Are Neck Shots Preferred Than Broadside Shot To Prevent The Damage Of The Meat?

[R.M.C.]

I hunted bears in Maine three times and every time , someone wounded a bear attempting a head shot. One guy shot and killed a bear with a bow and it had clearly been shot the year before through both cheeks, taking out molars on both sides. You can definitely fuck up a head shot. All those shots in Maine were probably 30 yards max

 

[CoElkHunter]

I took three shots this past hunting season. Got 2 Whitetail and 1 moose. No wasted meat, no suffering, and no tracking. Headshots!
BUT now I'm reading all these horror stories of poor animals with no jaw, and I hate the thought of that. But at the same time, I know another hunter that also took three shots this season. All shoulder/rib shots. They have tag soup. To me that equates to three deer likely suffering a slow painful death.
It seems so strange that my experience with headshots is so positive, and that I'm reading all these negative comments.
So now my question is how many can share stories of animals lost with body shots?

The neck shot was my preference for quite some time on whitetail deer.
always used a .375 H&H and had great success.
One evening a number of years ago, had some does and fawns cross over on to my property just before the season ended for the day. Light was fading, but I was comfortable taking a neck shot at a doe at 50 yards or so.
she dropped at the shot as normal. I got down from my stand and to my amazement she got up and ran. I had missed the spine but she was bleeding buckets. No way she could go far bleeding like that, right?
Well, with darkness coming and her obviously bleeding like a geyser, I followed without giving her time to bleed out. Got her up at least twice where she was bleeding out and would have succumbed at either location without me looking for her. All mistakes by me. Have not taken a neck shot since.
I did head shoot a doe in my youth with a 7mm Rem mag. I brained her, so no loss of meat.
Now with a bow or rifle, I strive for behind the shoulder entrance and ahead of the diaphragm exits. I generally see them drop in my sight.

Black bear camp in Montana in the late 80’s, we were all told not to shoulder shoot bears. I assured them I would not if they didn’t want me to. Also told them I thought my 375 with 300 grain Noslers would do just fine and they agreed. The gentleman who tried it with a 270 Weatherby in camp, went home disappointed. I double lunged mine. He just rolled over dead.

20 plus years ago, I took an older friend “Max”, who has long since past, mule deer hunting in Montana. I had filled my tag and was helping him fill his.
We came across a nice buck in a coolie. He was left handed and favored semi auto rifles. He took an off hand shot at about 100 yards or so. Max shot everything off hand. First shot that buck went down. The guide was congratulating Max on a great shot. I had seen the right antler come off,at the shot. I told Max to belt him again or he was going to wake back up.
Good times……

In Africa, I plan on busting some shoulders…..

.375 H and H on whitetails? Elmer Keith and now you are my heros! Ha! Ha! Ha! Nice bear by the way!

 

[C.W. Richter]

Never tried buckshot. A #150 pound animal here would be a brute. I look in awe at some of those Columbia Blacktail they get in the Pacific Northwest.

Are you in CA? A young gunsmith that works for Griffin & Howe hailed from there and he said they were abundant and in his yard every single day! I've seen nice ones taken by others up the entire US coast from S. to N. (and even Sitka blacktails with BIG racks.) Like anywhere else, 'must be patient and wait him out!....

 

[C.W. Richter]

The neck shot was my preference for quite some time on whitetail deer.
always used a .375 H&H and had great success.
One evening a number of years ago, had some does and fawns cross over on to my property just before the season ended for the day. Light was fading, but I was comfortable taking a neck shot at a doe at 50 yards or so.
she dropped at the shot as normal. I got down from my stand and to my amazement she got up and ran. I had missed the spine but she was bleeding buckets. No way she could go far bleeding like that, right?
Well, with darkness coming and her obviously bleeding like a geyser, I followed without giving her time to bleed out. Got her up at least twice where she was bleeding out and would have succumbed at either location without me looking for her. All mistakes by me. Have not taken a neck shot since.
I did head shoot a doe in my youth with a 7mm Rem mag. I brained her, so no loss of meat.
Now with a bow or rifle, I strive for behind the shoulder entrance and ahead of the diaphragm exits. I generally see them drop in my sight.

