243 shot placement question

[68w]

I tried several different flavors of factory ammo and found 80 gr. Blue box federal printing one hole groups at 100 yards. Got my rifle zeroed for 250 yards, shot a 180 lb doe straight through the heart at 262 yards. The doe jumped a fence and ran about 50 yards through some terrible terrain ending up in a lovely mudhole. Bullet performed mostly as expected, entered low in the chest and deviated up upon entering exiting mid chest opposite side. Heart was in pieces, lungs relatively untouched, bullet expanded and exited hurrah. Question is this, where should I put a shot to anchor the deer right there with an 80 grain softpoint since blowing the heart to smithereens didn't seem immediately effective. Additionally don't want to ruin a bunch of meat, very little bloodshot on the quarters with the shot as made.

 

[bigngreen]

Shoot just above the heart, seems to me that it's faster. Whitetail can cover some ground without a heart but I'd rather that than shoot them through the shoulders.

 

[HARPERC]

Pretty typical heart shot IMO. Nothing to change or fix.

 

[jaeger19]

I tried several different flavors of factory ammo and found 80 gr. Blue box federal printing one hole groups at 100 yards. Got my rifle zeroed for 250 yards, shot a 180 lb doe straight through the heart at 262 yards. The doe jumped a fence and ran about 50 yards through some terrible terrain ending up in a lovely mudhole. Bullet performed mostly as expected, entered low in the chest and deviated up upon entering exiting mid chest opposite side. Heart was in pieces, lungs relatively untouched, bullet expanded and exited hurrah. Question is this, where should I put a shot to anchor the deer right there with an 80 grain softpoint since blowing the heart to smithereens didn't seem immediately effective. Additionally don't want to ruin a bunch of meat, very little bloodshot on the quarters with the shot as made.

Imho ... you put it in the right place. A shoulder shot will either ruin meat or more like fail to kill with a softpoint after 200 yards. Hitting the spine would be dead right there but its not an ethical shot.

 

[Tom264]

Lungs

 

[Bbear]

Figure about 1/3 to 1/2 way down from the spine, just behind the shoulder area. At 1/2 you take out the arteries and veins of the heart as well as the front part of the lungs. Higher up (at the 1/3 point) you'll take out the lungs, the blood vessels coming into the lungs and possibly shock the central nervous system. Shots in either place should reduce the amount of running a deer will do.
Though you say you don't want to ruin meat, I've always tried to put my shot where it will take out the off shoulder. Vast majority of deer when hit that way won't go much further then 10-20 yards.

 

[dougduey]

Read the article "Effective Game Killing-Parts 1 & 2" by Nathan Foster on this website. It will answer all of your questions. I was taught to shoot deer just behind the front leg and that typically ended up being a heart shot. Every deer ran even though they were technically dead. Had one run about 100 yards before it collapsed. When I gutted him, the heart fell out of the body cavity since the bullet severed it completely!! Double lung any animal and it dies fast. I changed my shot placement once I started hunting pronghorn since the meat is inedible if they run. High shoulder shot, or front edge of the front leg (as Nathan Foster recommends) to get the autonomic nerve plexus. They don't move if you hit them there.

 

[grovey]

Let the air out of them, and they're not going far. Heart shots always run no matter how big a super magnum you use.

 

[Timeout]

Neck shot will drop them where they stand. Another shot guaranteed to do that is the spine but that ruins good tenderloin meat. Well, actually right between the eyes anchors them also. Of all the deer that I have killed, only did that once. I was shooting a 788 Remington in .243 caliber many years ago and dropped a good 10 point that way.

 

[jpretle]

Go for the lung shots. AND use a 100g bullet. 80g is a bit light in my view.

 

[WildRose]

I tried several different flavors of factory ammo and found 80 gr. Blue box federal printing one hole groups at 100 yards. Got my rifle zeroed for 250 yards, shot a 180 lb doe straight through the heart at 262 yards. The doe jumped a fence and ran about 50 yards through some terrible terrain ending up in a lovely mudhole. Bullet performed mostly as expected, entered low in the chest and deviated up upon entering exiting mid chest opposite side. Heart was in pieces, lungs relatively untouched, bullet expanded and exited hurrah. Question is this, where should I put a shot to anchor the deer right there with an 80 grain softpoint since blowing the heart to smithereens didn't seem immediately effective. Additionally don't want to ruin a bunch of meat, very little bloodshot on the quarters with the shot as made.

If you want to drop an animal dead in it's tracks you have to put it through the spine or brain.

The most effective shot and one that gives you the most room for error is through the shoulders about 1/4-1/3 of the way down from the withers.

As others have stated you need to find a heavier bullet to increase your odds of success. Light and fast is cool and flat for 400yds or so but they leave very little room for error.

 

[waltercrouse]

Go for the lung shots. AND use a 100g bullet. 80g is a bit light in my view.

80 grain lead bullets are little light. I would use 95 hornady SST or copper bullet Barnes 80TTSX or 85 TSX . The copper bullets expansion is very good and heart or lung shot would put down the deer.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

I can't add a lot more than WildRose did as I am in complete agreement with him. I also agree with everyone that prefers a heavier bullet. You've already proved that the 80grain pill will do the job however, as already alluded to, contact with bone may give you some results you don't like.

Someone above brought up the neck shot. Personally I've used this shot several times, twice last year alone. A few inside 100 and one at over 600; none made it more than 2 steps. Right, wrong or indifferent, I've had 100% success. YMMV.

We should also discuss the OPs experience with what is described as a well placed heart shot. In my experience, every animal reacts differently. Honestly, I've had far more animal go down immediately or within 50yds than I've ever seen run >50. I'd bet the next one the OP smacks in the heart will react differently. In what way, who knows lol.


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[68w]

Thanks for the feedback. My rifle has 1/9 twist but favors 75-85 grain bullets, will clover leaf factory ammo. 95 and 100's open up to around an inch or better @100 yards. Still plenty usable, just always tried to shoot what the rifle likes the best.