Best Shot Placement?

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
28   0   0
Location
Alberta
I'm a complete noob at hunting, and have only shot a grouse this year. I went hunting today with a friends dad, and his son (friends brother) got his whitetail doe today. He shot his doe in the head, which seemed to be quick, and saved a lot of meat. But I was always under the impression that you should aim for the chest area because it will usually always hit a lung or the heart, but some meat is lost. Whats the "better" shot if your not looking for a trophy?

What are the opinions of more experience hunters? Since the season Ends tomorrow, we are going out for one last look see and to try to get me my first buck.
 
Heart-lung is definately the best option. It is a larger area, and there is always the chance of a bad shot with a head shot, ripping off a jaw and the deer or whatever escaping to die in another area code.
 
The 2 best shots to take are:

1. Broadside shots, your choice...either on the front shoulder or just in the crease behind the front shoulder 1/3 of the way up the chest cavity.

2. Quartering away shots....aim for the off-side shoulder.

With those you are guaranteed to hit at least 1 vital area. (heart, lung, liver)
 
Of the five deer I shot this year, one was a head shot, three were broadside lung shots, one was broadside high and took out the spine. The head shot was the easiest to gut, had the least meat damage, obviously, but was not a shot I would take again if it would have been a 150yd+ shot. The broadside lung shots were not bad, but two of the three did alot of damage to the front quarters. The spine shot made a mess of the tenderloins :(

In the end, a fast and efficient kill takes priority over meat damage (though both are very important). Head shots are great for minimal meat damage but there is very little room for error. I prefer broadside shots to the boiler room and hope that the front quarters are not too badly damaged.
 
I'm not going to BS here. I've spent a LOT of time at the range. This guy was running and there was a LOT of luck involved here. I was lucky to have hit him at all, and I was lucky that shot wasn't just a little lower or further forward. On a running deer or a long shot, shoot for the chest. If it's a fairly easy shot, it hasn't seen you, and you're confident you can make it, go ahead and brain it. That was my first deer. If I had to make that shot again, I'd try for the chest.



IMG_2143.jpg
 
With regards to the diagram posted above, the aiming point I try to use, is the point of the 'elbow' of the front leg, and up between a third and halfway of the chest. Lungs and heart area, not a lot of meat loss, and you have a pretty wide margin for error, as it works out to be center of an area about the size of a dinner plate, that will pretty much ensure meat on the hook.
For off angle shots, I try to put the bullet through this region.

I stopped shooting at running deer a long time ago.

Cheers
Trev
 
Directly behind shoulder, 1/2 way up. Works for every big game animal. If you're a bit far forward, you get him through the shoulders, a bit far back and you get the liver.

Don't try fancy heart/neck/head shots etc., unless you want to hone you're tracking skills. :)
 
On my first hunt, as a teenager, one of the older guys "showing me the ropes" shot a doe in the head. Well not really the head, he just blew her jaw off and the deer ran away. He was lucky enough to get a second round through the chest at the last moment and drop the deer. That experience helped me to decide to never take a head shot, ever. Shoot the animal in the chest and never mind the single serving of meet loss.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom