Question for experienced hunters only. (No posers please)

[Hello123]

Kraven, I agree with you. That being said, it is impossible to remove a head for a mount and not cut the cord. I have thought about prions while butchering many times.

[lt dan]

you ask when to make that decision. i make it when the target presents itself. you say that you are new to hunting so asking these questions shows you respect the task ahead. i have been hunting many years and every time i thought i knew what i was doing nature knocked me flat. be very carefull about the headshot. rather grow into the headshot. you did not mentioned what you are intending to hunt. i favour the lung hart shot. over here in africa we shoot a lot of dangerous and pest animals. in these animals we go for the most damage- the chest shot- this dissable the front legs and 90% of the time hits the hart or lungs. after all is said and done only experience will teach you what to do an when to do it. so this is good news, no? this means a lot of target practis and lot of hunting awaits you.enjoy

[kraven]

Hello123, good point.
Being educated about the dangers of the prion gives you something to consider when taking trophies.
To me, it's not worth it, as it is with the head shot.

[Blue Duck]

I usually always go for the high percentage shot, which is the shoulder/lung area. This a big target and usually drops the animal with in 100yds and often less then 50yds, even sooner most of the time when the shoulder is hit.

However, I have taken head and neck shots on occasion, usually when I felt like I needed to drop the animal right there on the spot. I did this last year while hunting around some deep ditches, that would have made it very hard to drag a deer out of, and would have more then likely been the final resting place of any lungshot deer. The range was close, so I took neck shots at the base of the head. This always dropped the deer right in it's tracks, and I didn't have to go into the deep ditches to retrieve a deer.

I do not favor neck shots or head shots as a general rule, because for one thing, the idea that a neck shot or a head shot always drops a deer on the spot or you missed is a myth. I have seem deer with blown off jaws still walking around, to die of hunger or something else, and I once shot a deer with a blackkpowder rifle in the neck by accident, I hit the deer hard, 4 inches into it's neck, with a 54 cal roundball and it bled like a stuck hog, and ran off. My hunting buddy killed it, later in the morning, while it was just walking along, a full 200yds away. I would have never gotten that deer.

So don't take neck and head shots, thinking that it is always a miss or an instant kill, because it just isn't so, not always. I only take one when I know for dead certian that I will hit exactly where I am aiming.

[Legionnaire]

I taught hunter safety in NY State for many years, where we did some cursory "shoot, no shoot" exercises, and often talked about shot placement. Always recommended the high percentage heart/lung shot and never talked about head or neck shots. I always go for the heart/lungs, and have passed on deer that only presented head shots. I believe this is particularly appropriate when archery hunting, but also for firearms. I've never had to shoot a deer hit solidly in the heart/lung area twice.

[thallub]

"Simple answer for you is that you take the most efficient, humaine shot that is presented to you at the time. It is done in real time. If it is an "iffy" shot, don't take it. If you feel comfortable, take your best shot.
dean"


+1 for Dean

[W. C. Quantrill]

First you need to be proficient enough with your rifle that you can put the shot where you want it. No two shots will be lined up the same. You must have a good enough understanding of the animals skeletal system and organ placement that you CAN put a boolit into a fatal area from whatever angle that you are presented with.

I usually pick my shot. If it isnt lined up right, its just like a city bus. There'll be another one by in about 15 minutes. I dont shoot does, and I dont shoot fork horns (immature bucks). I do however, shoot out the spikes and 3x3's. (Spikes and 3x3's never become more than that and impart inferior genetics into your herd.) I only search for the alpha buck. I want the oldest largest buck in the herd. By using this technique, I have increased both the number of animals in my herd, and the size of the animals in my herd. So, if I dont find the alpha buck, and I take a shot at a beta buck, I usually take a shot that will break the spine. Either a neck or high lung shot that gets the spine. I prefer the neck shot. I have had too many instances in heart shots of having to trail an animal.

If I encounter what I believe to be the alpha buck, then I want him dead. I will usually take a lung shot knowing I may have to trail him up. I took such a shot on the alpha buck this last season, at about 300 yards, taking out the top of the heart and both lungs, and the bullet exited the off side. I finally found the buck 1/2 mile away where he had crawled in under a brush pile and died. The success was in taking him out of the herd.

You might ask what is my motive here. The whitetail buck reaches breeding maturity at maybe 7 years of age. At that time, his fertility goes to pot and he for the most part is shooting blanks. However, he is still a big healthy buck and can whip off the beta bucks. Result? Fewer pregnant does. By taking out the old bucks, I maintain a herd of young vigorous bucks and almost 100% pregnancy rate on the does. Result is more deer and for some reason larger deer. Because I have water on my place, I have hunting when others are not finding bucks.

[Hawg]

Because I have water on my place, I have hunting when others are not finding bucks.

Lucky bugger. I have water too but they only seem to come to it at night. My woods are pretty dense too. You've seen the pics.

[W. C. Quantrill]

I have a creek that runs through the place, there being no other water for about 5 miles each side of it. When it freezes, I have the only springs that run and do not freeze for miles.

The alpha bucks are almost always nocturnal. But that is why you scout to find the bedding areas. That then is the hunt. Stalking them while they are laying in the bed, and putting a galena pill through their neck. They never know you are there, they never get an adrenaline rush, they just die and relax.

[Hawg]

Too much undergrowth for that on my huntin grounds.

