Ethical shot?

BeDawg

BeDawg

Active Member
Messages
735
Does the Texas Heart shot really work? Have you seen it or watched someone try and wound an animal?
 
Not a chance in hell... LOL there is so much that can go wrong it is unreal. Only time that shot should be taken is when trying to finish an animal already wounded. A little left or right. Can't really I am surprised I am an even answering such a poor question. does it work? It can but so can using a 17 hmr...
 
The only way I would ever take that shot is if the animal was already wounded and trying to get away. Otherwise, not only unethical IMO but too messy.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
The Texas heart shot does work. I have used it and when I have it has been devastating. I have only used it in very controlled situations. I think often the Texas heart shot is an act of desperation under a narrow window of time in a stressful situation. That combination I believe will often result in a failure no matter what angle and place of impact you are aiming for on an animal. As far as messy I would have to agree that you will lose more meat to the shot than a double lung punch or a brain shot. The shot itself is almost exactly like a brain shot in that if executed correctly it is devastating and usually renders the target DRT. However brain shots need to only be attempted under very controlled conditions. If you are going to attempt a Texas heart shot you should be shooting a well constructed bullet for deep penetration in an appropriate sized caliber for the game in which you are stalking.

I have no problem with people saying they will not attempt this shot. When it comes to hunting we all need to respect our personal limitations when the cost could mean the increased risk of wounding an animal.
 
So?

Nobody Admits shootin the Bullseye?


This Story happens alot it's True!
But Ya Best Hope it don't ever happen to you!
 
My brother will, if he knows that someone else is shooting at the same deer, he will do it on purpose. I learned at a very young age not to shoot at the same deer he is shooting at. He will say what a great job you did on taking that deer down, then leave in a hurry. What a great brother.




________________________________________
I'm not one for telling my grandson how big of turd I had to pinch off from having to eat so much meat. I want to give him the antlers that hang from my wall and tell him the unforgettable experience that came with each and every one.
 
I used to Texas Heart Shot last year on a cow Elk.....walking straight away at 200 yds I was aiming for the head and hit 2 ft low...never ruined ANY meat but the gutting was a tag bit messy after the .338 enema..SO YAH I ADMIT SHOOTING THAT WAY SOMETIMES.
 
I've only taken that shot a couple times, but each time I did, the animal never took another step. The most memorable was a Red Lechwe that I shot in Botswana. It was by far the best one we'd seen on the hunt, and he was facing straight away at about 300 yards. There was no way to get closer as it was all floodplain covered with short grass in about a foot or so of water. I was waiting for the bull to turn when my PH said "shoot him straight up the bum", so I did. DRT!
 
I used one time on a blacktail buck that was going to dissapear into the brush at about 50 yards. I had a tree for a rest and using my 25-06 which is a very accurate rifle.

Bullet went in at the root of the tail and I recovered it in the neck. 120 gr. Nosler Partition. The bullet followed a path just below the backbone and did not hit the gut bag. Dropped the deer in it's tracks.

I am more of a meat hunter then trophy hunter and normally would not use this shot under most conditions as it is too easy to blow up one of the hams if you are off on windage.

RELH
 
I shot a small buck back in 05. He jumped the string and I hit him right in the azz! He only made it 50 yards. When I gutted him there wasn't an ounce of blood left in him!
I'd never purposely take that shot but it worked that time. Two years earlier I had the biggest buck I've ever seen (pics or live) at less than 30 yards. I drew as he was broadside but he turned straight away before I could shoot. I never took the shot for fear of wounding him. It still haunts me!


Traditional >>>------->
 
Inside 225 yards or so, with a stable rest, I wouldn't hesitate, if that was as good as I was going to get. If the animal is going downhill in front of you, that is a HUGE target if you count the spine.

I do it a lot on coyotes......at some ridiculous distances.

"Being an idiot is NOT an art form. Give it up!"
 
