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head vs heart/lung shots

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BEAR View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 November 2015 at 04:48
When I started hunting whitetails 50+ years ago, I was advised that heart/lung shots were the best. So that is what I've been doing since, and recommending.

Deer usually last 10-15 seconds and can go some distance running wide open. But I was young and enjoyed short tracking, many times I could see them bleed out and go down. Nothing wrong with this shot.

I used heart/lung shots for everything from fox to boar to cape buffalo. But I'm a little older now and starting with boar have been using head shots. Dead Right There! No drag, no swamp retrievals, etc
My eyes and arms are not as good as when I was 20 years old, so Im probably not as good shooting as when younger. But my patience for a perfect shot is much greater.

What are your feelings on head shots vs heart/lung shots for non dangerous big game.
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d4570 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote d4570 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2015 at 05:23
I always try to do a behind the shoulder shot. there is a lot of empty space in a head shot that only dicks up a deer and they starve to death.
If there looking straight at me I'll center punch the chest. If there running dead away I shoot a high tail shot , not pretty but there down and I can finish them off as fast as I can. AKA Texas heart shot...
Remember: Four boxes keep us free ,the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, AND the cartridge box
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TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2015 at 06:54
For me, it is heart/lung all the way - except for the couple of times that I was successful with a head shot, because they were the only shots I had. I would never seek it out as the first option, personally.
TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana

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MtElkHunter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MtElkHunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2015 at 07:15
I use head and neck shots if presented with it and all the conditions are good. If anything is not right I will go for the heart/lung shot. I have taken quite a bit of game with head/neck shots and it works very well. I can only think of one time I wounded a deer with a head shot and required a follow up shot and that one I was outside of my comfortable shot range. There really is nothing like a well executed head/neck shot and watching the animal literally go straight down that you actually see the legs tuck up before the body hits the ground.
SW Montana
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VarmintGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2015 at 08:59
Bear & MtElkHunter: I have harvested far in excess of 200
head of Big Game myself and been "in on" (standing with
and spotting for the Big Game shooter) the harvest of
several hundred more.
This includes Moose, Roosevelt Elk, Rocky Mountain Elk,
Blacktail Deer, Mule Deer, Whitetailed Deer, Black Bear,
Antelope and Mt. Goats!
Over the past 56 years of harvesting I have learned these
two undeniable facts - Game animals shot through the
heart/lungs "die" quicker (within about 6 seconds or
sooner!) AND more reliably than head/neck shot Game
animals AND the flesh/meat/organs of heart/lung shot Game
animals tastes MUCH better than head/neck/spine shot Game
animals!
The simple facts are Game animals shot through the
heart/lungs pump "out" most all of their blood is gone
from their flesh and their flesh is thus rendered much
more palatable!
This is the SAME principle as cattle and hogs being
professionally slaughtered/bled out - that flesh is much
more palatable than that of cattle and hogs who are home
slaughtered with a 22 shot to the head and they are not
bled quickly and properly - and I have partaken of such
beef and pork so I know from experience here also!
AND... the PROPER heart/lung "target" area on game
animals is MUCH larger than the head/neck "kill zone"!
Sadly it seems each year I see Elk and Deer with their
jaws shot off or a large blood splotch on their necks -
and one year I became aware of a Cow Moose not far from
my house that sadly had her jaw shot off!
Needless suffering, these type neck/jaw shots often
cause!
Thats why I always (and I always have!) waited for and
insisted upon heart/lung shots on Big Game.
I have NEVER Hunted twice with anyone who professes or
attempts head/neck shots on Game animals - period!
Those that wish to try and head/neck shoot Game animals
are free to do so just NOT from MY camps and they must
then endure less palatable game meat if said animal is
brought to bag.
Go with the much larger, BETTER and more sportsmanlike
heart/lung shots - it was the technique I was taught and
that I have taught and it has served me exceptionally
well for way more than half a century now.
Good luck to all this season.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

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samchap View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote samchap Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2015 at 11:54
VarmintGuy, I believe in what you so nicely expressed. The
H-L shot has always worked for me and I taught my "boys" to
use it and they agree on the logic of it. That and never
taking a poor shot.

Well put.
samchap - Waldoboro, ME








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MtElkHunter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MtElkHunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 November 2015 at 07:35
VG First off let me say that the argument is really a moot point because 95% of the time I use the H-L shot because the correct opportunity for a H-N shot is not present. With that said I will respectfully disagree with your logic. A H-N shot with a reasonable caliber (not a 22) creates an instant kill and creates a massive wound that bleeds the animal very well. Because a H-N shot disrupts the CNS an animal's heart will continue to pump blood until bled out. It really is no different than an cow in a slaughter house where they use a pneumatic hammer to the brain and then cut the jugular vein.

I do agree that the shot placement is much more precise but a miss is a miss and an animal shot in the gut from a muffed H-L shot is suffering as much as a muffed H-N shot. I too have taken many animals over the years and seen much more taken well into the hundreds and I have seen more muffed H-L shots than muffed H-N shots. That is probably because most people do not take the H-N shots.

As far as not hunting with someone who does take H-N shots well like you said that is your choice and it is a free country, however, to me that is like saying I am not going to hunt with someone who has wounded a animal, or took a shot when they should not have or someone who hunts from a truck and does not walk, or gun hunters saying archery hunter are bad. It a level of intolerance that is dividing the hunting community and if we are divided we will all fall. there are enough people who are trying to stop hunting that we need to stick together or we are done so I will always support other hunters even if they do not hunt or shoot the way I do. The way I look at it if someone is doing something different than I am maybe they have something to teach me.
SW Montana
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BEAR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 November 2015 at 13:56
Good thoughts MtElkHunter.

Head and neck shots are NOT for the average hunter. Only experienced and accurate shooters should consider anything except a heart/lung shot (bigger target for weaker shooters).

Locally, when a hunter hits a deer and can't find it, they end up at my door. Don't know how I became the tracker of lost deer, but it happened. Now I must say I enjoy night tracking with a 1 cell light. In almost every incident over the last 20+ years, these were H_L shots that ended up in the gut. I find the vast majority of these deer. I never even mention "bad shot'. But most are taken when the deer is 'moving away' and the hunter doesn't want to 'miss an opportunity'.



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