What do you think of a head or neck shot? Are you For it....

OR are you against it? I didn't want to high jack Duffy4's topic and so here is a new topic. It was inspired by RockyMTNX's thoughts that no one posted a head or neck shot yet in Duffy4's topic. So what are your views on the subject? Are you for or against a neck or a head shot.

Absolutely against it.....unless you're including gophers, then the toque shot is one of my favorites.

Opposed. Takes a hell of a marksman, from a solid rest, at close rge to be able to absolutely make a kill shot in this regard. Too much in the neck area that isnt vital to even confidently attempt this. And a head is even a worse idea. Ya ever saw an animal with its jaw shot off???? I rest my case.

keep a strain on er.

Shot the jaw off a coyote with a cci stinger waaaaay back. 40 yrds broadside...i certainly killed him but probably starved to death for a week or so before that happened. Had i gone for the boiler room i would have found him dead within 50 yrds. Lesson learned. The stigma for rimfire coyotes is to head shoot em....nope...i'm 17 for 17 on coyotes with .17 hmr to 100ish yrds...boiler room only...over 50% go down on spot and the rest do the typical 30-50 yrd lung hit runner(similar to bow kills on deer)...and i find every single one of them.

All i did was apply the same strategy i use for bowhunting...the 'BIGGEST' kill zone is the most reliable as in a hunting circumstance with adrenaline and all the other variables....the hunter has the highest odds of being successful if he goes for the largest kill zone...simple math. On a coyote for example you got a 2" kill zone for the brain shot...probably 8-10" for the heart/lung/liver......we're talking 4-5 times bigger kill zone. The head shot is a poor term...it should be called brain shot as there's lots of the head that if you hit won't kill them...you want that 2" circle of stuff in behind its eyes(coyote) and nothing else. Skin a coyote and you'll see that his head is the toughest part of him and holds the smallest kill zone...when you see how wimpy they are under all that fur then it becomes very clear that the boiler room is the only way to go...and same goes for the rest of the critters.

Now for small game or say dangerous game in a self defence issue or need to recover a small critter right away as you'll never find it if you lose sight of it....then the head shot becomes a bit of a necessity...otherwise...i'm a boiler room fan all the way. To each their own...thats my two cents.

p.s. have seen lots of neck shots absolutely fold up big game animals so it can be good but i'd never choose it if i could go for the boiler room instead...i'd be thinking like 80% on the neck or 99% on the boiler room in my head...the neck wouldn't be an option for me...probably wouldn't enter my mind at all...just me though...seems to work for lots of guys

Blake

I think it really depends on the situation out of the last 10 or so animals I’ve taken all but 3 were neck shots. But I always have a rest usually in the prone position and non-over the 100-yard mark. The 3 that I didn’t take in the neck either didn’t offer the right shot or I didn’t have the right rest. I’ve taken moose deer and elk all with the neck shot non-new what hit ‘em


cohod

With a perfect hit,they kill quick and clean.However a very slight error can result in either a jaw shot off,or an animal that drops at the shot stunned,then gets up and runs away to die later.I have far too much respect for the game I hunt to take that chance,so I don't use head or neck shots unless the game is already wounded.

Well I'll jump into the boiling pot. :rollin

Not bragging, but I've shot a ton of big game animals. If I feel comfortable that I can make the shot, I will opt for a neck shot.
This depends on if the animal is a trophy, {no neck shot,} and if I am anchored and confident I will make the shot.

Have I had any run off? Not that I can remember. I have some runners from the boiler room shots, and actually some with unbelievable internal damage.

The argument that I could break a jaw is not valid. I have seen a hell of a lot more big game with broken legs, or missing legs than I have with a broken jaws.

Anytime anyone pulls a trigger, something can happen other than the expected outcome.

I'm confident with my equipment, my judgement and my skill level to take responsibility for my shooting.
Do I ever miss?? that's a question for another day.

My ideas on the subject are... Aim small, miss small.
aka bushmaster, good to see your still with us.

