Lung, shoulder or head?

Busted shoulders preferred on Moose and Elk (using a heavy caliber of course). Drops them on the spot - they don't bugger off into the thickets, no need to go look for it. Results in a bit of bone/ligament damage. ;)
 
'Boo said:
That is surprising. The lungs should have been soup at that distance.
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May have been a bit farther.. I had the perfect shot lined up with my tikka t3 but had two light strikes.. So i grabbed my brothers savage axis in a rage and actually landed a decent shot. Tikka got sent warranty so hopefully it will actually work this season.
 
I mainly hunt deer and I prefer neck shots. They usually drop right where their standing and no wasted meat. I spend a fair amount of time at the range and an very comfortable with my shot placement. If I can't make that shot I go for the vitals right behind the shoulder.
 
I almost always take lung shots, although I have hit shoulders. I avoid head/neck shots, after tracking three deer that other hunters shot that dropped at the Shot, then got up again and ran off. One was shot again, and one resulted in a very long tracking job.
 
Four decades of shooting game, 20 years of guiding black bear and whitetail hunters, has convinced me that head shots are the lowest percentage overall shots taken. I base this on the number of wounded/unrecovered game after attempted headshots. I dislike neck shots only slightly less... shoulder shots have their place in specific circumstances, where trailing after the shot is likely to be difficult/tenous... IMO, 95% of the time a broadside or slightly quartering away animal is the preferred posture, preferrably with the front near leg forward, opening the lungs to receive a center lung shot. This shot gives you the highest margin for error, and IME, the highest recovery rate, with the lowest meat damage.
 
hoytcanon said:
IMO, 95% of the time a broadside or slightly quartering away animal is the preferred posture, preferrably with the front near leg forward, opening the lungs to receive a center lung shot. This shot gives you the highest margin for error, and IME, the highest recovery rate, with the lowest meat damage.
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Agreed.
 
I've noticed over the years that experienced hunter's, and I mean avid hunter's, the guy's that get a lot of game, reload their ammunition and shoot a lot, go for a high percentage lung shots. There's a reason for that! There is more wounded game with neck and head shots than anything else.
 
pete dobinson said:
I've noticed over the years that experienced hunter's, and I mean avid hunter's, the guy's that get a lot of game, reload their ammunition and shoot a lot, go for a high percentage lung shots. There's a reason for that! There is more wounded game with neck and head shots than anything else.
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Experience does tend to be a great teacher. I think few of those folks will not acknowledge that there are times when circumstances and opportunities may result in different outcomes, but there's no denying that the boiler room (heart, lungs) is a high percentage target.
 
pete dobinson said:
I've noticed over the years that experienced hunter's, and I mean avid hunter's, the guy's that get a lot of game, reload their ammunition and shoot a lot, go for a high percentage lung shots. There's a reason for that! There is more wounded game with neck and head shots than anything else.
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This.
Know your rifle and you loads, know the drop and drift at specific ranges and get better at range estimation or use a range finder. Practice with your hunting rifle in the positions that you will use while hunting
I have always gone for heart and lungs. You hit the heart and they wont go further than 50 yards, miss and you most likely take out the lungs and they are easily recovered as they are quickly dead. In the last 3 years of bow and rifle hunting and 8 animals I have taken in that time I have only missed the heart once as I used the wrong hash mark on my reticle and got the spine instead at 362 yards.
I have always considered the head and neck to be risky shots, easy for many shooters to miss and have a crippled deer run a long ways only to be a coyotes dinner rather than yours. To me this is highly unethical and my goal is to kill as quickly as possibly and have the animal run as little as possible. Less running, less adrenaline, less lactic acid, better meat.
My main goal is meat also so I avoid the shoulder where possible although last year a doe presented itself uphill from me at 70 yards and I damaged the rear shoulder to the point that it came off when pulling the hide off using the golf ball method. Also at closer ranges I have seen more meat damage due to some bullets fragmenting more due to higher velocity and energy.
Yes a brain shot kills instantly but they have pretty small brains, the heart is nearly as quick in most cases but there is more room for error as the other major organs are right there.
Also ask a Conservation Officer what type of wounds they see the most on recovered animals and I bet the answer will be a mix of head and neck from hunters who think they can shoot and the hind quarters from hunters who can't actually shoot.
 
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scourge18a said:
This.
Know your rifle and you loads, know the drop and drift at specific ranges and get better at range estimation or use a range finder. Practice with your hunting rifle in the positions that you will use while hunting
I have always gone for heart and lungs. You hit the heart and they wont go further than 50 yards, miss and you most likely take out the lungs and they are easily recovered as they are quickly dead. In the last 3 years of bow and rifle hunting and 8 animals I have taken in that time I have only missed the heart once as I used the wrong hash mark on my reticle and got the spine instead at 362 yards.
I have always considered the head and neck to be risky shots, easy for many shooters to miss and have a crippled deer run a long ways only to be a coyotes dinner rather than yours. To me this is highly unethical and my goal is to kill as quickly as possibly and have the animal run as little as possible. Less running, less adrenaline, less lactic acid, better meat.
My main goal is meat also so I avoid the shoulder where possible although last year a doe presented itself uphill from me at 70 yards and I damaged the rear shoulder to the point that it came off when pulling the hide off using the golf ball method. Also at closer ranges I have seen more meat damage due to some bullets fragmenting more due to higher velocity and energy.
Yes a brain shot kills instantly but they have pretty small brains, the heart is nearly as quick in most cases but there is more room for error as the other major organs are right there.
Also ask a Conservation Officer what type of wounds they see the most on recovered animals and I bet the answer will be a mix of head and neck from hunters who think they can shoot and the hind quarters from hunters who can't actually shoot.
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my money would be on gut shot wounds
 
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