neck shot...
12-09-2002, 06:55 PM
#32
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: neck shot...
frizzellr you are right last year was horrible..BUT...you missed the post on the reason for it...i bought a leupold this summer and put it on the mauser...dad bought a turkey gun and went to put that tasco shotgun scope i had on it because its all that would fit with the rear sight and no time to have the rear sight removed and get a new scope on it so i ahd to use it that year...when my dad took it to get mounted the guy laughed at him and told him it was broke my dad was like what do you mean? the guys like look through and move the powers...the crosshairs moved with it! i sighted in on 4.5power and hunted on 2.5 because the low objective lens was hard to get anything in the scope on a high power..thats why the year was so bad...and im not going to use the neck shot or head shot unless i have to and i KNOW i can do it...believe me in mot dumb..just trying to gain knowledge and learning the neck shot is what i wanted to know about forever...i am not going out tomarow and planning to use it...but now that i know where it is and if a deer walks at me i just might if i can stop it and make a good shot...if not it will walk unless it goes broad side...i might seem dumb for asking but its not like im doing it for fun or anything...just trying to gain some knowledge..never know then the monster buck is going to walk straight at me and now i know where to shoot...even though id stil probally wait..thanx guys...dont worry im not going out and wounding deer wit ha bad neck or head shot...all my possible shots while hunting were broadside so far...
12-09-2002, 08:35 PM
#33
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: East Texas
Posts: 1,382
RE: neck shot...
Here's my opinion for what it's worth. Of every deer I've ever killed only two were shot any place besides the neck. I shot a nice buck a couple years ago and aimed at the shoulder because with a doe and wouldn't stand perfectly still, plus I was using my dad's .270 and I wasn't as comfortable with it. The other deer was my first bow kill, which happened to be this year. Of every single other deer I've killed in my 16 yrs of hunting has been a neck shot, only one of those deer was under 100yrds. I also killed all but a couple of those deer with a .22-250.
If you don't believe me, that is your choice but I have many family and friends who will back me up. Am I some super dead eye? No, not at all, I am just able to contain my adrenline when shooting at a deer and thus remain very steady and confident. My last deer with a gun (due to my taking up bow hunting) was back in 1998. It was a nice 10pt at 220yrds. I have the whole thing on video to prove it to anyone who doesn't believe it. I watched the buck for several minutes as he walked around in the field in front of me. He had just ran a doe off and he was sniffing all around where she'd been standing, since it was the peak of the rut. I remained very calm and waited for him to stand perfectly broadside and perfectly still. Had he not, I wouldn't have shot him. Anyway, I did get the shot and like every other deer before, he fell over like a ton of bricks. The video footage is totally amazing!!
All of that being said, I do not reccomend neck shots to everyone nor do I try to convince people to take them if they aren't comfortable with them. However, shooting a .22-250 I don't feel as comfortable taking shoulder shots on a big deer since it is a smaller caliber. I know it will kill deer because my wife has done it as well as one of my best friends. As for where I aim; I follow the neck up about half way to the head from where the neck leaves the shoulder, aim dead center of the neck, wait for the deer to be perfect broadside and perfectly still. Works like a champ. The way I figure it, I have almost no error room but I also have almost no wounding error room. A shoulder shot too far forward, too far back, too far high, or too far low can result in a wounded deer that you might not find. Not saying it is a bad shot at all, because shoulder shots are the best if you are looking for the biggest target.
Just my 2 cents, take it or leave it.
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
If you don't believe me, that is your choice but I have many family and friends who will back me up. Am I some super dead eye? No, not at all, I am just able to contain my adrenline when shooting at a deer and thus remain very steady and confident. My last deer with a gun (due to my taking up bow hunting) was back in 1998. It was a nice 10pt at 220yrds. I have the whole thing on video to prove it to anyone who doesn't believe it. I watched the buck for several minutes as he walked around in the field in front of me. He had just ran a doe off and he was sniffing all around where she'd been standing, since it was the peak of the rut. I remained very calm and waited for him to stand perfectly broadside and perfectly still. Had he not, I wouldn't have shot him. Anyway, I did get the shot and like every other deer before, he fell over like a ton of bricks. The video footage is totally amazing!!
All of that being said, I do not reccomend neck shots to everyone nor do I try to convince people to take them if they aren't comfortable with them. However, shooting a .22-250 I don't feel as comfortable taking shoulder shots on a big deer since it is a smaller caliber. I know it will kill deer because my wife has done it as well as one of my best friends. As for where I aim; I follow the neck up about half way to the head from where the neck leaves the shoulder, aim dead center of the neck, wait for the deer to be perfect broadside and perfectly still. Works like a champ. The way I figure it, I have almost no error room but I also have almost no wounding error room. A shoulder shot too far forward, too far back, too far high, or too far low can result in a wounded deer that you might not find. Not saying it is a bad shot at all, because shoulder shots are the best if you are looking for the biggest target.
