Anchoring game. Why high shoulder over neck shots?
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Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Depends on what is and is not "meat"Properly placed…….zero meat loss!memtb
If your one of those super literal "none of this animal goes to waste" types that eats EVERYTHING….
I was hiking around in the woods like I do.I came upon a elk bedded 1/4 too me.I thought why not shoot it in the neck, with my 340wby.I did and it spun out not offering a shot.I tracke d 1/2 mile.Then lost it with a herd, then doubled backhand it was headed up the mountain, finely caught it and dumped it for good with a shoulder shot.You could fit a rebar threw hole in neck, but it just hit muscle.Did the same on my biggest muley.Its not a shot I take on purpose anymore
You try for the shoulder now? Id assume about any angle works with the right bullet in a .340 WBY
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Thanks for telling the truth about that: I feel there's a lot of folks who talk about head and neck shots that went right and a lot who remain tight lipped about just how awful it is when such shots go wrong. Regardless of my shooting ability and confidence, I've seen enough that I've decided I'll stick to boring old "body shots".
ridge86
Well-Known Member
Front leg forward and put it in the boiler room is my shot preference! 7prc thumps them down
Amen!
Same goes for smaller than needed calibers and bullet weight/construction.
Dont hear from many of those either.
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
With head shots I've never had one "go wrong" other than straight up missing. But to be fair I guess if the fates misaligned you could hit one in the jaw maybe? Pretty much everywhere else in the head and they're down.
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
I've seen the exact thing you've referenced. And it was my fault, when I was a teenager I blew a whitetails bottom jaw off. It's horrible. I've never felt more like a piece of
than I did that day. We did track it down and finish it, thankfully. Off by a few inches on a chest shot is no big deal. Off by a few on a head shot can cause unspeakable misery and suffering.
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
Ok yeah, makes sense that you'd be squeamish now. I've never hit that far forward, mainly back half of the head. These aren't Chris Kyle tacti-cool sniper shots either, I'm taking these shots for doe control on ranches and the set ups aren't all that hard. Normally ~100 yards or closer feeder shots so the paid hunters can peruse the trophy animals.
I've shot each the neck and shoulder on elk . One was a big 6x5 bull with a 50 cal muzzleloader at 80-90 yds broadside . Hit in front of the shoulder at the base of the neck . 338 powerbelt and a 150 pyrodex charge dumped the big old boy in his tracks. My go to gun is a 300 win and hit a cow elk low shoulder thru the top of the heart and out the pouch behind the off leg and she ran about 100 yds . Made for a no blood tracking job. The problem with shoulder is usually the meat loss . That's a big chunk of meat to waste from blood shot or fragments and only gets worse if you get penatration thru the off side. I'd have to admit I'll take the shot I'm given but need to focus on a rib or two back and put it thru the lungs.
I've seen deer and hogs hit in the jaw and that equates to a very slow lingering death from starvation unless someone happens to see it and put it out of its misery. It happens more than folks think.
If you're getting heart and coming out behind the offside shoulder you're too low and back most of the time for an instant stop. There you often get a plugged hole just behind the shoulder on the offside that can wind up bleeding very little. Unfortunately rifle shots vary alot when it comes to leaving decent blood trails. Or the blood trail may not start for 20 or 30 yards.
I always think offside shoulder or where will my bullet exit which may mean base of the neck on the onside on a quartering to shot. Quartering away I want it coming out in front of the offside shoulder.
Amen, I've seen enough big deer lost or very luckily found with a 243 and smaller that I swore those calibers off. It works ok if you can shoot but still a risk in my opinion. Bullets have gotten better since then. But there's still a line there when you drop below 6.5 or 25 caliber that for some reason makes a difference. I had three friends that grew up with 243s and most every time they shot it was an ordeal. They weren't great shots but they could do ok in that department. Finally, one Christmas for whatever reason they all got 270s or 30-06s. That ended a lot of the after shot drama. This is on whitetails and hogs of course, nothing larger.
Another thing that happens when you have a blood dog, which I've always had, is you get to trail a lot. But one thing you'll notice is repeat calls from the same folks. Some folks just can't shoot. Then many of those start thinking they need more gun. Which only makes them shoot worse. We all probably have those guys that we cringe when their name pops up on caller ID.
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