Whitetail POI...... What’s your intended Target?

[Justice1327]

Been hunting 25 years,
Have seen a lot from hair pickers to those who unfortunately break the shot soon as they see brown.

I myself am a heart shooter.
Some hunters aim for lungs, shoulders, or neck.

What's your intended POI and why?
Ie: do you try to preserve as much meat as possible? Are you Rack hunting and don't care about meat damage ?

Base of neck and spine... if shot allows. Otherwise, high shoulder.

 

[ndking1126]

Please describe how the Antelope was standing/direction it was facing, distance, and your intended POI.
Thx

Antelope was standing basically broadside, facing to my right. I aimed left somewhere near the rear ham so the wind pushed it to the right. I missed a shot about 10 seconds earlier, and I was confident it was the wind that caused me to miss so I aimed back even farther on the animal than I did on the first shot. The wind was much stronger than I had shot with before at that distance. I felt comfortable taking the shot because I knew a miss would be a clean miss and any hit would be fatal since it would have been neck/shoulder/front lung area. Maybe it wasnt actually the jugular vein, I'm not an expert on their anatomy. It was a 30-06 shooting 180 grain core-lokts.. so not exactly a good wind-bucking round haha.

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Antelope was standing basically broadside, facing to my right. I aimed left somewhere near the rear ham so the wind pushed it to the right. I missed a shot about 10 seconds earlier, and I was confident it was the wind that caused me to miss so I aimed back even farther on the animal than I did on the first shot. The wind was much stronger than I had shot with before at that distance. I felt comfortable taking the shot because I knew a miss would be a clean miss and any hit would be fatal since it would have been neck/shoulder/front lung area. Maybe it wasnt actually the jugular vein, I'm not an expert on their anatomy. It was a 30-06 shooting 180 grain core-lokts.. so not exactly a good wind-bucking round haha.

Hey NDking.
Thx for responding.
Lol ya corelokts aren't the best wind buckers that's for sure, but they do have good weight retention and expansion.
When I asked the question, I was thinking that you hit it there with a broadhead.
Maybe I misunderstood or didn't read your post properly lol, but I'm glad you replied and answered my question.

How far away was the Antelope?
And what is your best guess on wind speed?

Lastly, I'm very happy to hear you retrieved the Antelope, and I bet you were pretty stoked!

 

[ndking1126]

Hey NDking.
Thx for responding.
Lol ya corelokts aren't the best wind buckers that's for sure, but they do have good weight retention and expansion.
When I asked the question, I was thinking that you hit it there with a broadhead.
Maybe I misunderstood or didn't read your post properly lol, but I'm glad you replied and answered my question.

How far away was the Antelope?
And what is your best guess on wind speed?

Lastly, I'm very happy to hear you retrieved the Antelope, and I bet you were pretty stoked!

Yes, I was! It was my first big game kill with a gun. It was about 325 yards away and I'd guess the wind to be at 20 mph with gusts probably a little faster. I've never put it in a ballistics calculator.. maybe I should. I bet the bullet moved 2 feet left to right.

The broadhead was a doe at 20 yards. I aimed as if she was at 25, so I hit a little high. At the time I was still aiming for the heart so it was a good double lung shot. Sorry if I wasnt clear that those were two different stories.

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Yes, I was! It was my first big game kill with a gun. It was about 325 yards away and I'd guess the wind to be at 20 mph with gusts probably a little faster. I've never put it in a ballistics calculator.. maybe I should. I bet the bullet moved 2 feet left to right.

The broadhead was a doe at 20 yards. I aimed as if she was at 25, so I hit a little high. At the time I was still aiming for the heart so it was a good double lung shot. Sorry if I wasnt clear that those were two different stories.

Congrats on your first with a gun!
That's a memory that will stay with you forever.
Entering info into a ballistics calculator is never a bad idea, in fact I think it's important to run scenarios so you know what you'll be dealing with and what to expect. G.I Joes slogan is knowing is half the battle! Lol.
Now of course nothing beats actual practice, but theory is always a good exercise that's for sure.

325 yards with 20mph winds, I bet it moved at least that too.
Let me know if you run the numbers in ur cal.

Don't worry about combining 2 stories,
Stuff happens.
You cleared it up and that's what matters.

As for the archery Doe, how far did she run?