Its lethal as hell with a rifle.Ive dropped elk and deer that were headed out with a single straight away shot and they were just as dead as any broadside shoulder shot,this was done with a 8mm rem mag.
 
I stick with the broad side shoulder shots. I am sure one day it might happen if it does it does but I prefer to shoot in the heart. I have been fortunate to have mainly all broad side shots over the years, and my one chance at the texas shot I aimed for the base of the head on a cow elk and dropped her with a nice neck shot.
 
It's really a tough call. I made the shot twice in my only two attempts. Both times there wasn't going to be a broadside shot a available and both times, i was laid out prone at a reasonable distance. The Bucks dropped in their tracks without rupturing the stomach and NO meat wasted.

Now, there is a section in the Hunters Education program that i am a instructor of. No place does it consider the Keester shot to be ethical. If fact, i'd never recommend it to a student of the game. In certain situations though, for the guy who knows his firearm and knows exactly where his bullet will hit, it can be a deadly shot.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
I believe the question was, whether or not it was an "Ethical" shot. Not if it was effective, or if you could do it, or if you had done it.

The answer is simply no. It's not ethical. We are not given the right under all circumstances to go out and kill an animal, simply because we have a tag in our hand. Having discretion and exercising restraint is what seperates us from the idiots.
 
Many peoples ethics tell them we shouldnt be hunting,Id keep the ethics to yourself.
 
I've never used that shot, BUT I was helping my brother on a Book Cliffs archery elk hunt a few years back and there was an old timer with a deer tag that had set up a blind on water not too far off the road. One evening when we were returning to our camp he stopped us and asked us to help him haul a buck he had shot closer to the road.

The buck was Texas heart shot and dead within 40 yards. He said that over the years he has killed a lot of deer with that shot and not one of them has made it past 75 yards without dying.

This is my only experience with that shot but I can see how it would be very lethal.
 
I guarantee that more deer are wounded and lost after broadside shots with bows than are lost from rifle shots up the backside. None of us ever question the trick of stabbing at deer with arrows. I can remember when I would guide hunts and customers would tell me they were bow hunters. Every time clients drew the bow back there was less than %50 chance of a clean kill. Hell, bows are soooooo ethical the states give them their own seasons.
 
OK......So the question is, just exactly does anybody THINK it is unethical, or ineffective, for that matter?

"Being an idiot is NOT an art form. Give it up!"
 
>7thgenmt, so you are an ass
>shooter? for you that sounds
>about right.


I can kill them from any angle I need to,if your only effective with a standing,eating from the corn pile shot them stick with what you know.When you hunt hard for a good buck/bull nd you get an opportunity that may be your last feel free to let them walk away because you cant/wont take the only shot your going to get,Ill put em on the ground.Sounds like a bunch of you need to practice shooting and pull your heads out,your "ethics" are just an excuse for not being proficient with your weapon.
 
People THINK its unethical because they have had it pounded into their brains through tv shows and other sources that the only "ethical" shot is a broadside heart shot.Its a personal choice and telling someone they have no ethics because they choose to take any other shot is asinine.I also head shoot most of my doe deer/antelope,lets heave the ethics police weigh in on that one too.
 
Yes the texas heart shot works.
Yes I have done it but it was because the deer started running and what would have been a neck shot turned into a texas heart shot.
The deer was dead in its tracks but the gutting job was a complete mess.

I would never intentially take that shot. There is too much room for error that will result in a wounded animal or a significant loss of meat. I also would never take a head shot, the head it the part of the animal that moves the most and it presents a very small target. I have seen too many deer running around with their lower jaw blown off to ever think of trying it.

The only shots that I take are neck shots and chest shots. Whether the animal is broadside, quartering towards or quartering away a chest shot presents the largest target with minimal meat loss.
 
>"Neck shots are more of a
>sure thing than a THS??"
>
>
>
>I was thinking the same thing.
>
I would dispute that.

There is a smaller target with the neck shot. At least with a THS you can be off 5 inches either up, down, right , or left and still have arteries, hip bones, spine and head.