Your not alone in the "boiling pot" there Redfrogoutfitter I'm in it as well. Not one of the deer ever got up again on a neck shot that I took as well. Its hard to get up with a big hole in your wind pipe. Nonetheless it is no secert that I do neck shots I have made that known on several occaions. I do heart and lung shots as well.

See...Redfrog has lots more experience than me and the neck works good for him. Lots of longtime hunters like this shot from what i've seen.

But i think its mostly firearms i'm hearing these stories right? Would the neck guys go for the same shot with archery tackle?

When i was a kid i watched my old man make a shot on an elk with archery tackle, it was a cow elk, he thought forsure it was good and we watched her go a long ways across the grain field and into the timber and then tracked her a few hours later and with dog too (that was next day with dog) but never found her. I remember seeing that arrow perfectly centered through her neck probably half way up and if she was standing looking straight at you then the arrow was left to right. So it must have hit that thin band between spine and wind pipe as there wasn't hardly any blood either. My Dad is still amazed that in that little part of the neck with all that is vital that he didn't catch a piece of anything vital. So i'm curious if anyone prefers the neck with archery stuff or best left to the smoke poles?

Blake

Blake, You are correct.

I wouldn't use the neck shot with a bow, because it kills differently than a firearm. Very little, ....... no shocking power.
Archery kills bleed out. Rifle kills are sometime tissue damage, but can certainly be mainly hydrostatic shock.

Thanks...was just curious and thats exactly what i was thinking. By the way the critters i've seen fold up on the neck shots it seems quite apparent that the hydrostatic shock thing is in full effect.

B

Fellas, these big game animals have alot of will to live. I have seen very few animals drop in their tracks. I dont believe in that a bullet kills from the "shock". Why do we constantly search for a bullet for hunting purposes that has good expansion, and yet retains its weight well with out fragmenting, and or breaking apart. Why dont you guys use a target bullet for hunting then. A bullet and a broadhead are designed to accomplish the same thing. Hemoraging is the name of the game. Head and neck shots are risky business, and i choose not to take em. To each his own though.

keep a strain on er. pack.

No I wouldn't attempt a head or neck shot with a bow myself but as I said on another thread I heard of a deer that was hit in the head with an arrow and died and another one that was hit in the neck as well and it died to. Now that neck shot from what I can gather was a wayward arrow and was not aimed at the neck. Thank God it died just the same.

The argument that I could break a jaw is not valid. I have seen a hell of a lot more big game with broken legs, or missing legs than I have with a broken jaws.

So have I,probably because the vast majority of hunters shoot for the lungs which are much closer to the legs than to the jaw.If the majority of hunters shot for the neck or head,the situation would be reversed.Then again,missing legs are often not fatal,unlike a missing jaw,so the odds of seeing a deer with a missing leg is much higher,even with the same number of each.

[Rockymtnx]

I didnt feel like re-typing my feelings on this one so I will just copy it from the other post.

Personally I am dead against the head and neck shot. I have seen a few animals that have been lost and suffered do to it.

The first time I seen a guy take a shot on a cow moose and hit her in the neck with a .338 @ 125 yards. She bled like crazy. But was never recovered. Maybe she lived maybe she didn't. She didn't need to suffer.

The second time was by myself. One of my only regrets of hunting. Two years ago I had a 85 yard shot on a cow elk through the trees with a .300 WBY. The only shot I had was a head shot. Being a good shot I was confident I could make it. I pulled the trigger and down she went. I figured all was good. I waited a couple of minutes and walked over there to find some blood and half the lower jaw on the ground. The blood trail stopped within a 100 yards. We spent a day and a half looking for her and never did. I hunted that area for a week and never did see any birds. It really bothered me about the mistake I made that day.

A broadside shot wastes meat??? What meat does a lung to lung shot waste. If you go lung to lung the only meat wasted is the small amount of rib meat. We are talking about 1/2 a pound of sausage meat being wasted.

Advantages of shooting lung to lung:
- Minimal meat is wasted
- If you have a hole through both lungs you are going down. You wont live. Thee animal may run 200 yards but its going down.
- As I have stated before a animal can me lost on a head or neck shot. How many are lost on a clean lung shot?

