Originally Posted by
Fox
Nothing to worry about then, you are good to go.
When I was 16 I had a monster buck some out, I was shaking like a leaf. Just because I could put 5 shots within an inch at 100 yards did not mean I would have been able to take this deer in the head or neck. I waited for a boiler room opportunity and it never came, I watched the 12+ point buck walk up the hill without an ethical (in my mind) shot to take on the animal due to my personal beliefs and my abilities. I was dumb enough to tell the guys at the camp about the experience I had and how cool it was to see a deer like this at 50 yards for such a long time and just take it all in. All I got from the head of the camp was "Why did you not shoot it in the head? You can hit a pop can why not just shoot it in the head?". This is one of the many reason I left that camp, no need for that type of BS and no need for something like that with someone wanting to get into the sport of hunting. The interesting part is that about 4 years later a guy with a semi shot 9 shots at a yearling, he hit the guts and 3 of the 4 legs. The guy who had yelled at me for not shooting the deer in the head then went up and shot this yearling in the head at 5 yards and took off the bottom jaw, only to have the deer look up at him, he then had to shoot it twice in the neck to finish off the deer.
This was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen while hunting, this was absolutely horrible for the animal and made me want to quit right there, these two "seasoned" hunters shooting at a running deer too far away to make a kill shot, not taking enough time to make a good shot and not even being concerned at what they did to a living creature. This is why I like a boiler room shot, I feel that it gives me room for the animal to move, if the bullet hits a branch and deflects a bit it will not change the outcome and I will never see a deer or hear a deer like I did that day.
It is all about personal ethics, nobody from this forum will be out there beside you when you hunt, you will know at the time what is a good shot and if and where you should take that shot. You have nobody to look to by making the decision than yourself and I hope that you take the animal down quickly with as minimal pain as possible, no matter where it is shot.
I wish I have had the hunting opportunities that the rest of the more experienced hunters here have had and would be able to have a larger pool to pull from but I am going with what I know from my experiences. I have hunted deer for 16 years, I have issues with attention and staying still, hence why I only have 5 deer under my belt in that time. 2 have been shot with a crossbow, both boiler room, 1 at 15 yards, 1 at 43 yards. I shot the other 3 with the 12ga, 1 at 15 yards with challanger slugs, 1 at 60 yards with a hornady sabot slug and 1 at about 10 feet with buckshot, all shots to the lungs and none went more than 100 yards, the buckshot one never moved.