I am betting more guys take it than will admit it anyway.

"Being an idiot is NOT an art form. Give it up!"
 
I'm surprised by how many on here are willing to take the texas heart shot. I have 2 questions for those of you who believe it to be an acceptable shot:

1. How much meat do you lose when the bullet travels through a hind quarter?

I only ask because it seems to me that being even an inch off of center on the THS would send your bullet through a lot meat.

2. How is the THS any different than gut shooting?

We all know that a gut shot animal can live for a long time before dying and travel a long ways. With a THS the bullet has to travel through a lot of guts before hitting the vitals.
 
I have never taken the shot myself, but I have seen it done with devistating results! I also remember reading a book on dangerous game. The facing away shot was a preffered shot on a wounded animal. Its goal was to hit at the base of the tail either to break the spine or spinal shock the animal.

Its not my shot choice by all means but it can get the job done it the right circumstances.



"Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day!" -Harry S. Truman
 
With the right weapon, one could kill anything with a shot through the hind end, but that doesn't make it pretty. With archery equipment, I once shot at a moving, quartering-away buck at only twenty yards, thinking I could "lead" my target. I ended up hitting him in the thigh with the arrow angling down into the gut upon striking the femur. It opened up his abdomen with the result that his intestines hung out. He survived another twenty minutes and traveled two hundred yards before I was able to put another arrow in him. I was more disappointed with my decision than with my shot, and will never try that again.
 
"I'm surprised by how many on here are willing to take the texas heart shot. I have 2 questions for those of you who believe it to be an acceptable shot:"

I believe it is an acceptable shot under properly controlled situations with the right equipment by a man who knows and respects his own limitations.

"1. How much meat do you lose when the bullet travels through a hind quarter?"

That can vary from none to a few pounds.

"I only ask because it seems to me that being even an inch off of center on the THS would send your bullet through a lot meat."

It very well could. If meat is the main concern, then it is probably better to shoot the beast in the back of the head.

"2. How is the THS any different than gut shooting?"

When gut shooting you are usually wounding an animal in a way he may survive days before giving up the ghost. With the THS, if done correctly you are actually shocking, if not breaking, the spinal chord, breaking the pelvis, hitting several intestinal organs, possibly severing the vena cava, severing several cardio pulmonary arteries, and possibly destroying his heart. Like I said before, they are usually DRT when this is done correctly.

"We all know that a gut shot animal can live for a long time before dying and travel a long ways. With a THS the bullet has to travel through a lot of guts before hitting the vitals."

That is why it only need be attempted with a proper caliber and well constructed bullet. I have been hunting for almost three decades now. I have hunted in several countries, dozens of big game species. I have wounded and lost game before and I have helped recover game uncountable times shot by friends, family and customers. I have yet to have a big game animal not get recovered that has been shot up the butt. I have personally lost a deer that was hit high in the shoulder. I have also personally lost a waterbuck that was shot through the neck. I have helped track a lot of game that was never recovered that was gut shot by someone trying to hit an animal in the shoulder.
 
Not even worth trying to explain to people how effective it can be when you have to use it.Wait for that perfect broadside shot that may never come all you want,ill take the shot that I have and kill em just as dead as your heart shot,if your shooting them through the hind quarter your doing it wrong,the THS is a spine shot while going straight away its very easy to do.Most cant shoot effectively past 200 yards anyways so it really doesnt matter what shot they take.
 
7thgen, a spin shot my ass, god what a joke,,,, wake up people, don't go for this bs,,,,,,
 
Now I will really scare a lot of people with this one. I have seen it done and would do it myself on lying down big game. Both times I saw it done the animal never got to his feet and died as quickly as any side on shoulder shot I have ever seen. One hunter I was guiding did it and it took about five minutes of convincing her to take the shot. She did and was amazed by lethality. She got a great muley too.
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-08-13 AT 10:42AM (MST)[p]+100 7thgenmt

"People THINK its unethical because they have had it pounded into their brains through tv shows and other sources that the only "ethical" shot is a broadside heart shot.Its a personal choice and telling someone they have no ethics because they choose to take any other shot is asinine.I also head shoot most of my doe deer/antelope,lets heave the ethics police weigh in on that one too."
 