Black bear camp in Montana in the late 80’s, we were all told not to shoulder shoot bears. I assured them I would not if they didn’t want me to. Also told them I thought my 375 with 300 grain Noslers would do just fine and they agreed. The gentleman who tried it with a 270 Weatherby in camp, went home disappointed. I double lunged mine. He just rolled over dead.

20 plus years ago, I took an older friend “Max”, who has long since past, mule deer hunting in Montana. I had filled my tag and was helping him fill his.
We came across a nice buck in a coolie. He was left handed and favored semi auto rifles. He took an off hand shot at about 100 yards or so. Max shot everything off hand. First shot that buck went down. The guide was congratulating Max on a great shot. I had seen the right antler come off,at the shot. I told Max to belt him again or he was going to wake back up.
Good times……

In Africa, I plan on busting some shoulders…..

May we see a photo of your truck and hands?? .375 (HH) on deer is a bit extreme, but if it's all you've got...A .22 Mag will cleanly take a deer in the right hands.

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Same. Had wonderful experiences hunting WY for elk, mule deer, antelope (watching HUGE whitetails whilst deciding whether to use the "deer" tag on It or the muley!) LOL Read and follow the instructions. (the reason Biden voters exist, as clearly, they only watch TV and receive benefits on U$!)

'true story: as a PA-boy, i couldn't decide between the big muleys and the whitetails, so i split the difference on a cross-breed! LOL Most WY animals are pre-seasoned with sage!

 

[Hunt anything]

we can’t use rimfire on deer, only center fire mushrooming ammo.

 

[C.W. Richter]

TFTD: May God Strike us Down for speaking of these things on Africahunting.com! (violating my own constitution) There are 1,000s of forums with "expert" commentary about ($29.99-$299) wares sold at WalMart, to jump out of your UTV with a flask of Southern Comfort in-hand and shoot at, in the US! L O L Africa-Africa-Africa! -Jan Brady

 

[C.W. Richter]

we can’t use rimfire on deer, only center fire mushrooming ammo.

A .22 WRM at <125 yds will dispatch a deer much better than many magnum centerfires (.257 Wby, which i love, is a great example-at 3,500 fps the bullet blows up upon impact.) That said, the gov't. types need to catch up on this...LOL

 

[Cam Moon]

The outfitter had bad experiences with bullets breaking up on shoulder shots. Lost bears. The 270 bee hit a shoulder and he lost it. He told them he shoulder shot all his elk and had no problems. The no shoulder shot mantra was given before they knew what I was hunting with. To be fair, they had guys from Florida ask if 9 mm was big enough. Could they bring Uzi’s?
I met those guys. No Swift A Frames or other super premiums back then.

I'm surprised that he experienced so many issues with shoulder shots on black bear. They aren't notoriously tough.
My guess is too much velocity and/or poor bullet choice.

 

[JimP]

A .22 WRM at QUOTE]

Just need a better bullet that designed for that 3500 fps impact velocity

 

[gbflyer]

Are you in CA? A young gunsmith that works for Griffin & Howe hailed from there and he said they were abundant and in his yard every single day! I've seen nice ones taken by others up the entire US coast from S. to N. (and even Sitka blacktails with BIG racks.) Like anywhere else, 'must be patient and wait him out!....

Alaska

 

[Safari Dave]

I sometimes have to euthanize animals (professionally) to keep them from causing automobile/human damage by getting into traffic.

I get as close as possible and use a head shot (ear, brainstem, between the eyes, or temple, depending on position), to keep them from getting back on their feet.


I would avoid a headshot on an unwounded animal.



