Addicting
Well-known member
I may of seen a 900+yard, 6.5 Creedmoor, base of the neck kill. In the dudes defense he had shot it at 200ish yards broadside. But then it just kept running and running. Things got a little western after that.
Neck shots.
- Thread starter nwihunter
- Start date
That’s why I start with the neck shot. Hitting vertebrae c2 never disappoints. Sometimes c3 when it’s blowing a little. Hit my antilope there at 577. Drops like a stone. Takes some practice to have the confidence though. I shoot a couple thousand rounds at all distances. Mainly 500 to 750. It helps to practice in the typical Wyoming breeze.
When my oldest daughter was taking hunters ed. I sat in on every class. The instructor, who was very famous and highly respected in the Oregon hunters ed program, Told the kids to never take a neck shot on an elk. He said you might miss the spine and just wound the animal. He was also very adamant about not shooting from or across a road. Well, later that same year I was on my very first muzzle loader elk hunt when I hear a shot very close by. I went to investigate and there was that instructor with two other people and a dead cow elk with a half inch hole in her neck laying right there in the middle of the road. The hunters ed instructor wasn't the shooter, but still.
I personally have killed four deer with neck shots, one at less than 10 feet and one with an arrow when I made a really crappy shot, but it isn't a shot I normally take.
I personally have killed four deer with neck shots, one at less than 10 feet and one with an arrow when I made a really crappy shot, but it isn't a shot I normally take.
Bullshot
Well-known member
I have dispatched some animals with a neck shot after an initial shot but for some reason, I’ve never taken one up front and to be honest it never even occurs to me in the moment. Surely I’ve missed opportunities by waiting for broadside. I might need to drum into my head that the shot IS an option, under ideal circumstances.
.270Rem
Well-known member
If you have the time and the shot is within your abilities, then it's all just a matter of do you want to take the shot. I've shot plenty of deer with a neck shot and will do it again if the circumstances are right for it. Think through the variables like your ability to place an accurate shot at that range, the ballistics of your chosen weapon, whether the elk is moving/alert/upwind/etc. and then shoot or wait for a shot you have higher confidence in.
David58
Well-known member
If you "horseshoe" your neck shot and "kinda miss", your odds of cutting vitals that will kill the elk, but hours or days later, are higher. Yes, it can be a quick drop, but if you don't quite miss you can have a tougher time tracking than an elk with a blown up heart and lungs that is bleeding.
David
NM
David58
Well-known member
And yes, I have taken neck shots. My last elk was bedded on the far side of a log, and the neck shot was all I had. DRT. But still not my first choice, only will take it if dictated by the circumstances and it is a totally clear, standing shot. But that's me, so YMMV.
David
NM
David
NM
seeth07
Well-known member
If an animal is straight on or straight away, aiming high neck,base of head is a great aiming point for a very effective shot. Talking about an elk, the bullet can go 4 inches left or right and probably more like 8 to 10 inches high/low and the animal will pretty much drop right down. 5 inches left or right and you are grazing/cutting muscle and chance of survival is extremely high compared to an animal that is say gut shot.
I think a lot of that logic goes away some if the animal is broadside.
I've only ever done it once on a deer and it worked great.
I think a lot of that logic goes away some if the animal is broadside.
I've only ever done it once on a deer and it worked great.
blackbeard
Well-known member
Aim small, miss small. Not sure I'd do it with a bow though.
Bullshot
Well-known member
I was waiting for someone to go there… lol
noharleyyet
Well-known member
No one cares, work harder
devon deer
Well-known member
I have never neck shot an Elk, but more deer than I care to remember, I keep it simple, all less than 100 yards, face on or from the rear, never side on, too risky side on, you can just hit the windpipe and it will run off and have a slow death, and you will just think, damn I missed.
I wanted my kids to do neck shots when they were young so I didn't have to blood trail anything nor deal with the associated drama. I bought the Safari Press targets that show the animal on one side and the vitals with skeleton on the other.
They couldn't consistently hit vertebrae. They also couldn't consistently hit high shoulder. They could hit heart/lung without fail. The outcome is 8 & 9 yo kids who refused any shot other than heart/lung and have always been better game shots than most of the men they hunt around. Approaching their teens they switched to high shoulder through continued use of those targets in pre-season practice.
If you look on the SC DNR web site you can find a synopsis of a data collection exercise tracking shot placement versus recovery. tl;dr with neck shots you either find it right there or you don't find it though you may have made a fatal wound.
Neck shots are fine if you know you can make them, but if you don't know then you'll likewise be ignorant of when you waste game.
They couldn't consistently hit vertebrae. They also couldn't consistently hit high shoulder. They could hit heart/lung without fail. The outcome is 8 & 9 yo kids who refused any shot other than heart/lung and have always been better game shots than most of the men they hunt around. Approaching their teens they switched to high shoulder through continued use of those targets in pre-season practice.
If you look on the SC DNR web site you can find a synopsis of a data collection exercise tracking shot placement versus recovery. tl;dr with neck shots you either find it right there or you don't find it though you may have made a fatal wound.
Neck shots are fine if you know you can make them, but if you don't know then you'll likewise be ignorant of when you waste game.
Don Fischer
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- Jun 27, 2017
- Messages
- 3,155
Most guy's reloading seem to want a rifle shooting 1" groups at 100 yds. That is so they can the heart lung area of a deer at 150 yds.! so I'm thinking the idea is you need a 1" rifle to hit an 8" target. has never made a lot of sense to me. I've done a lot of neck shots but I do get pretty close to take them. Then I like the spot where the head and neck meet. Never had an animal run off from a neck shot. But I also think the idea of a neck shot runs out at some point depending on the shooters ability. If your shooting a 1" rifle at a one inch target the one inch at even 200 yds is smaller than at 100 yds! Well not really, just appears that way and I don't know many guys that can keep a 1" load in a 1" group at 200 yds with a rifle shot mostly from a bench rest and bags! That's a catch with neck shots! Most the neck shot's I've taken were within a hundred or so yds with rifles I sight in from a bench rest and bags! I do shoot at smaller rock ect out to outrageous ranges from field positions just to practice shooting but seems to me there a difference between shooting at a rock and an animal.
Forkyfinder
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- Dec 13, 2023
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Ive shot several sub 3" groups at 500 yards, from a bench, at the nice day at the range. Doesnt really mean i can shoot a 3" target at 500 hunting. I mean no disrespect - but i think folks are fooling themselves with how their rifle shoots at the range and comparing it to hunting. Totally different, in terms of variables that affect how you shoot (elements, bench, stationary target, no adrenaline, no fatigue, no hiking/elevation to raise your pulse).
Besides that - I also feel like mistakes happen - both in and out of your control. Low odds of it - but a bad load, a scope that lost zero, etc and the obvious pulling the shot.
Again not saying i wouldnt. Just never had to.
wweaver79
Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2021
- Messages
- 12
I am not good enough to try neck shots, to much room for error. But yes they either work great or they do not. Now straight on shot at the base of the neck/throat I have done, that works. But again not a lot of room for error.
