Question On Heart Shots

[BeeMaa]

I’ve had several heart shots on whitetail and all of them went at least 10 yards or more…mostly more.

I’ve never witnessed a DRT heart shot.

I’ve personally witnessed two DRT kills from shorting out the CNS. My grandfather with a brain shot on a whitetail in the late 1980’s and the other was my wife with a high neck shot on a kudu.

 

[fourfive8]

I’ve had several heart shots on whitetail and all of them went at least 10 yards or more…mostly more.

I’ve never witnessed a DRT heart shot.

I’ve personally witnessed two DRT kills from shorting out the CNS. My grandfather with a brain shot on a whitetail in the late 1980’s and the other was my wife with a high neck shot on a kudu.

Agreed, IMO and experience, that's the way it works. I believe most of the slightly high, through-the-shoulder shots that cause instant collapse are the result of bullet passing close enough to the spine to cause disruption of the CNS. Carefully examine the anatomy of many animals and note the curve and dip of the cervical spine as it passes between the shoulders. Especially noticeable in heavy animals and those with spinal processes (dorsal humps).

 

[Nhoro]

I have never seen an animal drop from a heart shot. One strange incident, I had a client shoot a common duiker in the ear and it dropped instantly. When we ran up, it had no marks on it save a half moon missing from its left ear. He shot it again as it was still kicking. I do think that animals that have not seen you drop quicker- 50- 100 m. Animals that have seen you go further- maybe 1 km in the case of buffalo. There is also many people who believe high velocity has the capacity to knock animals down. I nmy experience, it has little impact. It does make bullets expand more and that may make a measurable difference.

Using bigger calibres and softs make bigger holes= quick death especially with solids. Basically more damage to the heart make a quicker death

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I have had a number of Bang-Flops on whitetail deer. Most of them were with a Win 94 trapper in 44mag. I was using 240g HP ammo and limited my shots to inside of 100y. Nearly every deer I shot from a broadside position was a bang-flop for about 7yrs. I do not have pics but most times the bullet wrecked the top of the heart and the attached plumbing and ruptured both lungs. I stopped using that rifle after a notable failure when the best buck I ever saw absorbed three shots at 30y and walked away without a scratch. I still claim it was a ghost.

A non-bang-flop was on a wild boar that I shot broadside with a 308, 165g Nosler BT at contact distance (5ft more or less). The bullet pierced both lungs and the heart and expanded violently. The core exited the opposite side. The pig did not flinch and ran about 30y before going belly up.

Final example was a 8pt buck shot with a 375HH, 250g TBBC at 80y. Shot was a bit high but wrecked both lungs and the major arteries at the top of the heart. The deer flopped and kicked a few times and was DRT. I was testing the 375 for fun and it seems the hydrostatic shock was enough to render the animal unconscious long enough to bleed out. I suspect that the 44mag results were similar. Sorry I do not have any photos.

 

[Rimshot]

This one was my most recent bang flop. 6.5x55 put a 140 interlock thru the top of the heart.

Another deer I shot with the same gun and load the same season, but only double-lunged, ran almost 100 yards (but it was also a longer 300 yard shot)

 

[HookMeUpII]

This was actually a "bad shot" but not really. Truth be told, I wasn't aiming for this spot. It was a tough shot with the impala only basically having its front leg up the body in the clearing. It kicked up its rear legs with blood spray, and fell back dead. I should have been a little higher and more forward. PH said it actually was a perfect shot. He said he never recommends heart shots because if the client is too far back it's almost in nothing. He actually thought I was looking for that shot. I laughed and said "Wish I could lie and tell you I was..." Either way it worked out. This was the only "bad" shot I made there.

Entrance

Exit

What was left of the heart:

 

[Ontario Hunter]

This was actually a "bad shot" but not really. Truth be told, I wasn't aiming for this spot. It was a tough shot with the impala only basically having its front leg up the body in the clearing. It kicked up its rear legs with blood spray, and fell back dead. I should have been a little higher and more forward. PH said it actually was a perfect shot. He said he never recommends heart shots because if the client is too far back it's almost in nothing. He actually thought I was looking for that shot. I laughed and said "Wish I could lie and tell you I was..." Either way it worked out. This was the only "bad" shot I made there.

