Where do you aim?

[bogwalker]

Rifle/shotgun deer hunters, where do you aim?

[TruthWalleyes]

Non moving, broad side deer, I aim for the center of the neck.

Otherwise, Vitals.

[motley man]

Vitals only as I have seen to many injured deer from people shooting at head, neck etc.

[gurkster]

Vitals

[mrklean]

vitals

[96trigger]

boiler room, immediately behind the front shoulder blade. I follow the BACK of the front leg straight up and shoot. Sometimes they run a little ways, but I have always found them.

[TooTallTom]

The top of the bottom third of the deer's body cavity. If it's quartering away, I aim for the far side front leg. If it's broadside, I follow the back of the near side leg up.

[ClownColor]

Texas heart shot here! LOL

Vitals

[Fever]

Absolutely vitals. People that take head shots and brag about it are a pet peive of mine. Don't care if you are a sniper or think you are... if you miss by a couple inches or the deer simple turns its head and you blow it's jaw off..... there is nothing worse as a sportsman. Take the heart, lung shot just behind the front shoulder every time!

[NoWiser]

Absolutely vitals. People that take head shots and brag about it are a pet peive of mine. Don't care if you are a sniper or think you are... if you miss by a couple inches or the deer simple turns its head and you blow it's jaw off..... there is nothing worse as a sportsman. Take the heart, lung shot just behind the front shoulder every time!

Couldn't agree more.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I take the shot that has the greatest amount of margin for error, right behind the shoulder about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of body cavity, and aim small.

[HandGunner]

vitals, Heart and Lungs either one and there down

obviously a head shot brings them down but how comfterble are you to get a headshot with a shotty? yea sure maybe but I dont like to risk it im fine with hitting the bigger target and knowing I wont lose them, either they drop right there or run for a few secs. I aim in the center of the front half of the deer since my shotty is not a benelli SBE and i always double lung them or compensate the aim for when they are quartering to get a double lung hit

[MNice]

boiler room, any hit in there will cleanly kill the deer. I always go for the lungs with my gun as good practice for bow hunting.

[Musky Buck]

Neck if I can. Behind front shoulder otherwise. The neck is best in my book, clean field dress job, it drops them right there, but you better be able to shoot, I'm not bragging but growing up I've been using a 30.06 since I was 12, same gun I use today, same bullet for 28 years also, and I shoot it off and on year long, fox, coyotes, etc. Now at any sort of distance I'm uncomfortable with never the neck, it's usually a neck shot inside a 100, especially if I whistle the deer to stop, any moving deer or skittish buck etc. I forget the neck shot. It drops them like a sack of potatoes the neck shot but you better have 100% confidence in taking that shot and know your gun and know you got it zeroed in at a hundred.

[surewood]

Lung area every time. IMO anywhere else is irresponsible.

[cavalierowner]

Almost always in the vitals for a side shot. That's the way I was taught many years ago when I started hunting.

I have to tell you about the shot I made 2 seasons ago. An average buck was walking straight toward me, didn't have a clue I was there. I was about 6' up in a stand, in addition to shooting downhill. I waited until he was about 30 yards away, aimed at the base of the neck (high on the chest) so the downward shot would hit in the vitals. Well that deer went straight down and hardly moved when I shot him. When I started looking for the bullet hole, I finally found it...literally right between the eyes!! As near as I can figure that buck must have started putting it's head down as I squeezed the trigger. It was a one in a million shot placement, but of course I told my nephews that's where I aimed LOL

[jay83196]

Low behind shoulder never lost one but they have run 75yds away. Been a complaint of mine I have blown hearts away and still they run I use good ammo high power rifle but hardly ever drop. Any suggestions or that the deal with vitals shot? Like said never lost one but sucks tracking or dragging them out of the [PoorWordUsage]...

[Ufatz]

Most of you guys are right. But it almost makes me sick to my stomach to think there are people asking "where am I supposed to shoot".....a week away from the season.

[Powerstroke]

I don't think anyone is asking "where should i shoot?"

I think its more of a poll. He asked the group, where do YOU shoot?

Vitals for me, every time. I neck shot one deer in my life and it was a fluke. The slug from my 20ga hit the front shoulder and ricocheted up through the neck and exited at the base of the deer's skull. A very interesting result for sure. The deer dropped, but was not dead. Most of the neck shots I've seen required a finishing shot. I have also seen the "blown off jaw" by an ill-advised headshot.

Stick the the vitals. You can aim like a sharpshooter, but benefit from the large vital area in case of the imperfect shot.

[bogwalker]

Always room for improvement. Also, not everyone has the same training. Good to hear people asking in my opinion.

[Big-Al]

Low behind shoulder never lost one but they have run 75yds away. Been a complaint of mine I have blown hearts away and still they run I use good ammo high power rifle but hardly ever drop. Any suggestions or that the deal with vitals shot? Like said never lost one but sucks tracking or dragging them out of the [PoorWordUsage]...

It is incredible what a whitetail can do with a heart that is in pieces. I have had many like you said go at least 75 without one. And then there was the time that bullet went in between two ribs through the heart and out between two ribs, bullet did not expand, never did a lick of damage and the buck crumpled. Why?

[nonteepical]

i've shot deer in the heart, and have them run a hundred yards dead on their feet, and i've shot deer in the neck and they are just dead in their tracks. absolutley nothing wrong (morally, ethically or humanley killed) with a neck shot.

[reinhard1]

i dont like to shoot bucks in the neck [lot of good meat damaged]. however if a deer is facing me and no other shot is possible i do shoot the neck. this happens rarely however. i usualy shoot right behind the shoulder like most do. good luck.

[nonteepical]

We used to process deer and people would think they shot the deer behind the shoulder, and in some cases they actually did, but the deer was quartering away and they shot the opposite shoulder, and depending on what cannon they were using, the shoulder gets thrown away, theres nothing left, sometimes they both get tossed, theres that much damage. i'd prefer throwing away neck roast personally. both shots are lethal.

[harvey lee]

I shoot all of my deer behind the shoulders. Say a foot up from the bottom and 4-5 inches behind the shoulder blade. Minamul meat damage this way.

As stated above if they are quarting away, think where that bullet will exit.

The only place my father ever shot a deer was in the neck. They drop like a ton of bricks with very little meat damage.