Why is spine shot so effective?

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I'd rather just put one through the lungs or heart. Bigger target and I like eating tenderloin so rather than blow a chunk out and hope the animal dies quickly I'll put a round where it counts.
 
Suther said:
Unless there has been a controlled study on the topic, nobody will know "Scientifically", and a study like this would be considered very unethical so you'll likely never see this specific study... All you'll get here is a mix of anecdotes that support and refute your position. There likely is no singular way they die anyways, there likely isn't one specific mechanism in play here.
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Maybe someone here has a medical background?
 
vpsalin said:
I understand why spine shots anchors the game animal on the spot, buy why does death follow so quickly? I'd expect a spine shot to paralyze the animal instantly but I wouldn't expect it to expire so fast. Is it because so many main arteries follow the spine or because the nervous system is shut down and the animal no longer has a breathing reflex?

I'm not understanding how for example when a whitetail is shot in the vital heart/lung area, it might take 15 seconds to expire but the same can be true too for most spine shots aswell?
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I'll answer your question with 2 questions:

how does your brain tell your heart to beat and your lungs to breathe?

when people are hung is it the strangulation or the broken neck that kills them?
 
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Depends where on the spine your hit is. High neck, within the first 5 descending vertebra will likely prove fatal due to nerve disruption and shock transmitted to the brain. However, first off hitting the spine is difficult, talking about a target 1 inch wide by 6 to 8 inches long. Lower on the spine or rather further along the back it will disrupt the motor control, and a lot of valuable meat.
BUT---- the big issue is small target and if the spinal cord is missed the animal is not likely to be recovered, since it can run for a long while with a hole in it.

Heart/lung or (boiler room) is about a 10 inch circle on a deer and even larger on elk and moose. Hitting an animal there will prove fatal in 2 to 5 minutes even if total disruption of blood flow is not achieved. Only issue there is the heart/lungs sit lower in the animal than you would think and often the shot taken is high through lungs only or too far back and results in gut shot animals.

Ethical hunting means you have to be able to have confidence in YOUR ability to place the shot properly.
 
Many seem to think that any head, neck or spine shot is an instant killer and nothing can be further from the truth. Yes- a clean brain shot or solid cns spinal hit stop things quickly, but the target areas are often small and the potential for initially non-lethal fringe hits are there. In some scenarios such as incoming predators, yes, seeking a solid cns or brain hit is the idea, but a break bone- incapacitating shot followed by finisher is also a good play. Take some time to study the anatomy of the animal that you want to put down and learn how to apply the intended shot correctly. Too many people buy into the wild tv /internet hunting #### crap watching absolutely awful shooting and terrible shot placement passed off as good hits and kills.
 
time4t said:
Many seem to think that any head, neck or spine shot is an instant killer and nothing can be further from the truth. Yes- a clean brain shot or solid cns spinal hit stop things quickly, but the target areas are often small and the potential for initially non-lethal fringe hits are there. In some scenarios such as incoming predators, yes, seeking a solid cns or brain hit is the idea, but a break bone- incapacitating shot followed by finisher is also a good play. Take some time to study the anatomy of the animal that you want to put down and learn how to apply the intended shot correctly. Too many people buy into the wild tv /internet hunting #### crap watching absolutely awful shooting and terrible shot placement passed off as good hits and kills.
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You mean like the Berger shots dropping animals instantly. ;)
 
I'm not advocating for taking spine shots. I'm questioning why they tend to kill so fast. There's no vital organ near the spine yet the animals tend to expire quickly in my experience.
 
vpsalin said:
I'm not advocating for taking spine shots. I'm questioning why they tend to kill so fast. There's no vital organ near the spine yet the animals tend to expire quickly in my experience.
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Not to be a ####, but you need to experience or see more marginal shots happen.

They don't always kill so fast, what part of the spine are we specifically referring to?

Within an in or two of the brain stem, sure, as you move further down the road the percentage of fatal hits reduces.

Maybe we are strapping a grenade to a an animals back?
 
A solid brain, stem, cervical and upper thoracic hit is pretty quickly fatal on a big game animal. A rearward- hit in the lower spinal distribution, pretty much from the lower thoracic vertebrae back- , give or take a bit, can still use its front legs and the shot is not immediately fatal.
 
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rifleman762 said:
I've had this happen on an accidental spine shot. The doe crawled up to a fence and stopped. When I slit its throat it was looking me in the eyes and still holding its head up. Not ideal... Now I make sure to double lung every animal I shoot.
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One of my first deer taken when I was young was very similar , a misjudge due to inexperience resulted in a spine shot directly above the lungs, bet not many know what kind of sounds a doe in distress can make but I heard it that day.

Wasn't the last I had to deal with in life either , no fault of my own, but saw others.

Actually, just as I type this I do remember a specific doe shot with a facing head on shot that was hit in what I thought was a DRT , not the case, neck was broke halfway down, left our rifles behind as didn't want to carry it back with said animal, thankfully had my knife with me, animal was fully alive when I got to it.
 
bearhunter said:
No diss intended but I've had to dispatch to many animals that ran away after having part of their heads shot off or a bullet that passed through the neck, without hitting an artery or the spine and the shooter thinks it was a clean miss, so left the area.

Those poor buggers take several days to die, while in agony.

You are most likely a very decent shot, but to recommend head and neck sots????????????????????????????
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X2, once saw a buck with his jaw shot off.

Grizz
 
The buck I shot this year was a spine shot, he dropped but didn't die. I sat for 5 minutes in the stand with him not moving and when I got to him, I realized he was still alive. What I assumed was a lung or heart shot was actually a very poorly placed spine shot. No excuse, I rushed the shot. I don't know if he was in pain that 5 minutes he laid there before I finished him but it still bothers me.
 
I have a buddy that swears by neck spine shots on dear ... it’s not for me.

My Dad was an old moose hunter, so he explained to me as a child ... a moose’s neck is this big as he stretched out his hands and a spine is only this big as he held his hands close togther.

Wise enough words for me
 
If you sever the spinal cord at C6 the animal can breathe with the diaphragm, and will be paralyzed from the neck down, while remaining fully conscious. Sever at C2, the animal will suffocate, as in judicial hanging.
 
I'm not recommending a brain/spine shot but if you do end up taking one, make sure you bleed the animal.

Heart/Lung shots will bleed it for you but a CNS shot doesn't always do the job.
 
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