[W. C. Quantrill]

I have a creek that runs through the place, there being no other water for about 5 miles each side of it. When it freezes, I have the only springs that run and do not freeze for miles.

One of the fellers from New Mexico with 3 mediocre beta bucks. There were 3 guys hunting. You can see the creek in the background and the terrain that we hunt.


That's strange-I just started to add this pic to the above post and it reposted it. Didnt want to hijack the thread, but these 3 were shot at ranges from 60 to 200 yards and were all neck shots.

[lt dan]

can someone explain to me the practice of hunting with bright orange colors
as i see so many usa hunters hunt with on espn shows. i think this is due to regulations/safety, no?. in africa you will be asked to get other clothes or go away.

[Doyle]

can someone explain to me the practice of hunting with bright orange colors
as i see so many usa hunters hunt with on espn shows. i think this is due to regulations/safety, no?. in africa you will be asked to get other clothes or go away

Its a safety requirement in many jurisdictions for hunting certain types of game (usually deer). Deer and elk are color blind. They see orange as a shade of grey so it doesn't handicap the hunter to wear them.

[Gbro]

can someone explain to me the practice of hunting with bright orange colors

On the opening day 650,000 Nimrods(self proclaimed) take to the woods/bush/field, and for many the game plan is "If It's Brown, Its Down" Now what would you like to wear.
If every hunter used common sense there wouldn't be as much a need. Some states have no requirements for Blaze orange.

Deer and elk are color blind. They see orange as a shade of grey so it doesn't handicap the hunter to wear them.

One Co-worker has a feeder in his front yard, 30 ft. from the window. Feeding deer pay no attention to people in the house, Then when a Blaze orange hunting jacket is worn in the house, Deer take flight. (thats his claim)

My neck of the "woods" i see/jump, on average 3 deer a season with 60-90 hours hunting. 1/2 may be in a stand. the rest is mooching.
So when the Grandsons are in their stand, and see noth'n 3-4 days a-hunt'n they start to get a little bored. Noth'n like watch'n the tube, and see'n them by the doz'n.

[W. C. Quantrill]

The fish and game nazis require that you have not only an orange covering on your head, but something like 200 square inches of orange both front and back on your body.

You can be fined more for not being orange than you can for breaking other of their humbling rules. It is not about safety, it is about control. Just another nail in your coffin.

We only hunt on our own land, but that does not matter either. It is all a part of the great socialist movement to take away peoples "rights", take away their property, and let the government take care of them like it is supposed to happen.

[lt dan]

i thought as much. 650 000 that is a lot of hunters!!!. i will not wear something orange i will be orange. over here the colourblind story is also told and there is a popular believe that cammo with a dark blue background is the best.

[slick slidestop]

I only take Heart/Lung shots.

The kill zone is at least as big as a pie plate which is much more forgiving if you are off -VS- a Head or Neck shot.....Also the land where I hunt in Texas my shots are usually 250 yards and even though I have hunted for about 32 years, I am quite honestly not a good enough shot at that distance to be comfortable with a head/neck shot.

Now if a Huuuge Buck passed within 50-75 yards, and I had only a head /neck shot due to heavy brush etc, I might try the Head/Neck shot, but that situation has never presented itself to me in my terrain. I guess its all about the circumstances. I am lucky enough, that I can usually pass on Iffy shots....there are plenty more Deer where that one came from.

[Art Eatman]

The advent of regulations requiring hunters to wear blaze orange led to a notable decline in accidental shootings. This was particularly true on public lands.

Art

[ltmcleoed]

i like shoulder shots on almost everything. the lungs and heart for almost all game is behind the shoulder and when a bullet goes through the shoulder bone fragments help in creating collateral damage.

[Duff]

Most every deer I've killed was a shoulder shot, all but two dropped within a few seconds. One I grazed his chest and saw him again a few days later, dropped him with a shoulder shot and noticed the wound to his chest. Another one I was never able to track down. The first deer I ever killed when I was still on a youth lisence, I was nervous and shaking around all over the place. Aimed for the heart, cliped her spine and dropped her right where she stood..that was the best luck I've ever had

[conrad carter]

Every deer or Antelope I ever shot through the lungs with an '06 using 180gr bullets... they went down like they'd been hit with a hammer. Sometimes a little running, but just a little.

[conrad carter]

oops

[Art Eatman]

conrad, I won't delete it, but that's just a wee bit off-topic. Not recommended.

Art

[publius]

I will take a high neck shot on a whitetail if it is close, calm, and is a doe or buck I am not going to shoulder mount. The only reason I do it is it makes the cleaning job a little more pleasent w/o bloody trauma in the chest cavity.

[model70fan]

I am competent enough with a rifle to consistently hit prairie dogs at 500+ yds, but I stick with the heart/lung shots because I will not risk wounding the animal I am shooting at. I guide a lot of hunters for mule deer and antelope and tell them when they book the hunt I do not allow head/neck shots. I was once guiding a guy and he took the jaw off a deer at about 60 yds, I had to track the deer 6 miles before I was able to bring the deer down, I am not saying I have never had to track a gut shot deer or anything but a core shot has less likelyhood of only wounding an animal. I have seen too many animals without jaws or with holes in their necks that didn't hit the spine or airway to go for shots like that. I am confident in my abilities with a rifle to make the shot, I just won't do it. But that's just my humble opinion.