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Shot placement


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Without a doubt, the shot placement goes right into the pump station. Never had a problem recovering deer when a good shot is placed. I have hit a couple deer in the neck, and while it is a lethal shot, I prefer not to take it unless it is my last resort.

When taking a quartering away shot, I always was taught to aim for the far shoulder. If you aim at that far shoulder, your shot should find its mark.

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I haven't read any of the replies except for the last couple.

In order of preference:

1. Heart/lung

2. Neck

3. Spinal column

4. Shoulder

5. Center chest (from the front)

58. All the way up the alimentary canal (from the rear). MESSY CLEANING!

In the end, if I'm in pretty heavy brush/trees, I'll take the first of any of these shots that present themselves. In that environment, if you're confident you can hit a vital spot take whichever vital spot finds an opening first.

Just the way I do it.

Good luck out there, everyone! smile

I don't think item 58 would even make my list. Too close to destroying the meatiest part of the animal and I'm just not interested in killing it just to say I did or put it on my wall. If there's a chance of destroying the best eats, I won't take it.

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I shot one in the neck since he was watching me clear a jam. He dropped dead instantly. Never had the guts to do it again? 99% of my shots are in the front shoulder area. Usually they run out of sight and collapse.

I did make shot #58 as a second follow up shot once. I thought the first shot missed but found out it didn't. Talk about a stinky mess.

Good luck everyone,

Ferny

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I don't think item 58 would even make my list. Too close to destroying the meatiest part of the animal and I'm just not interested in killing it just to say I did or put it on my wall. If there's a chance of destroying the best eats, I won't take it.

It doesn't make my list either, Bob. Numbering it 58 was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that. smile

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Same here with location - heart lungs is best in my opinion. Second would be neck.

When I was a wee lad, my first deer was a fawn that was standing with her rear end to me. I think my dad just wanted me to break the ice with a deer, so he told me to shoot. His Win .264 did quite a number on that doe! All I can remember thinking was...I am glad I am not gutting that deer! I am pretty sure he didn't want my first gut job to be this deer, I most likely need to thank him for that.

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I'm surprised at all the front shoulder shots. I am not impressed with this shot at all. As a kid, this is what I was told to shoot at, I have seen too many deer with brisket shots and have seen many kangaroo deer with one or two legs missing, or nasty broken shoulders because the bullet stopped in the shoulder. (keep in mind, I am in slug country, not rifle) A couple of quick reasons why I don't like it:

#1, destroys lots of meet.

#2. Not nearly as lethal as the boiler room. Anytime bone as hard as shoulder bone is hit, the bullets deflect and what not.

I am a boiler room guy, straight on passthrough, just like archery. The deer might run a little ways, but its a quick humane death, very little meat is wasted if any, especially if you pay attention to where the bullet is going to exit.

Not ripping anyone, just surprised at all the shoulder shots.

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I was always taught to go for the heart/lung combo.

When I was 17 we went out on opener and it was beautiful. I was in a stand in a swath of trees between a swamp and field. Saw a big boy walk out into the field about 85 yds away soon after sun up. I had a good trip that morning on my way to the stand and had bumped the scope on my .30-06 on a tree (yeeesh...). Didn't trust it, so i decided on the open sights. Took good aim , he was broadside maybe quartered a bit towards me. Felt I had hit him by the way his hind dipped when he took running. He started further into the open, and turned back into the cover.

I looked over that field and cover for over 2 hours with my cousin for sign, and there wasn't a drop of blood. Hunted the other end all afternoon, and came back at dark. My brother had found him lying back in the same field. I guess he decided to take a leisure walk after I hit him. The round clipped the bottom front tip of the lungs and missed the heart barely. There wasn't a drop of blood on the exit hole. The front quarter was full. Every bit stayed inside him. That big swampy son of a gun dressed out around 220, and had a 7 point irregular rack. 5 on one side, one long tine and a spike on the other.

They always told me to go for the bread basket. 1/2 in back and I wouldn't have spent the day kicking myself for missing the biggest deer I've ever seen. Guess it all works out in the end.

...spending opener wishing you were there just ain't right.

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I always aim for the "tricep" of the front leg. Usually it is protecting the heart and lungs. I stay away from the leg bone or the brisket, but I do like disabling the leg a bit. To be honest, out of the 13 deer I have shot in the last 9 years, I have had to track a combined 15 yards total. I have 1 deer that took about 15 steps and fell over. All the rest have had significant damage to both the heart and lungs, dropping instantly.

It does help that I am shooting a 7mm Rem Mag or a 12 gauge slug from a max of about 75 yard. Those rounds at 40 yards do quite a bit of trauma.

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