Entrance

View attachment 594810

Exit

View attachment 594811

What was left of the heart:

View attachment 594812

I pulled the shot a bit back on my impala last year and knew it the second my gun fired. Very much concerned me but he didn't go a hundred yards. We found him laying in the middle of the road and pulled him off for photo op. Impala are not a big target at 200 yards. Off just a bit in the scope can move impact significantly. I should have turned my scope up. Hit in the liver took him out fairly quickly ... fortunately!

 

[rookhawk]

For those who've made heart shots that resulted in a bang flop, if you have pictures, I'd appreciate seeing them here.

I have a suspicion about what part of the heart your bullet hit - the heart's built-in pacemaker, called the SA node. I know where the SA node is on a human heart, and I'm guessing it's in the same place for animals - on the right atrium. If the SA node is destroyed, a heart literally loses its capacity to beat, and it's immediate.

It's a really small target: on humans, it's maybe an inch long and perhaps 0.2 - 0.3" wide.

There's no way to aim for it, even on an animal as big as an ele or hippo or cape buffalo. I'm just curious how many of you guys have had bang-flops on any animal where the bullet went through the right atrium, and pictures to show.

We've had very, very few bang-flops over the years. Usually those are the bad shots for us. If you're using a heavy for caliber bullet, or a bullet moving at high to very high velocity, a shot to the heart isn't usually enough for a bang-flop. They usually run 10-50 paces.

A bang-flop through the heart is from hydrostatic shock, the gas bubble was so potent that it reversed arterial flow and caused in instantaneous stroke. We don't shoot calibers that have that kind of energy. Examples of guns that can do that: 28 Nosler, anything that ends in weatherby, etc.

 

[PARA45]

I believe the bang flop has something to do with how relax the animal is. I've seen more bizarre reactions on deer during the rut than during any other time.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I believe the bang flop has something to do with how relax the animal is. I've seen more bizarre reactions on deer during the rut than during any other time.

I think that and also the shock of the round. My blesbok was a bang-flop. The impala was close. Leg kick and flop. @rookhawk may be on to something. My blesbok was hit right on the heart area as well but never confirmed because it went to the skinning shed right away. It was hit in that region and just dropped.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I pulled the shot a bit back on my impala last year and knew it the second my gun fired. Very much concerned me but he didn't go a hundred yards. We found him laying in the middle of the road and pulled him off for photo op. Impala are not a big target at 200 yards. Off just a bit in the scope can move impact significantly. I should have turned my scope up. Hit in the liver took him out fairly quickly ... fortunately!
View attachment 594824

It's bound to happen at some time to everyone. Thankfully both our stories went well and we were able to recover the animal. Those impala are tough. One of the guys in our group took the shoulder off one. Tracker and PH spent a day and a half on it. They eventually got him.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

This Red stag was a heart shot, complete bang-flop at 270m. Dead in his tracks. Not a mark on him externally, but massive internal damage from the 135gn Atomic 29 copper bullet in my 7mmRM.

I put it down to the heart being empty or full when hit, as of course most heart shots will run a bit, especially larger animals.

 

[slam8031]

While deer hunting in the hot weather of South Carolina I like high shoulder shots for reduction in trailing/meat spoilage. However, several heart shots come to mind--a shot with 7 mag 168 grain Nosler Accubond LR with a suppressor at a 20 degree angle down on an elk. Shot was just a bit over 240 yards. Hit heart on right side (aorta) and exited ventricle on left side. 10 mile an hour wind coming from elk to me was a factor also. Elk was completely unaware of shot location. He stood still for about four seconds, rose on his back legs and collapsed. DRT. Two years ago I shot a cape buff at 70 yards 375 h and h 300 grain swift frame. Shot pierced both atria and he traveled under 50 yards and fell over with double moan. I would tend to agree with Brickburn that animal awareness of the threat is part of the equation as well.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I've had several bang flops from heart shots they include
1) 44mag Revolver on a Mountain Lion - from the ground in a tree with a frontal chest shot.
2) Multiple deer (whitetail and mule deer) with a .257 Weatherby as mentioned by @rookhawk I believe it has to do with the hydrostatic shock and all but 1 were frontal shots
3) 1 whitetail doe with a .308 Win - was also a frontal shot
4) Coyote with the 257 Weatherby - sitting & broadside

I've had way more animals run 20-50yds on a heart shot including a doe from under 25' with a 12ga slug. There were 6-10" of fresh powdered snow on the ground and she she left a blood trail a blind person could've followed with it spraying out of her each time it beat.