Neck shot or behind shoulder?

[Kimber1911_06238]

behind the shoulder. easier to hit and I like neck meat more than ribs

 

[JShirley]

I usually hit the shoulder.

I've used neck shots for finishing shots on deer who wouldn't believe they were really dead. In those cases, right underneath the jaw/ear from the side is instant lights out.

John

 

[eliphalet]

Behind the shoulder, usually I don't have the luxury of an animal not knowing I am there so quick well placed shots are what I normally use. What few elk and deer I have shot in the head or neck was when that was all I could see, did not go anywhere.

 

[stevereno1]

I always aim a lil high, and behind the shoulder

 

[Michael Courtney]

Center of the chest is my favorite shot. I will occasionally take a neck shot, but only when the chest is obstructed.

Michael Courtney

 

[Quigley]

Neck shot

Iowa is a shotgun/handgun state for deer, our hunting crew makes it a point when a standing shot on a nice fat doe arises to go for the cranium! It adds a bit of a challenge to the hunt and butchering is a breeze. The neck is a much bigger target and it's along way from the butt.

 

[scout26]

Boiler room, not much meat damage (Neck meat is good stew meat), and they don't get too far with a 12 gauge hole in a lung or two. Even less if I get the heart.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Right behind the shoulder. If I need a finisher I put a .22 lr. from my S&W 317 behind the ear.

 

[koja48]

I shoot a lot & can consistently place rounds where I want them to go, but I'll put one through the boiler room, first choice, every time.

 

[T.R.]

Dan'l Boone favored the neck shot with his flintlock Pennsylvania rifle shooting 44 caliber round balls. He killed hundreds of deer & bear for food and hides. Certainly more than me!

The chest is a bigger target with less chance for goofing the shot. That's why I favor the chest shot. I like to go with the best percentages for success.

TR

 

[stevereno1]

Once you've had a deer neck slow cooked like a pot roast with the carrots, onions, and taters, you'll never aim for the neck again!

 

[Borg]

You don't have to hit the spine on a neck shot!
I use a 223 Rem and have harvested more than 140 deer with neck shots over the years, and maybe half of those hit the spine. I can't call it "hydro-shock" but I will say that "liquid" moves out of the way of the bullet, and creates damaged areas around the wound and disrupts the central nervous system,, after all the neck is small, and any hit, with a fast bullet, will tend to drop the deer right there. I've never had one get up after being hit in the neck.
Oh, Hi Art, how's the border out there? Heard they need more fence material.
Ken S
ETA,, of course you have to be confident in you shooting ability,, or don't even try.

 

[Art Eatman]

Serious border problems are down in whitetail country, around Laredo and on downriver. Not much action upriver from Del Rio until you start getting near El Paso.

And, yeah, folks generally oughta take the shot where they're most comfortable about a good kill-hit.

 

[alsaqr]

Took a neck shot on a big doe in 06 at about 80 yards with my .50 muzzleloader: Bang flop. That was my first neck shot in decades. Took it because the body of the deer was obscured by bushes and she would not move.

Like to shoot them behind the shoulder or high above the shoulder.

 

[KMBRTAC45]

Original quote by: asknight
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.

I'm with asknight. I've been hunting for 22 years now and was taught by my step dad to shoot neck shots, and they have always been dead right there. The third deer I ever shot I hit a little low and the bullet hit BOTH main arteries and the esophagus and never went anywhere. When I walked up to the deer there was a great big puddle of blood on the ground.

 

[ezypikns]

A shot ANYWHERE in the spine should keep one from running off.

I once saw my Dad kill a running Mule Deer buck by breaking his back. A Mulie can't run very far dragging both hind legs. On the other hand, I'm not that great a marksman, so I'll aim for the lower chest. That way you'll either get the heart or lungs.
I have seen a deer run for a hundred yards when shot through both lungs though, but he was easy to trail.

 

[ZeroJunk]

I agree with Plummeroy on the head shot. I have seen deer with their bottom jaw shot off also. I'm sure the hunter thought he could make the shot, but he was wrong. A neck shot is a better target, but still not as reliable for the average marksman as the heart/lung area. The tendency, I suspect, is to overestimate your capabilities and underestimate the deer's ability to move quite suddenly.