If you want to save meat, use an adequate cartridge and make a lung shot as close as possible to the heart/aorta and try to only shoot through ribs.




Why this matters on a African safari forum is beyond me...

When shooting at African big game, destroy as much as possible on the way to getting as close as possible to the heart and keep shooting firing shots until the animal doesn't twitch!

Keep shooting, don't worry about anything except safety to humans and other animals near the intended target.

Don't let your target get back to it's feet and get away!

 

[Tra3]

I also am not a fan of head/neck shots. Too much risk, head movement, etc.
I believe there is a place for it in a meat culling hunt at night by experts.
In regular hunting, I don’t support the idea.
If you don’t want to waste meat, use archery equipment. But even with archery there is a surprising number of lost animals (that people don’t talk about). A rifle will waste some meat, but not that much. A copper bullet that doesn’t fragment is a good plan to be able to eat right up to the bullet hole.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Beyond a brain shot, this shot placement will not ruin any meat you care about. Unless you like BBQ Deer Ribs. You will be missing two. This shot will even bleed the deer for you.
(I don't take neck shots unless there is absolutely no other choice.)

 

[Tanks]

Well, neck shots can be devastating, so won't argue against it.

 

[Red Leg]

Beyond a brain shot, this shot placement will not ruin any meat you care about. Unless you like BBQ Deer Ribs. You will be missing two. This shot will even bleed the deer for you.
(I don't take neck shots unless there is absolutely no other choice.)

View attachment 444383

You are correct. That shot will kill any deer. Many down here and in the Southeast are in areas where even a 60 yard run can present recovery problems. I have never had a deer do anything but collapse instantly with this shot (blue). And that shot has been taken on many dozens of deer of multiple species over many years.

Unlike Africa that shot is taken from a stand, not from sticks or a hasty rest. For a hasty rest, behind or on the shoulder is exactly correct depending upon species.

I too have seen the result of bungled head shots, and would never take one.

 

[fourfive8]

Well for deer-elk sized game (and most PG for that matter) under field conditions, shoot at a rope or pie plate?- sooner or later...

The last animal I witnessed get away after being hit, un-recovered, was a young bull wildebeest shot in the neck... to save meat of course. And that with the best trackers on the planet engaged in the effort! Those shots work until they don't. Kind of like head shots taken for same reason by the same "sharps shooters". sooner or later...

 

[Cam Moon]

Well for deer-elk sized game (and most PG for that matter) under field conditions, shoot at a rope or pie plate?- sooner or later...

The last animal I witnessed get away after being hit, un-recovered, was a young bull wildebeest shot in the neck... to save meat of course. And that with the best trackers on the planet engaged in the effort! Those shots work until they don't. Kind of like head shots taken for same reason by the same "sharps shooters". sooner or later...

The meat loss is secondary. (Or third) My main incentive was for IMMEDIATE death with NO suffering. Then no tracking. Then meat loss.

 

[Dr Ray]

Seldom have I ever used neck shots. One I recall was particularly good. A spiker (red deer) - 308 - snapped neck
The spiker fell dead and no meat damage.
I tend to shoot two inches below spine and two inches from shoulder.
One spectacular fail was when I used a Nosler ballistic tip. Great shot as written above but the ballistic tip pulverized the off shoulder.
No salvageable meat on off shoulder at all.
The question of neck shots- if and only if the only option otherwise body shot.
Headshots if you are confident and at close range!

 

[reineke]

Bonk has it right- the first and only consideration should be a clean kill, eliminating
as much risk as possible for the game. And yes, it is good to enjoy the meat later on, but we are not
butchers wanting to save as many "precious cuts" as possible. As often as you have hit this small target,
you can be sure to miss it sometime-and not totally, but leaving a wounded Animal that will be difficult to recover-without a good dog impossible.
Anyway if I would show the owner of my hunting place some roebuck with Head-or Neckshots,
telling him I did it on purpose to save meat, I would at once loose my hunting opportunity...