Neck shots.

My step son shot his biggest buck broadside and he pulled the shot some hit him square in the neck just in front of the shoulder. I have never seen an animal drop like that.no kicking no anything it's as if it was dead 30 minutes before it hit the ground. I also shot a doe at about 4 steps in the back of the neck and came out the white patch of her throat with a slug gun on the run. Multiple cartwheels.
 
Last edited:
I've taken a few neck shots on deer. Base of the neck when they just wouldn't step out. Part of it was that 3 inch 12 gauge slug hammering so hard it just knocked the crap out of them. I also shot a doe staring at me straight on just below her head and she did a complete backflip!
 
I've taken two elk, a 5x5 and a cow, with neck shots. First a 30-06 and the other with a 308. Both off hand. Both very close. The bull was within 20 yards in thick timber, the cow asleep in deep snow within 10-20 feet. I had a clear shot at a section of neck on the bull and put the bullet at the base of the ear with the cow. Both pretty instant kills. I remember thinking, I can't really miss this shot, and didn't. So I think a lung shot is always the preference with elk, but in certain rare circumstances a neck will do. An elk has a much thicker more muscular and hairier neck than a deer does, so I think there is a greater chance for it to go wrong. Hitting the neck is not enough. You have to hit the spine.
 
I've taken a few neck shots on deer. Base of the neck when they just wouldn't step out. Part of it was that 3 inch 12 gauge slug hammering so hard it just knocked the crap out of them. I also shot a doe staring at me straight on just below her head and she did a complete backflip!
From memory you shot the roe buck with me with a neck shot?
 
I killed an antelope buck in Wyoming that had been shot through the neck broadside. His trachea and esophagus were both ripped open, most likely that day or the day before from the look of it. He was essentially breathing through the gash in his neck.
As I walked up on him I was initially a little disappointed that his horns weren't as big as I originally thought. Then I saw his neck wound, and knew instantly that he was the buck I was meant to take. He would have been unable to eat or drink with the torn esophagus and would most likely have been live coyote food when he became too weak to run.
Like some others have stated, I'm not a fan of a broadside neck shot. Straight on or facing straight away with a steady rest is a lot better shot with little risk of a debilitating wound from a poorly placed shot. I'm not a fan of broadside head shots for the same reason.
 
Deer populations are going bananas in south Georgia. Im planning on shooting my full load of 10 does this year in my favorite fashion, wait til they graze their way over to the field road, whistle, shoot them in the white patch on their neck, drive right to them. It seems lazy, but that's because it is.
 
All jokes aside I love a good neck shot. Only facing towards or away, and I don't recommend solid copper. A rapidly expanding bullet will turn the lights out even if you miss the vertebrae, a copper bullet needs to hit the bone or you run the risk of it not having time to expand.
 
IMO neck shots are the best if you can do it. They drop and don't risk the shoulder meat. Many times when shooting in the boiler room the exit wound destroys the opposite shoulder.

If there close and I feel good I will take a neck shot.
 
I’ve shot 3 elk and 6 deer with neck shots. I had a really bad case as a teen. This practice caused me to miss a lot of animals until becoming an adult. I didn’t completely stop with neck shots, but all have been under 150 yards. Learning how to shoot in the military with open sights definitely helped when transitioning back to hunting with a scope. Buck fever/ over excitement I think was the biggest hurdle I learned to adapt when hunting. Practicing shooting in situations where my heart rate is elevated, helped in hunting shots and my ability to focus for neck shots.
 
When I was 17, I bugled in a bull and shot him in the neck at 30y with a 30-06. Dropped like a rock. As I was patting myself on the back he jumped to his feet and ran off. Never saw him again. That was my last attempt at a neck shot.
I have heard of this but never experienced it. That sucks.
 
When I was 17, I bugled in a bull and shot him in the neck at 30y with a 30-06. Dropped like a rock. As I was patting myself on the back he jumped to his feet and ran off. Never saw him again. That was my last attempt at a neck shot.
Last one I attempted was an 8pt whitetail in the snow. He went down. He got back up. Ran off. Heard a shot. Tracked that thing all the way to my brother, who proudly displays the rack to this day. I missed spine at 40 yards, but stunned the deer enough for me let my guard down. That experience led me to pass on a 6x6 bull in the timber a few years ago with trees covering vitals. Had the neck shot, didn’t take it.
 
Last edited:
GOHUNT Insider

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
114,011
Messages
2,041,062
Members
36,429
Latest member
Dusky
Back
Top