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Informative post.........lot of different ways to shoot a deer and we all have our own methods. Now eating the heart.......thats another story

That's something I've never done. TBH I've never considered it, but given all the members who say it's super tasty, I'll put some thought into trying it. Ok done, thought about it and still don't want to try it lol.
Jk maybe I will one day

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Just on top of the heart for me.

Top of heart and bottom of lungs is your method?
If so, I like that placement.

 

[West Calamus]

Deer live the bottom half of the body. If sideways to the boiler. If straight on or slightly quartering chest shot. If quartering away angle shot right behind the ribs. If you got the horsepower and bullet for straight away shot angle up from under the bung hole for a spine shot.

 

[ndking1126]

As for the archery Doe, how far did she run?

Not far.. I seem to remember it being about 25 yards. It was close enough I heard her last breath and her collapsing.

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

High shoulder/neck-shoulder junction when possible but just in general the chest region, i'll explain more. I've done quite a few different shots over the years, some deliberate (lots of heart, lung), some not having hit where I meant. Got very lucky and learned a lot one time as a teenager, hit a bit high and back and ended up hitting it in the liver, all but blew up the liver (270, 130 soft points, inside
150 yards...you know what that looks like). The thing just froze right there, staggered very drunkenly maybe 10 steps, piled up. Lifted its head twice then it was over. To this day I have never seen a heartshot deer freeze and go down like that. Later learned that in boxing a left hook to the liver (midway down right side of torso) can incapacitate a person more brutally than a punch to the face sometimes. Was actually a good visual lesson to refrain from excessive drinking - the liver is no less essential than the heart or lungs, don't hurt it! I would never intentionally make the liver my target, but it's good to know how effective that is. And when field dressing the way that thing had truly, completely bled out was just crazy to me.

had a very unfortunate unintended poi, also as a learning teenager. Shooting way further than I had any business shooting at that time and skill level in my life, to this day I will never even think about screwing around with headshots after what happened. They are unreliable and needlessly cruel if botched - if you can guarantee you'll never be more than 1 inch off intended impact spot I suppose go for it (but also I don't believe you ). Blew the creature's lower jaw right off. Tracked it over a quarter mile, the blood trail was tremendous at least. Finished the job, it was still standing when I shot it again, in the chest, humanely dropping it. Wasn't pretty. Felt like the biggest ***hole on earth for quite a while. Learned my lesson, only needed to learn that one once. No attempted headshots. To my mind they are foolish, arrogant, and horrific if botched.

Calvin45
Thx for your input and thx for posting a hard learned lesson. Not too many hunters/marksman will openly admit or discuss missing their mark, but I wish they would. Learning from mistakes is a great way to learn, even if the mistakes were someone else's, so thanks again.

It's really interesting to see the effects of a liver shot deer.
I've shot 2 in the liver, both unintended obv, but it's def an experience that one will never forget.
Both mine were 12ga sabot slugs.
One was 130yards away and the other was 40 yards.
The first came out of the bush, stopped, I shot, and it turned around and walked back into the bush. I honestly thought I completely missed it.
When I checked I found it laying dead 10 yards inside the bush.
The second was on the run. Not a flat out run or lope, more of a quick trot.
Anyway, I shot and it just slowed down to a quick walk, That's all it did.
It walked about 5 yards and I finished him off.
I'm sure he would of went into the bush and layed down and passed away, but there's no way I was going to chance it.

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Deer do not go far with shoulder shots.

They do not go far, or more appropriately "Can't go far"

My late GSP loved venison.

Your screen name, is it ML or MI hunter?
As in Fat Old Muzzle loader hunter ?
Or Fat Old Michigan hunter ?

Not a big deal, Im just curious

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

Majority of my deer have also been taken with a 243 which is a very debated topic in my area.

It all boils down to effective range and bullet performance.
If you understand how ur bullet performs at all distances than there's no issues at all.

A shot that's too far doesn't necessarily mean it's too far for the shooters skill.
Sometimes, (and I wish I heard this more) it's too far bc it exceeds the bullets capabilities/terminal performance

 

[TrialbyFireFormed]

We can kill 3 does a day from the 3rd week of September until mid January, but only 2 bucks a season. I've been hunting them since I was 9. When I tell people that I've killed a thousand deer in my lifetime they think I'm lying, but there were years in my teens and some in my 20's where I would kill 50 a year or more. I never counted them. These days I kill 12-15/ year, but I could kill hundreds if I wanted to.

Where is this?

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Where is this?

West Tennessee