Have you ever seen a bow hunter shoot something in the head??? Probably not

I've never taken a head shot but I did drop a 5x5 elk with a neck shot.He was fairly close but in really heavy timber and a heart/lung shot wasn't going to happen.I tell ya he went down like a ton of lead but when I ran up to him I gave him one below the ear just to make sure that he wasn't going to get up.

Come to think of it I do that with all elk and moose.

[Dunezilla]

I use the neck shot each year along with the heart or lung shot as well. In the past 3 years I harvest 11 deer, 5 were heart or lung and 5 were neck shots and none of the 11 deer ever got up again. Oh and the 11th one sawed the back bone in half(to the right of the sholders) If your looking at him from his left side. It was the only part of his body I could see except for his head and romp area. Died right there and then.

Some of my bullits on a front neck shot sent a couple of the deer flying backward (reared up on the hind legs and over on to there backs). At 30,40 and 50 yards a 180grain bullit does a good job. Remington core loc.

[Lethalconnection]

The only time i will take a head shot is if the animal is still moving and sufffering when i get to it. But other then that i always go for the main vital area.

[Huntnut]

Tried it once-didn't like it-now it's boiler room or nothing.

[Suka]

Rifle, mulie lying on a sidehill with his head up, under 100 yds. definite neck shot. Personally other than that, no.

i always have, and always will disagree with head and neck shots. I dont need the meat or a trophy that bad to risk wounding an animal myself. besides, if you hold out and pass up the shot cuz it was too risky, the big buck is gonna be bigger next year's season

[Senator]

I have never shot for the head but i have taken neck shots. Understand tho I still only take a shot if I know that I can hit the animal. I have only taken 2 neck shots ever and both times the animal dropped where it stood

[John Spartan]

Only time I used a head shot was to put another hunter's deer out of its misery (3 foot shot).

For deer i have used the neck shot with great success. I have used a head shot twice. Once was on my first deer as a follow up several years back(didn't know how much deer twitched after dying, shot was in vain), the other was on my first mulie buck which was standing at a funny angle when finally seperated from his does (he still made it 20 or so yards before stopping mid coulee, if i could go back i'd wait out longer for a body shot but thats the way it goes when you have a tag that took 3yr priority closing afternoon, the shot was into the back of the head just below the antlers, meat means more to me than the trophy but damage to the skull was still not that bad). I have harvested three or four does with neck shots (probably a very similar number with solid lung shots), all fell like a ton of bricks and i lost no meat whatsoever. This was hunting in southern Alberta where a follow up shot woul'd always be possible if needed, when i'll be hunting thick brush up around Red Deer and towards Hinton this fall i will definetly be a lot more hesitant of using this method. For bigger game like elk and moose i would definelty wait for a little better opportunity (those are the critters i have heard about when jaws are knocked off).

[Okotokian]

Maybe it works for others. I don't know. I'm not confident I'm a good enough shot to try it.

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Maybe it works for others. I don't know. I'm not confident I'm a good enough shot to try it.

If you can visualize where the heart/lungs are then you should be able to visualize where the spine in the neck is but yeah,if you're not comfortable with the shot then by all means don't take the shot.

[BrownBear416]

Unless you are really close the spine is pretty easy to miss.Unlike heart and lungs there is not much room for error.On big animals like moose you can miss a half a foot high or low and still hit heart and lungs,with spine shots we are talking about inch's.

To risky in my opinion,hard death for an animal slowly starving to death because it had no lower jaw.

[Dunezilla]

Originally Posted by Winchester70

If you can visualize where the heart/lungs are then you should be able to visualize where the spine in the neck is but yeah,if you're not comfortable with the shot then by all means don't take the shot.

Yes sir I agree with the second half of the statement (if you're not comfortable with the shot.....don't take the shot). I don't take the neck shot lightly by no means and I will take the board side shot more, but I will use the neck shot if the ocassion does arise.

I had a gut shot once and that doesn't make me fill good at all. The muly doe got up looked at me, and then I finished her off in the neck.

[Papershredder]

Originally Posted by Lethalconnection

The only time i will take a head shot is if the animal is still moving and sufffering when i get to it. But other then that i always go for the main vital area.

X2