I have always hunted to put meat in the freezer 1st and to kill a trophy second. I will hunt a few days turning down smaller bucks or bulls if I have the time but I have no problem filling an any elk or deer tag with a doe/cow or small male of either. That is also why I never if possible have taken a shoulder shot first. Placing it low in the heart and lungs seems to work for me and the level of blood shot meat decreases greatly. I have shot lots of animals in the head and neck when I have very good situation. I just have trouble understanding how most people preach the shoulder shot as the only way to place your shot.. If have respect for the animal and what it gives us, should we not what to be able to harvest as much as possible?
Stirring the pot on shot placement
- Thread starter oleefish2
- Start date
I have always wondered about that myself. I consider myself a bow hunter and don't know a lot about rifles. I have killed one elk, two bear and maybe 10 deer with a rifle. All with a .300 sav. and all but one deer were shot in the heart or lungs. All either dropped in their tracks or ran less than 20 yards. Like you I don't see any reason to ruin all that meat. Like I said I am ignorant and know little about bullets and how they work but I do know that the better a bullet expands the quicker the kill. I once shot a large gray squirrel through the lungs with a 7mm mag. The exit hole was the same size as the entrance hole, which got me thinking. The bullet was traveling to fast to have time to expand with the little resistance of the squirrels body. So I wondered if a slow bullet would actually do more damage than a fast bullet passing through the lungs of an animal where there is less resistance than in the shoulder, because it would have more time to expand. I don't know, mostly I just feel like dead is dead no matter how it got that way.
Nick87
Well-known member
I would never say shoulder is the only shot. I always try to put it behind the shoulder but if I've got a quartering towards shot and I feel it's the only shot I'm shooting right through the shoulder.
AggieHunter
Well-known member
It seems like frontal shots are becoming more popular for bowhunters at very close ranges and with he right arrow setup I would have no problem taking the shot. I've seen multiple videos of how devastating it can be.
D4570
Well-known member
Talking about stirring the Pot. What do you think about a Texas Heart shot then?
Saw my father in law drop a bull at 400 yards with the Texas method looked like he had 8 livers when I gutted him. Perfect shot hit the heart no gut shot dropped in seconds.
D
Deleted member 38069
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X2 for double lungs!
Nick87
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I took one on an already hit deer on the run trying to put it down, results were the same. Dropped like a rock no guts blown up.
diamond hitch
Well-known member
I have always tried for upper neck shots first, lungs second, heart third. My long term goal of 57 seasons is to never have more than 5 lbs of bloodshot and scraps/ animal. I have been successful in that in all but 2 years and in those I kept it below 10 lbs. I just don't like wasting meat.
WyoDoug
Well-known member
I prefer just above the scapula which gives you a heart shot. I will not turn down a full fontal shot though especially at close range where I go for the head then. My ideal shot is broadside right above the scapula.
So who here would shoot a rag horn bull in the head or neck?
I feel that a double lung hit behind the shoulder ruins less meat than a neck shot. I'm personally a major fan of a neck roast from deer, and would hate to ruin a couple pounds of meat by blowing it to shreds and filling it with bone chips. Plus, interrupting the spinal column typically sends the animal into full rigor immediately, possibly compromising the tenderness of the meat.
Having mentioned that, I've noticed a MASSIVE decrease in bloodshot while using solid copper ammo opposed to lead. I shot an antelope a couple years ago through both humeri (took out the heart in between), and lost 6 oz of meat to bloodshot- just a tiny handful that was too mangled to even grind. If I had been using lead, it would have been at least 4 lb (based on experiences with whitetail does while working a butcher shop).
I think you mean the humerus. Scapula is the flat paddle of the shoulder blade that comes up from the shoulder joint and covers the front upper quarter of the lungs, while the humerus is the solid round bone that angles down and away from that same shoulder joint to the elbow, covering the bottom half of the heart.
I feel that a double lung hit behind the shoulder ruins less meat than a neck shot. I'm personally a major fan of a neck roast from deer, and would hate to ruin a couple pounds of meat by blowing it to shreds and filling it with bone chips. Plus, interrupting the spinal column typically sends the animal into full rigor immediately, possibly compromising the tenderness of the meat.
Having mentioned that, I've noticed a MASSIVE decrease in bloodshot while using solid copper ammo opposed to lead. I shot an antelope a couple years ago through both humeri (took out the heart in between), and lost 6 oz of meat to bloodshot- just a tiny handful that was too mangled to even grind. If I had been using lead, it would have been at least 4 lb (based on experiences with whitetail does while working a butcher shop).
I think you mean the humerus. Scapula is the flat paddle of the shoulder blade that comes up from the shoulder joint and covers the front upper quarter of the lungs, while the humerus is the solid round bone that angles down and away from that same shoulder joint to the elbow, covering the bottom half of the heart.
Shot a bull in the neck last year. Not my preferred shot, but at 80 yards I figured I could manage. mtmuley
WyoDoug
Well-known member
Who cares what it travels through. I am not biologically adept at what all the body parts are. I sight in on top of the legs and go up about 3 inches and get the heart and sometimes one or both lungs. It drops, that is all that counts to me.
I think what you meant to say was "you are correct, I made a mistake".
How much bloodshot loss was there?
I asked the question because I was hunting with a friend last fall, and we had a raghorn at 60 yards in the timber with the vitals covered and neck exposed. Buddy had won the rock-paper-scissors at the truck for first shot, and he waited for the vitals to get exposed instead of a neck shot. We didn't get the elk, and I've been second-guessing our decision making ever since (and why in the world I decided to throw rock instead of scissors).
Carl 9.3x62
Well-known member
Not sure if I have ever heard the shoulder shot preached, as in shooting it right through the shoulder (although I do like that shot on elk). I have always heard preached shooting low and right behind the shoulder though.
@WyoDoug I think your directions are backwards or you some how think the heart lies up inside the spine, haha. Just giving you a hard time
@WyoDoug I think your directions are backwards or you some how think the heart lies up inside the spine, haha. Just giving you a hard time
WyoDoug
Well-known member
LOL hell no. The lungs might. The spot I am referring to is just below midway between top and bottom of the body above and slightly behind where the upper leg joints the scapula. My favorite aiming point. I don't shoot directly through the shoulders. Once you have flatirons from deer or antelope, you might not either. I don't like to ruin meat other than the organs if I can avoid it.Not sure if I have ever heard the shoulder shot preached, as in shooting it right through the shoulder (although I do like that shot on elk). I have always heard preached shooting low and right behind the shoulder though.
@WyoDoug I think your directions are backwards or you some how think the heart lies up inside the spine, haha. Just giving you a hard time
Gerald Martin
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I have been pleasantly surprised with the lack of bloodshot meat on several frontal shots with Barne TSX. Otherwise I am always aiming for the lungs. Bone shards tend to cause as much meat damage as bullets do if you hit the humerus.
44hunter45
Well-known member
I take neck shots when I have a gimme. It's quick for the animal.
You sure about this?
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