Just my 2 cents, take it or leave it.
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
12-10-2002, 08:00 AM
#34
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: neck shot...
mauser if you want to knock a deer flat and have it incapable of going no where and have a large target to shoot, go for the shoulders, you still mess up alot of good meat, just as you do with a neck shot, but if a deer has his shoulder blown apart they can not go anywhere, and unlike being off 1/2 inch on a neck shot and wounding one, or having a three mile tracking job, take out the shoulders, they go down right where they stand.
You are very right when you say you will do what you want to do, but shooting a stationary target and one that can move at any time is a whole different story and even though you may successfully make a neck or head shot, if you shoot enough deer eventually it will jump up and bite you, either with an unrecovered deer or a very long tracking job.
The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club
You are very right when you say you will do what you want to do, but shooting a stationary target and one that can move at any time is a whole different story and even though you may successfully make a neck or head shot, if you shoot enough deer eventually it will jump up and bite you, either with an unrecovered deer or a very long tracking job.
The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club
12-10-2002, 08:50 AM
#35
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: East Texas
Posts: 1,382
RE: neck shot...
I just wanted to add one thing that seems to be misconseption. A deer does NOT have to be hit in the vertebrae(sp) for a neck shot to drop him. As I said in my above post every deer I've shot in the neck has dropped in their tracks; I've never had deer take a sigle step. And not every deer was hit in the vertebrae. Obviously you can't just graze the top or bottom of the neck but in my personal experiece of killing loads of deer, any shot placed around the center of the neck is lethal on impact.
Again, as I said before, I'm not arguing that this is the shot for everyone. However, it is the quickest cleanest kill that I'm aware of.
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
Again, as I said before, I'm not arguing that this is the shot for everyone. However, it is the quickest cleanest kill that I'm aware of.
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
12-10-2002, 11:31 AM
#38
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: neck shot...
texastracker you brought out another excellent reason to not neck or head shoot a deer in an area where CWD may be an issue!
BTW texastracker, I am glad when you speak of your experience with neck shooting deer that you say it is not a shot for everyone, I would like to bring out one more thing which if I am wrong please correct me, but generally in texas deer to be rather small in comparison to deer in many other parts of the country and in my opinion would go down far easier than a 200+ pound buck in many areas of the country, as a result there is a larger area of error in the neck area, especially during the rut.
The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club
BTW texastracker, I am glad when you speak of your experience with neck shooting deer that you say it is not a shot for everyone, I would like to bring out one more thing which if I am wrong please correct me, but generally in texas deer to be rather small in comparison to deer in many other parts of the country and in my opinion would go down far easier than a 200+ pound buck in many areas of the country, as a result there is a larger area of error in the neck area, especially during the rut.
The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club
12-10-2002, 01:28 PM
#39
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: East Texas
Posts: 1,382
RE: neck shot...
Taz, you do bring up a good point about bigger deer not being killed as easily by a neck shot and I can honestly say that I'm not sure what the answer is. I've killed most of my deer here in East Texas and a few in South Texas but none of those deer have weighed over 170lbs max on the hoof. The avg. size buck I kill is 150lbs on the hoof. So shooting a deer over 200lbs in the neck could make a difference, I just don't know and I'm not ashamed to say it!
One more thing, our deer are smaller, thus making the target smaller.lol
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
One more thing, our deer are smaller, thus making the target smaller.lol
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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.
12-10-2002, 02:37 PM
#40
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Central NY USA
Posts: 30
RE: neck shot...
Took my buck last year at 30 yds. It was standing looking at me from behind a big pine with two trunks. All I could see was its hindquarters, neck, and head. I shot it in the neck about midway between the body and head with a 150gr roundnose 270. It died instantly. This is the only time I have had to use a neck shot. I wouldn't have taken it if I wasn't absolutely sure of hitting the spine.
Normally I put it just behind the shoulder and take out the lungs. My 3 deer this year were all lung shots with a 308/150gr psp. Two of them just dropped, the other ran 70 yds.
The Remington web site has a magazine section. It has an article about the "Secret Spot" for instant kills. This is high up behind the shoulder. If I can figure out how to post a link to the article I will.
Normally I put it just behind the shoulder and take out the lungs. My 3 deer this year were all lung shots with a 308/150gr psp. Two of them just dropped, the other ran 70 yds.
The Remington web site has a magazine section. It has an article about the "Secret Spot" for instant kills. This is high up behind the shoulder. If I can figure out how to post a link to the article I will.