Neck Shot Disappointment

[mifune326]

Hang in there brother,your not the first to miss the sweet spot by a hair and won't be the last.
I hope the Axis deer made it through the shot.I have seen deer take a shot and recover.Hang in there!

This . I lost a Whitetail in WY this past October that jumped the fence onto private land and took off. Its a heartbreaker but it happens to the best of us. Stay up and keep shooting!

 

[mifune326]

I once shot off hand at a coues deer and saw it do a flip in the air. It was 4' off the ground with its feet straight up at one point. I landed in a heap, then ran behind a juniper tree. I walked confidently up the the juniper expecting a dead deer, and was so surprised when it jumped up and ran away, I didn't get a shot off. I knew I had hit it, so I looked and looked for blood. I finally found a 4" piece of its antler on the ground. That's what is known as knocked for a loop.

Same thing happened to me. Thought I had hit a Whitetail pretty solid. It went and layed down behind a huge piece of sage brush. My hunting buddy found it and went recover it. I hear what sounds like a horse galloping my way and here it comes, straight at me. It looked about as big as a friggin freight train. It was all I could do to get out its way as it flew by me within 6 inches. Found a blood trail and a bone fragment but no deer.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

I try to always discourage folks from making the neck shot. Too much to go wrong and I really can't see the value of saving 3 oz of blood shot meat. Concerning follow up shots, my grand dad used to say "you shoot till you can't seem anymore, you run out of bullets, or they fall down dead."

 

[crkckr]

I will agree that a neck shot can sometimes just not work out. Which is why, if I can get close enough (<100 yds) to a calm animal, I will take head shots. You can be off a bit and they will still anchor an animal pretty quickly. However, if the critter is the least bit nervous, I won't risk it, since it's pretty common for them to move at just the wrong time! In that case the heart lung shot is preferred since you can miss by quite a bit and still kill them pretty quickly!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[selmerfan]

I've killed more than a handful of deer with a neck shot and never lost one. But I've only ever take it when it's the only reasonable shot presented and never at more than 100 yards. Facing me straight on? Neck shot. Facing straight away with the right angle to get the neck at the base of the skull? I'll take that before a THS. And a few where the neck was the only vital place that was clear of branches or brush. Otherwise the shot to take is in the boiler room of the heart and lungs.

 

[nralifer]

I once shot off hand at a coues deer and saw it do a flip in the air. It was 4' off the ground with its feet straight up at one point. I landed in a heap, then ran behind a juniper tree. I walked confidently up the the juniper expecting a dead deer, and was so surprised when it jumped up and ran away, I didn't get a shot off. I knew I had hit it, so I looked and looked for blood. I finally found a 4" piece of its antler on the ground. That's what is known as knocked for a loop.

I once shot a Blesbok in the horn and it knocked it out. I thought initially it was a DRT shot but as I went up to it it woke up. Had to shoot it on the run which killed it.

 

[geocodyrgia]

IMO, I look at this post as a a guy being willing to share not just all the giant racks and success stories but a real lesson that goes far beyond himself and for that you're to be commended sir! Thank you for being willing to help someone younger like myself who very well might have taken that shot as well learn a lesson without having to learn it the same way. I'm sure you knew there would be guys with the "whoa ho, I'd have NEVER even considered that shot, it's unethical" mentality that would feel the need to chime in and you still took the flak and relayed this valuable experience. Thank you!