Close up Deer and Shot Placement

[Waftrudnir]

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.

awesome post!
this is so typical...
I tend to hit what I aim for (always and that's a fact), simply because I pass more often than I shoot.
I don't hunt in booze camps and if some weekend warrior gets upset why I've not taken a shot, he better don't tell it to my face. Otherwise he'll learn what a good hit to the head is...

[Waftrudnir]

regarding loosing deer that are well shot (which I find very doubtful) is to have a capable dog. end of story.

[Fox]

regarding loosing deer that are well shot (which I find very doubtful) is to have a capable dog. end of story.

To this post, almost any dog is better than a human at tracking, the number of deer that labs find, poodles, really anything is better than nothing when you lose the trail.

I still find it insane that it was illegal for so long to use a dog for tracking during a bow hunt, just put the bow away and take the dog out.

[werner.reiche]

If you have the skills to hit a spot 2" behind the shoulder you have the skills to hit a spot 2" below the base of the head...it's nothing to do with 'experts'...it's just another option for guys who have confidence in their shooting abilities/skills.

Not quite Mike. A deer can move it's neck/head in the blink of an eye. Not so easily with the boiler room.

[MikePal]

Not quite Mike. A deer can move it's neck/head in the blink of an eye. Not so easily with the boiler room.

All in the timing of your shot, if the deer is relaxed, they don't move when the shot is fired...especially at less than 50 yrds.

Anyone who has watched deer, knows when they are going to move. I usually take a handful of apples out to keep them occupied and get them to relax.

In fact 'movement' is usually quite the opposite with a deer instincts....if you grunt for example just prior to shooting what does a deer do...it freezes and stares at you....lots of time for a well placed shot.

[sickofitall]

My preferred shot is in the boiler, but that base of the head/top of neck shot is a sweetheart of a shot if you are good enough to confidently do it. Instant drop, bleeds out and little to no meat spoilage. Most of my shots are 100-200 yds so I take the boiler shot (open agriculture fields) but I have taken that neck shot a couple times and it's great, but only if you can do it, if you can't shoot MOA at minimum and preferably sub MOA, don't do it. I personally hate the head shot, but that's my opinion, I could do it but never have.

[kingt]

Love to see all the great shooters out there hit the neck of a deer with a collie dog on it

[annuvin]

Every deer I have ever taken was hit in the bread basket behind the front shoulder and I have never had one make it further then 20 yards after being hit. It is the largest target and deals the most amount of damage. Shooting the neck just wastes an awful lot of meat, IMHO.

[werner.reiche]

Boiler room. If you're an expert shot and nothing goes wrong, you'll leave a neat hole low in the rib meat - next to no loss. If you're not an expert shot, or something goes wrong - well, you'll have wanted to been aiming at the biggest target with the greatest margin of error.

[Greenhorn]

This is my 50 year of hunting big game and believe me I have killed more deer and bear,than you can imagine.As a young Hunter I was cockey and was on the military shooting team,so I can shoot. It was probably my 10 or so deer. As I squeezed the shot the buck head went up a bit and I took out the wind pipe and he went down. Waiting for the heavy breathing to stop,he jumped up as nothing was wrong than I spined him for a quick kill. I'm still able to hit a dime at 30 yards( distance to the bear bait) but always take the lung shot now. The videos of my last two bear kills are on here. None of the animals I kill go far. Know where to shoot for any possible angle.
Iike mike said, he uses a grunt call to distract the buck,smart. I always used a doe bleat when using my bow.