Neck shotting deer

Licensed to kill said:
While head and/or neck shots are legal, IMO, for the most part, they are unethical. However, there are RARE situations where a neck/head shot could be considered. Others can do as they like and can justify head/neck shots anyway they want, like I said, it IS legal but I was raised and taught to “hunt” ethically so that is how I choose to conduct myself. Others mileage may vary.
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Whose "ethics" are you bandying around here? Your entire post REEKS of self aggrandizing moral superiority, based on .... nothing. Your choices are not superior to the choices of others and I can 100% guarantee there are people out there who think their choices are morally superior to your choices. 🤷‍♂️ So maybe we could lay off the, self satisfied, "I'm better than you" kind of talk?
 
track said:
OP, you are a beginner shooter, moreover a hunter. I'm a veteran hunter (68 years old), After killing over 300 big game animals, I only have taken one neck shot. As your title states, I suggest you refrain from neck shots. Why a neck shot? It's been stated millions of times, "in the boiler," which translates to, "behind the front leg," into the lungs.
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Good advice and I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said, except for the massive assumption that the OP is a beginner shooter. I shoot with him regularly and he is definitely not a beginner shooter, despite being a novice hunter, as he said in his post.
He possesses an active ATC and carries for work which requires re-qualification frequently. In his personal life, he is an avid long range shooter and reloader for nearly a decade. He's at the range 3 or 4 times a week right now shooting pistols or bolt guns.
 
a lot of long time hunters i know have relatively poor marksmenship skills. Most haven't set foot on a range in decades and the most time they spend with thier rifles is hunting season. Sighting in for the hunt is probably the most "range time" they do all year. My guess is that a vast majority of hunters out there are just the same. Personally, I'm not generally in the practice of making neck shots but there is a time and place for everything. In my own case, I was an avid shooter long before i became a hunter and have always kept my marksmenship skills honed and know my rifles, optics and loads intimately.
In our case, from the treestand, the neck shot deer all came in down hill and 1/4ing towards the stand. No clear shot at the boiler room anywhere along the deer's approach. At 20 yards from the stand, the neck presents a pretty large target. If you know your prey's anatomy and your rifle is dialed for the hunt..... I see no reason to not take it. The 3 we took with neckshots were effective one shot kills and the deer were dead before they even hit the ground..... bang.... flop as they say.
 
A perfect neck shot is very effective...but an inch or two off can turn it into a mess. I've been hunting for a long time, and I've never used a neck (or head) shot on unwounded game. On a few occasions, one of those shots was the only shot presented, on a previously-wounded animal that was on the verge of running. That's a special case, and you take the shot that is offered to you in an effort to end things as quickly as possible.

But I keep hearing "It's the only shot I had!" and I can't help but think that perhaps the correct interpretation was that on an unwounded animal, there was no ethical shot to be had at all. Yeah, yeah, before the screaming begins about individual ethics...I get it, it's just my opinion. But everybody thinks their own ethics are superior to the other guy's; if they didn't, they'd do things exactly the way the other guy does. But we don't, do we? We each do things the way that feels right and correct to us. If guys who utilize neck shots or head shots or ankle shots or whatever feel they must trumpet how well they work...then guys (like me) who think they are generally a terrible idea should be able to express our opinion as well.

The heart/lung area offers the greatest room for error, far more than the neck shot. And, eventually, inevitably...no matter how good of a shot the hunter may be...there will indeed be an error.
 
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45ACPKING said:
a lot of long time hunters i know have relatively poor marksmenship skills. Most haven't set foot on a range in decades and the most time they spend with thier rifles is hunting season. Sighting in for the hunt is probably the most "range time" they do all year. My guess is that a vast majority of hunters out there are just the same. Personally, I'm not generally in the practice of making neck shots but there is a time and place for everything. In my own case, I was an avid shooter long before i became a hunter and have always kept my marksmenship skills honed and know my rifles, optics and loads intimately.
In our case, from the treestand, the neck shot deer all came in down hill and 1/4ing towards the stand. No clear shot at the boiler room anywhere along the deer's approach. At 20 yards from the stand, the neck presents a pretty large target. If you know your prey's anatomy and your rifle is dialed for the hunt..... I see no reason to not take it. The 3 we took with neckshots were effective one shot kills and the deer were dead before they even hit the ground..... bang.... flop as they say.
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ACPKING, I sent you a message if you can get back to me.
 
tried neck shots on deer twice. fist was on a doe at about 50 meters with a mini 14 and 64 gr power point. she fell over in her tracks. second was on a small 4 point at about 40 yards with a .308 and 150 gr deer season xp. My guess is the bullet hit a small branch between me and the deer and came apart. He was quartering to me, head raised and looking at me. put the cross hairs on the white patch on his neck and fired. he tensed, started to fall, spun and ran. found him about 20 min later and he required a finishing shot. he had a horrible, shallow wound about where his jaw met his neck that probably would have cause him to bleed out eventually. Also had crease in his fur at an angle across the top of his back. Pick the shots you feel comfortable with but be aware things can always go sideways.
 
