Neck shot or behind shoulder?

[loneguitar]

I am fairly new to deer hunting, been doing it about 2 yrs with good success. I got into a discussion with a friend of mine about shot placement on deer. I have always gone for a shot right behind the shoulder, going for both lungs. He says he has always had more luck with a neck shot. said they usually drop right there on the spot. Do any of you have a preference? Are neck shots a better than behind the shoulder? Or does it even matter.

 

[ArmedBear]

A neck shot might drop them on the spot, but the spine is a smaller target.

Here, we usually hunt on foot in semi-wooded to open country, mostly steep and mountainous, not from tree stands. I wouldn't trust a shot at a tiny target in these conditions.

However, I suppose if you are shooting at standing deer 25 yards away with a scope and a rested gun, you could make head shots if you wanted to. Depends...

 

[rbaker772]

This last season I took 1 buck and three does. All of them I took at over 100 yrds. I always go for a neck shot and they have always droped right their. But I also do a lot of target shooting. If you feel good about your shooting then I would say go for the neck. Just my .02.

 

[ArmedBear]

I can put rounds in about a 6" circle at 100 yards, standing offhand without any shooting aids, on flat, level ground, when relatively calm. I'd take a lung shot in field conditions, not a neck shot, and allow for some margin of error, if I were just going to stand and fire.

Add a rest, sling, or whatever, I can do better, sometimes a lot better, depending on the whole situation. Maybe I'd try for the neck if I wasn't in a big hurry.

Put me on a steep slope covered with slipping granite chunks though, I'd be much less confident in my groups.

It really all depends.

Go out in the field and try it. Like rbaker says, that's how you know what you can do with confidence.

 

[ACP230]

I don't favor the neck shot.
Many of the deer I've shot have been shot right behind the shoulder.
Most have dropped on the spot.

 

[Art Eatman]

Just because I prefer the neck shot doesn't mean I focus on that. It depends on the distance, the conditions, which way the deer is facing, and whether or not he's moving. And whether or not I have a rest.

Regardless, I always try to hold my aim on a specific point on a deer, not just "somewhere in the brown". Broadside, right behind the foreleg and about four to six inches up from the belly line gets the heart/lungs without hurting meat.

If the buck is facing me and posing prettily, hey, that white spot is an excellent aiming point!

Art

 

[critter]

I am here to tell you that a deer can move their head/neck VERY, VERY QUICKLY and cause a miss or a wound that does not break the neck. The heart/lung area is, not only larger, but MUCH slower for them to get in motion.

Neither shot wastes much meat and both are deadly. They MAY go a little ways with a GOOD heart/lung shot, but it won't be too far AND you will, almost assuredly, have a good blood trail.

 

[rcmodel]

A deers spine isn't exactly where you think it should be inside the neck.

Until you have cut up a few, and know exactly where it is, it's a very easy shot to miss. And if you miss breaking the spine, you haven't hit a vital area at all.

A heart/lung shot never fails, and is pretty easy to figure out where to hold to make it!


rcmodel

 

[R.W.Dale]

I shoot the shoulder! That way I usually get both lungs AND without front undercarrage they don't get to head for the horizon in a death run

 

[Reyn]

Ive always shot behind the shoulder. Havent had any go more than 50yds. I would be afraid i would miss a neck shot.

Neck shot might mess up a mount though.

 

[retrieverman]

I have killed 9 deer this season. I shot 2 in the neck and 7 in the heart/lung, and all died within sight of where I was shooting from. The only difference in the neck shot deer is that they never knew what hit them. Bang! Drop!

I don't advocate neck shots, but if you can do it, take it.

 

[Reyn]

Where in the neck? Close to the head,shoulder or just anywhere along the neck?

 

[Art Eatman]

I generally have shot at about the halfway point along the neck. The spine is roughly 1/3 of the way down from the top. A hit from a .243 or '06 that's within an inch of the spine, above or below, will definitely put an end to Bambi's day. You thus have about a 3" kill zone for a neck shot from the side.

 

[FLORIDA KEVIN]

i would only take the neck shot if it was presented from the front with the deers head down and me hopefully shooting down from a tree stand ! If I miss the spine i will still have the heart lung area behind it ! I dont doubt that it works if the spine is hit ! buti t would be too easy to miss the spine and lose a deer with his throat torn open ! maimed but not killed !

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I've made neck, shoulder, heart, head, **** and head shots. Deer droped like a rock with neck, head and shoulder. Heart - had to do some tracking as well as the **** shot. I took my youngest son muzzleloading hunting. I watched him shoot a 6 point broadside at about 60 yds. We heard the roundball hit, but couldn't fina any blood. We look for that deer for over an hour. Never found a drop of blood. Finally found the deer on the way out of the woods. No eveidence of a bullet hole anywhere so I lifted up his tail. BLOOD. I know the deer was broadside when the hammer fell, but sometime after that the deer did a 180 and the roundball hit him squarely in his rectum. I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it with own two eyes. I nicked a bucks spine one afternoon. My scope was bad (old weaver). It was a very easy shot, but he ran off like he wasn't hit. Several weeks later I met a hunter who had a rack that looked a lot like the one I "missed". I asked him if the deer had any other wounds. He said there was a nick on his backbone. I guess that's where my bullet hit.