Well......I hope that shooting animals in their beds is not also considered unethical......I do that every chance I get.

After watching a deer bed down, then actually go to sleep, sneaking in close enough for the shot is easy, especially when they lay their head all the way down and you KNOW they are asleep.

"Being an idiot is NOT an art form. Give it up!"
 
>7thgen, a spin shot my
>ass, god what a joke,,,,
>wake up people, don't go
>for this bs,,,,,,


***I also read that BS and about choked, LOL! He's the expert on the THS and then says it's a spine shot when the only time it is would be when you screw up and shoot too high. A true THS goes right up the rectum and through all the guts on up into the heart/lung cavity. A little high and it hits the spine and paralyzes the hindquarters. A little right or left of center is into a ham and will make a mess of that side.
 
A true Texas Heart Shot is anywhere in the ass end of the animal. You adjust slightly up down left and right as needed. Here is where I will agree, if you have a deer facing away from you and all you ever do is aim at his rectum you are probably destined for disappointment. You need to have some kind of idea of animal physiology and be able to imagine where the heart and lungs are in the animal from straight away. Sometimes you are aiming for the rectum, sometimes the base of the spine, sometimes his testicles, sometimes directly into a ham. It is very much like front brain shooting elephants. You need to have knowledge of where the organ is you are trying to hit that sits a couple of feet past all that other flesh that's in the way.
 
Tri-state

I appreciate the response you gave to my first post on this thread. I don't believe that I will convince anyone to stop using the THS anymore than anyone else on here will convince me to use it.

You said that "If meat is the main concern, then it is probably better to shoot the beast in the back of the head."
Implying that even you believe that there is potential for significant meat loss. Your last post also states that while doing a THS you "Sometimes you are aiming for ... sometimes directly into a ham"

This where I go a different direction. Meat is always my main concern so risking putting a bullet through a ham whether intentionally or unintentionally is not an option for me unless the animal is already wounded by a poor shot and I'm trying to put it down as quickly as possible.

If an animal is facing directly away from me I will take a neck shot.

Like I said it is unlikely that any opinions will be changed by this discussion I can only explain why I do things the way I do and let others make their own decision.
 
Wonder why it's called a "Texas" heart shot? Hmmmmm. Since I ain't in Texas, I don't try it. Gotta be something to that Texas connection though. mtmuley
 
Elks layer,

No worries here. I am not trying to convince anyone that they should definitely try the THS. As hunters we should all respect our own comfort zone of limitations and not expect everyone else to follow the same line. If you are more comfortable with a neck shot I say go for it. I hope you are blessed with a full freezer this year.
 
Thanks for all the responses, very informative. The reason I asked is because I had an individual tell me you could do it with an arrow! After seeing a picture on this forum of an elk shot in the a$$ with an arrow, I did not think it would be a shot that could penetrate far enough into the animal to be considered lethal. Maybe lethal on a deer and not an elk?

For the record, I am not planning on making this shot.
 
>Thanks for all the responses, very
>informative. The reason I asked
>is because I had an
>individual tell me you could
>do it with an arrow!
>After seeing a picture on
>this forum of an elk
>shot in the a$$ with
>an arrow, I did not
>think it would be a
>shot that could penetrate far
>enough into the animal to
>be considered lethal. Maybe lethal
>on a deer and not
>an elk?
>
>For the record, I am not
>planning on making this shot.
>


***I've never heard of shooting at the rear end of any animal with a bow. However, many animals have been taken, mostly by accident, on broadside shots due to arrow deflection that severs the femoral artery that supplies a huge amount of blood to the hind quarters of an animal. The problem is that the artery is so small and not visible that it's not a shot that should be deliberately attempted.
 

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