I have being hunting for a long ass time and I always try to shoot for a broad side shot (lung,heart) every time but I can count 5 deer that were close that had to be neck shot and all hit the ground immediately but I prefer broad side.
 
My decent 3x3 mulie last week scared the crap out of me. It was sleeping at about 9am and I walked right up to it before it and I noticed. A very exciting 10 seconds or so with the first two shots from a bolt gun about a second apart. The third with an inhale and exhale was a high neck shot at about 20 yards. I’m not proud of the first couple, one destroyed a rear knee and one missed, but even though it was a #### show for a bit, dead right there, no meat loss. It was high enough in the neck that I can move the antlers in and out a considerable amount, so I’m sure it was a hard finish. Not my best work, but effective. 68 lbs of no fat, no bones meat and it’s delicious. No stinky deer. Felt more like IPSC than hunting though.
 
unstableryan said:
My decent 3x3 mulie last week scared the crap out of me. It was sleeping at about 9am and I walked right up to it before it and I noticed. A very exciting 10 seconds or so with the first two shots from a bolt gun about a second apart. The third with an inhale and exhale was a high neck shot at about 20 yards. I’m not proud of the first couple, one destroyed a rear knee and one missed, but even though it was a #### show for a bit, dead right there, no meat loss. It was high enough in the neck that I can move the antlers in and out a considerable amount, so I’m sure it was a hard finish. Not my best work, but effective. 68 lbs of no fat, no bones meat and it’s delicious. No stinky deer. Felt more like IPSC than hunting though.
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Even after two crap shots in a row, you still felt confident about making a neck shot? Or were you just blasting away in the "general direction" and hoping for a good hit?
 
bearhunter said:
Even after two crap shots in a row, you still felt confident about making a neck shot? Or were you just blasting away in the "general direction" and hoping for a good hit?
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Me and the deer were almost at knife fighting range when we first met. I don’t think I used the scope the first shot. When I stopped to take a breath I felt completely confident. Maybe 10 seconds had passed and it was very dead and I was shaking. If you don’t get excited then pick a different hobby.
 
Shot an elk in the boiler last week, ran a long way and didn't find him until late. I was prone at 200y off bipod, I should've shot him behind the neck. That's what I'm doing next time. 300 win mag.
 
unstableryan said:
Me and the deer were almost at knife fighting range when we first met. I don’t think I used the scope the first shot. When I stopped to take a breath I felt completely confident. Maybe 10 seconds had passed and it was very dead and I was shaking. If you don’t get excited then pick a different hobby.
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I get excited, but you need to get some control.

You shot, you missed, you shot again and wounded, then you took another chance. You should have waited until you were under control.

We all make mistakes, this time you got lucky.
 
bearhunter said:
I get excited, but you need to get some control.

You shot, you missed, you shot again and wounded, then you took another chance. You should have waited until you were under control.

We all make mistakes, this time you got lucky.
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I did wait until I was under control. It layer down looking away from me, I took a breath and made a good shot. Pretty sure I even used my bog pod sticks for that one.
 
One deep snowy day I was deer hunting from an elevated blind. I saw a doe walking through the deep snow. I thought to myself, I don't want to have to drag her any further through the deep stuff than I have to. So, I patiently followed her with my rifle until she stepped out onto the beaten path she was about to cross. I whistled, she froze in her steps to figure out what made the noise, and I shot her in the neck with my 300WSM. She dropped right there in the middle of the path. Made retrieval real easy. It was a close shot, like 50 yards, so I was very confident I would hit her right where I aimed. So, while I don't typically make neck shots, that one was appropriate for the circumstances.
 
I find the heart/lungs to be the most forgiving. And they don't go very far at all. It's also less likely to move erratically, unlike the neck/head. 223 with correct bullet and shot placement can work.

If you are taking shots you find to be ethical, then go for it.

As a hunter, you owe it to the Deer to provide it as humane a death as possible.
 
Close enough, long enough, big enough……… boom……

Where the crosshairs will be when the boom happens is very dependant on the situation…………
 
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