 

[Sunray]

"...Are neck shots a better than behind the shoulder?..." Not if you can't hit the neck every time. The neck is a much smaller target that tends to move more.
Practice, off hand with the ammo you intend using, at 100 yards at a 9" pie plate. When you can hit it every time, you're ready to hunt and make any shot.

 

[justice4all]

I believe in aiming for center of mass, in the vital organs area. I would only take a neck shot if that was the only shot presented.

 

[Lambo119]

As a bow hunter I automatically go for the double lung. You have some room for error due to the larger target area than the neck.

 

[Grizfire]

I neck shot a buck only one time, and this was only because it was standing facing me head on, and I didn't want to send a round completely through the body (through chest, guts and a$$). My uncle used to be a neck shot guy, until he missed the spine and we had to track it for 3 miles before it finally bled out.

Neck shot? only if you have to, otherwise go for the lung, IMO.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The lung shot is safest. For big critters (like elk) in rough terrain or dangerous critters, you might want to shade it a bit forward and break the shoulder as well.

 

[Zeke/PA]

I have taken a number of deer with neck shots which is the shot that I prefer.
Ideally the shot is taken while I'm sitting, back against a tree, rifle rested on drawn up knees, animal undisturbed.
Range of shots limited to just over 100 yards which is about tops for the big woods shooting here in Pa.
Zeke

 

[S&Wfan]

All these areas are effective with the proper shot placement.

Most deer I take are focused on back of shoulder and/or heart/lung areas. Sometimes through both shoulders. It depends on the foliage, position of the deer and how it is, or isn't, moving, and what part of the deer presents itself for the best shot. I hunt deep Georgia woods and sometimes you've got to sqeeze that bullet into a tiny open area in the foliage.

I've taken an occasional neck shot . . . but only when the deer was standing still and showing no signs of bolting . . . and only when that shot was the only one I had. In each case, the deer dropped straight down as if someone switched of a light.

I've also deliberately shot one deer directly between the eyes. It was only 15 yds. away and he'd busted me. Needless to say, he never knew what hit him (it was actually a .270 round).

I dropped a doe once, late in the season when I needed meat. The distance was 22 yards and I put the round directly behind the ear. Another case when the legs flailed out and it couldn't seem to hit the ground fast enough.

I enjoy those rare times when I can reach out over 100 yards, but these times don't come too often where I hunt. On these occasions I look for a standing, broadside shot and aim for the heart/lung/shoulder area. Always effective too.

Over time one learns all the areas possible for an effective, humane kill. I always pray that I be able to shoot in a way that will bring a fast, humane kill, and if I'm unsure about the shot I let the deer walk.

T.

 

[plumberroy]

I am here to tell you that a deer can move their head/neck VERY, VERY QUICKLY and cause a miss or a wound that does not break the neck. The heart/lung area is, not only larger, but MUCH slower for them to get in motion

Personal story on why not to shoot for the neck
I grew up in W.V I am the last of the "I walked 5 miles to school uphill both ways group" mid 70's I was in middle school it was 2.5 miles from were I got off the bus to my home. We had to have a 4 wheel drive to get there, we also had a station wagon that was left at the mouth of the hollow in the church parking lot At 12 or 13 I had the keys to it to start it and stay warm if the bus was late in bad weather since my younger sibling in grade school got home 45 minutes earlier than me I would take my 410 [times were different then] and hunt home.well It was not unusual for our dogs to meet me on the way home [they liked to hunt to] one day about 10 days after deer season the beagle took after something yes they would run a deer a some they run about 100 yards and all hell broke lose they were baying and what ever it was.It was big and fighting back! so I dug out my box of 5 slugs loaded a slug and went to see. when Igot there the first thing I see is a big rack [10 point] the deer should have weighed 225 or so but was only 150 lbs. once I got closer .by this time he was out of juice I could see HE HAD NO BOTTOM JAW it was shot clean off he was sick and could no run any farther so he tried to fight A 410 slug ended his misery . I got Dad, He got the Game warden I was given the antlers that is why I won't shoot for the neck
Roy

 

[rlt7272]

I too have made neck shots but I would much rather have a clean side on chest shot anyday. I am not going to pass on a neck or head shot if that is all I had. This year my dad passed on a head shot thinking the buck would continue on his path and step out for a body shot. Guess what, big horny outsmarted him and changed directions. No shot and that was the last dear that he saw (alive) the rest of the season.

If you have confidence in your gun and shooting ablility (which you should or you should stay home) then take the shot that you are given.

 

[asknight]

Until you have cut up a few, and know exactly where it is, it's a very easy shot to miss. And if you miss breaking the spine, you haven't hit a vital area at all.

Hydrostatic shock of a supersonic bullet is nothing to dismiss. The blood/oxygen flow to the brain is disrupted via arterial explosion, if the spine is missed. The air passages to the lungs are ruined, even if the spine if missed.

The neck is the bottleneck of all networks controlling the vitals. Windpipe, main artery, and spine are all great targets within the neck. Miss one by an inch and you get another...

Ya see, the way it was explained and demonstrated to me (and has worked for me multiple times) is that even if you don't break the spinal cord in the neck, the shock to the spine by the supersonic expanding bullet will put it down long enough for the secondary effect to kill the animal (20 seconds or so). That being the disruption of blood and oxygen to the brain via the artery in the neck.

The only rule to follow is that if you can't hit a 3" target at the range in which the deer is you're trying to shoot.... don't try for the neck or you will only disappoint yourself.