot. Not one of the neck shot deer took another step.
The arrow hit her in the jugular vain instead of just behind the left shoulder.
The arrow passed all the way through and out the other side under the right leg.
There was a trail of blood a blind person could have followed. She went 30 yards and fell over. It was a lucky shot. Sometimes we get lucky.
I have shot a number of deer in the neck during the gun/deer season. That was the shot I was given and was comfortable making the shot. Not one of the neck shot deer took another step.
Kingcreek
Member
I did it once, sorta.
Deer walked underneath my treestand and was standing almost directly underneath me facing straight away. Aimed between the shoulder blades but hit a little high. Smashed the spine at the base of the neck and drove the shaft down thru the brisket. Deer dropped right there of course.
I would never try it on a broadside presentation.
Deer walked underneath my treestand and was standing almost directly underneath me facing straight away. Aimed between the shoulder blades but hit a little high. Smashed the spine at the base of the neck and drove the shaft down thru the brisket. Deer dropped right there of course.
I would never try it on a broadside presentation.
nmlongbow
Member
I shot an elk in the neck several years at 20 yards with my recurve. It was an accident, not sure if she moved or I pulled the shot. She ran hard for about 80 yards then fell over dead. No blood until the last 15 yards then there was a ton. Of course it was a pass through with a 4 blade head but I thought I had missed since I saw the arrow fly past her 30 yards into the trees. I definitely wouldn't try that shot again but it worked very well 1 time.
entropy
Member
+1. Bow or rifle, I always aim for the aorta.A bow kills by way of hemorrhage...bleeding. Therefore, the use of broadheads with razor sharp blades.
Taking a high risk shot, that does not induce bleeding, CAN lead to a wounded animal...instead of a dead animal. Obviously, it's possible, BUT once the arrow is released, it CAN NOT be recalled.
A bilateral pneumothorax (pass through on both lungs) will kill a deer in less than 2 minutes...a medical fact. The lungs are a much larger target than the neck/spine, heart, femoral artery, etc.
Shot placement is everything.
Bowhunter57
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,341
Not a deer but I caped a rag horn 5X5 elk one year that had a big "growth" on his neck. After I got the skin off I went exploring into the growth which turned out to be a two bladed broad head that was stuck in a vertebrae and scared over. While a modern bow with a good broad head will most definitely break a spine if things go right I sure as heck wouldn't purposely try for anything other than a double lung shot with a bow.
Captcurt
Member
No thanks on the neck shot. I won't even take one with a rifle. As for the double lung hit, yes, it will put a deer down in less than 2 minutes. However, if my math is correct, that deer could cover over a half of a mile in that 2 minutes. When I ran track I could cover a 440 in less than 1 minute and a deer is a lot faster.A bow kills by way of hemorrhage...bleeding. Therefore, the use of broadheads with razor sharp blades.
Taking a high risk shot, that does not induce bleeding, CAN lead to a wounded animal...instead of a dead animal. Obviously, it's possible, BUT once the arrow is released, it CAN NOT be recalled.
A bilateral pneumothorax (pass through on both lungs) will kill a deer in less than 2 minutes...a medical fact. The lungs are a much larger target than the neck/spine, heart, femoral artery, etc.
Shot placement is everything.
Bowhunter57
alsaqr
Member
i often hunt on Ft. Sill, OK. Made one neck shot with a crossbow several years ago. Will never do another one. i was on the ground, the grass was tall and i could not get a clear lung shot. Decided to shoot the buck in the neck. Wrong answer!!! The deer went a few yards, stood with the bolt sticking out both sides of the neck and then took off.
Trailed that deer for about 300 yards. While tracking i heard a vehicle stop on the road and leave a few minutes later. There was blood on the side of the road and a big pool of blood in the road.
Few days later i met a hunter i knew driving down the same road. The drill sergeant told me he had found a deer lying dead in the road with a "short arrow" in it's neck. Told him the "short arrow" had green and yellow fletching. His response: "How do you know that"?
"You stole my deer".
Trailed that deer for about 300 yards. While tracking i heard a vehicle stop on the road and leave a few minutes later. There was blood on the side of the road and a big pool of blood in the road.
Few days later i met a hunter i knew driving down the same road. The drill sergeant told me he had found a deer lying dead in the road with a "short arrow" in it's neck. Told him the "short arrow" had green and yellow fletching. His response: "How do you know that"?
"You stole my deer".
BudgetBucks1
Member
I definitely would not try it with a bow but I can't understand why people on here are saying that they are against shooting one in the neck with a rifle. The two fastest, most ethical kills that I have seen while hunting were neck shots. My cousin shot one at 10 yards with a .44 mag and I shot one at 30 yards with a 30.06. Both were dead instantly and there was absolutely less suffering than a double lung shot that is so popular. That being said, I usually take boiler room shots with any weapon but if one is close enough and standing still I will take a neck shot with a rifle any day. The shock of the bullet shuts everything down and the deer doesn't even do as much as blink.
Hunters are capable of making a poor shot no matter what part of the deer they are aiming for. That being said the question was about bows and there is definitely no hydrostatic shock from a bow. Heart and/or lungs is the only shot with a bow.
Hunters are capable of making a poor shot no matter what part of the deer they are aiming for. That being said the question was about bows and there is definitely no hydrostatic shock from a bow. Heart and/or lungs is the only shot with a bow.
Dr. Sandman
Member
I am a bowhunter, I have got one with my bow every year since I started hunting deer. There have been good shots and lousey shots. I have had 2 deer that I shot and did not recover (one, of course, was a massive buck!). Heart and lungs is the place to aim. I have always wondered about a head shot. I think that there is a good chance of kill or miss with that approach. I would be tempted if I could not see the rest of the deer and time was running out for some reason. It sounds like a bad idea. Has anyone ever headshot a deer with a bow?
Sav .250
Member
You need confidence . Especially when you want to take a neck shot.
I`m guessing here but I`d say your not ready for that "specific " shot.
I`m guessing here but I`d say your not ready for that "specific " shot.
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