Thumper's first buck, and first deer with the new clothing

[jayd4wg]

D.T., I had MANY tags to fill, going back out saturday
Green Machine, I had a clean shot this guy has put in a change of address to my freezer LOL.
1 second later and I'd have had no shot. I always love having to explain/justify my shooting/shot placement to folks who may have never hunted like we do. The deer have thick cover, we spot and stalk, and more often than not we have a split second to chose a shot. Maybe hunting from a stand would be a different story.

[MT Mike]

Pennsylvania Hunting License Study Guide for Online Hunter Safety Course

You should refresh your self on ethical hunting skills. "Pinning" down a buck by taking a poor shot is not ethical. A patient, well placed, merciful kill shot is. Please don't give hunters a bad reputation by doing anything other than ethical hunting.

[jayd4wg]

mike, since you are obviously so quick with your google fu, how about a little research on high percentage high shoulder shots...allow me to help you.
petzel agrees, Petzal: The "Infallible" Shoulder Shot | Field & Stream
further, hss's require NO tracking. no lost deer. i have lost two deer in my life, both were solid lung hits. hss and neck have never left the area they went down in. i am not going to debate ethics here. there is no need, i harvested the deer with a shot i was comfy with
it has been a while since i posted here...probably gonna be another while before i do again. the net nannies around here are ridiculous.

[dpe.ahoy]

I'm afraid I don't understand why a shoulder shot would be considered unethical. Not a shot I want to take, but in heavy cover many times that can be all offered. I like heart/lung shots myself, if I can, but quartering shots often mean a shoulder is going to be hit. Sounds like the bullet came apart causing more damage, not the fault of the hunter. DP

[jayd4wg]

adding to the validity of using a high shoulder aim for a deer that you may or may not have a good distance on - Most common high power rifles fall into a 1.5-2" high at 100, dead on at 200 and about 5-8" low at 300. MPBR at it's simplest. Aiming high shoulder, at the point just below where the scapula appears, puts you into a "guaranteed" incapacitated deer provided no windage mistakes. A miss slightly high puts you into the spine. a dead on hit puts you into shoulder bone, lungs, and possibly some spinal damage as well.
a miss low (longer distance) will put you clearly into the lungs/heart with the heart hiding right behind the elbow joint on a broadside deer.

So Mr. Hunters Safety Course either has the luxury of a padded, heated sitting box over a cornfeeder to hunt with and has ample opportunity to wait for the "perfect broadside shot" or has shot at fewer deer than i'd like to believe. Sorry mike...but i seriously take offense to your post. seems alot of folks will be debating the use of non boiler room shots till the end of time but i'll tell you this. NOTHING compares to the nice neat gut job you get when you neck punch an animal. I actually lean toward neck shots most of the time now, even with my slug gun (mossberg 500 trophy slugger with 24" rifled barrel using remington buck hammers - 1.5" at 100 yards all day long). I can and will hit the neck if the shot is there. my shot preferences would be neck, high shoulder, and boiler room, in that order, and depending on circumstances. I know a couple guys who won't shoot unless they have a head shot available....now that to me is unethical. the margin for error there is tremendous. you only need to see one deer running around without a bottom jaw to understand how barbaric this shot is and can be. to sum things up - Neck shot - DRT. HIgh shoulder - DRT. heart lung - get the tracking dog 90 percent of the time. all 3 will kill them, but as i get older and wiser, i like to spend less time tracking and more time hunting

[MT Mike]

Nothing wrong with a shoulder shot. My point was more in the tone of how he described taking the deer. "I decided to anchor him instead of punching vitals" made it sound like he was an overeager hunter who could give a damn about whether or not the animal suffers. Maybe I read to much into it? If so, my apologies. If not, find another hobby.

[jayd4wg]

unfortunately the crap storm you initiated has turned into the ethics of a shoulder shot...and to that end i'll defend the shot all day. given the situation, with the possibility of the deer running MUCH further (most lung hit deer with either my 308, buddies 270 or FIL's 308, and even my shotty end up running at least 50 -100 yards before expiring. The area i'm in is rough. Deer was standing on an access road, nice easy haul out. tell me if given the choice between 2 deer, you would not shoot the easier drag (all things considered equal between the deer), or maybe the thought never crossed your mind? I lack a quad, deer cart, or other accouterments to make the deer get into my car easier...it's just me and a piece of rope so yeah, i take the easy road. been down the hard road a few too many times.

The Best Shot On A Deer With A Rifle – The Shoulder Shot | Wired To Hunt

[coueshunter]

Congratulations ...

[jayd4wg]

Thanks...sorry for the side trip LOL...might need to get my meds adjusted (j/k)