shot placement

nfh · Aug 29, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Aug-29-11 AT 07:51PM (MST)[p]ok, like you guys i watch lots of hunting shows. latley i been watching best of the west with john porrter with huskemaw scopes that he promotes.

i see he strongly goes for breaking the shoulder on the shot.

then there is bohn burns with beyond belief, he is the one that started the whole scope idea before john porrter stole his thunder and he to says break the shoulder.

i was always taught go for behind the shoulder.

so what do you guys prefer, and why. i like behind the shoulder to save meat, and i got a mountain goat hunt starting thursday and breaking the shoulder sounds good so that goat dont climb up high after the shot and get to spot to where i cant.

wisconsinfarmer · Aug 29, 2011

Shoulder straight down they go. Looking for meat you might want to go back a little of the shoulder unless you don't like shoulder roasts.

sageadvice · Aug 29, 2011

Long before these dudes, i have loved the high shoulder shot. It breaks them down and i do not like to find and follow a blood trail. A heart shot buck can cover 50-200 yds even shot in it's death run, my dad was a heart shot specialist and i've seen it done many many times, and that is a long ways in thick choked up blacktail country.

I'll swap a little front shoulder meat for a quick kill, dead in his tracks shot but that's just me.

Joey

RELH · Aug 29, 2011

When it comes to deer, elk, antelope I go for the heart-lung shot as it does not destroy as much meat as a shoulder shot will.

My father in law was an avid sheep and goat hunter, he collected five of them. He would always go for the shoulder shot in order to anchor the animal on the spot. He did this trying to prevent them from going over a cliff and falling which may break off their horns. On Deer, elk, antelope he preferred the heart-lung shot to save the meat.

Those billy goats can be a hard animal to anchor and have a habit of going a good distance on a heart-lung shot that may result in a fall of over 100 feet and there goes your horns. I would try the shoulder shot on him.

RELH

nickman · Aug 29, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Aug-29-11 AT 07:16PM (MST)[p]For me....my opinion only ...shooting to intentionally hit bone is not my choice. A double lung/heart shot is best. If I don't have that shot.....unless it's a monster trophy, I'll pass.

BS to the side, NOTHING is moving very far with a hole thru both lungs or the heart. It is a biological impossibility.

I won't chance a running shot either, unless it is on open ground and quartering away....rare.

If you don't care about the meat, blow up whatever you want....your taxidermist may not be happy with a softball sized exit wound that carries a bunch of bone particles out with it.

A bull elk can take a shoulder shot and live for 40 minutes, so you are likely to have to shoot it again to kill it anyway,......another hole?

".....if they piss you off, Joey can kick their ass!"

marley · Aug 29, 2011

I have always been a behind the shoulder guy but with all the hype I decided to try the high shoulder shot last year on a cow elk. I was using a .300 RUM with a 200 grain accubond and the shot was 411 yards. I hit the high shoulder and dropped her like a sack of rocks. She didn't even twitch. I thought, "wow that was awesome." I put the rifle away and walked over to her 30 minutes later and when I got 10 yards from her she staggered back up to her feet. She couldn't go anywhere and you could tell she wasn't doing well but she was still on her feet. I had to walk back to the truck, get my rifle and shoot her again. after she was dead I inspected the damage. I hit her right where they say to, it went through both shoulder blades, caught the top of both lungs, but no kill. Now this is only one example and only one experience but it's the only animal I have ever shot twice. I will say that it put her in the dirt but I think I'll stick with the behind the shoulder from now on.

nfh · Aug 29, 2011

i think with the goat i will go for the shoulder shot. i just dont want the goat to run up a steep cliff and die and then i cant get to him.

bucklover · Aug 29, 2011

I've come to prefer the high shoulder shot. Stops them from running to the bottom of a canyon before they die. Also, something that hasn't been mentioned; when you're hunting where there are other people around, especially when elk hunting, you better drop them in their tracks, because if they run any distance at all, heart shot or not, many other hunters may be spraying lead at them before they drop. You may have made a perfect shot, but you're in for a huge argument and possibly even a fist fight if you plan on claiming your elk. I've been in that situation, and it's not fun. If others shoot at it, even after you've made a fatal hit, that elk goes down, and it's like flies attracted to your afternoon dump in the woods. First one to get to it lays claim to it, and then a bunch of others get into the argument.

kingfish · Aug 30, 2011

Shoulder ever time for me....

Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!

B_BOP_A_LU_LU · Aug 30, 2011

There ain't nothin I like Better than taking a Front End out of a Deer or an Elk!

Aim for the Heart then move 6" to 8" forward and Remove the front end by Squeezin the Trigger!

Goats ain't Tough & They taste like Crap,so the only reason I wouldn't shoot a Goat in the Front End is because You'll more than Likely be getting Him Mounted?

I hear Guys all the time:Oh He only went 25,50,125,500 Yards,I couldn't find him after I shot him,Aim a little further forward & You won't have that Problem!

Anybody ever Weigh the usable Meat on the front Quarter of a Deer/Goat?

Besides,that's one or two less Quarters you won't have to pack out!(Kiddin!)

For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!

HNTBIGBULLS · Aug 30, 2011

Question, I know a high shoulder shot drops them
in there tracks, but how many of the animals
have to be finished off one you get to them?

I have been around 3 shoulder shots, 1 antelope,
1 deer, and 1 elk, all three needed another shot
to kill them! I am not a fan of that!

Just my 2 cents!!!

huntindad4 · Aug 30, 2011

Break em down, with the shoulder shot for me. Have had a ton of success with a shoulder shot. But I haven't hunted elk much so not much experience there and would think it might be best unless using a TOUGH bullet to avoid bone on something big.

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!

BrowningRage · Aug 30, 2011

I think optimally, you would shoot a deer very slightly quartering away or towards you as you would be able to both break a shoulder, and hit the vitals pretty well...

For example, when a deer is stepping forward with it's close shoulder, you can put the bullet slightly behind it's near shoulder, through the vitals, and break the off-shoulder...

But how often do you get "optimal" conditions to shoot a deer... Any shot that puts a solid round into the "Wheel House" is good for me...

Losing one shoulder roast would be worth the quick kill in my opinion...

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24

infinitecircles · Aug 30, 2011

I was taught and have always aimed at the off side front leg/shoulder unless the animal is facing you. Bullet travels through the vitals then breaks the shoulder on the way out.

littlejoe · Aug 30, 2011

Grew up always behind the shoulder. Got instructed on my mtn goat through the shoulders time and time again. Shot him three times through the front shoulders and did not think I had even hit him until he just tipped over.

Now in Africa, everything is through the shoulders and low in the shoulder.

TOPGUN · Aug 30, 2011

The main reason those guys are advocating the shoulder shot is because they are shooting those animlas from so far away that it takes a couple hours for them to walk over to them and they hope he's down right where they shot him!

Zeke · Aug 30, 2011

I like the comment about the hole in the vitals killing them since it's biologically impossible for them to live through it.

I "high" shoulder shot an elk last year and had to finishish it off a half hour+ later. It still pushed itself down the hill with it's hind legs. Not that cool.

I do like the "IN" the shoulder shot. It allows the most room for error. Far too many hits on TV are too far back. They are always "backing out" and leaving them until the next day. Not my style!

Look where the vitals are on an elk and aim for the middle of that. You'll have far less follow-up shots and more room for error.

2 cents, for free!
Zeke

mtmuley · Aug 30, 2011

The high shoulder shot is best when used in conjunction with the Berger VLD bullet. mtmuley

nickman · Aug 30, 2011

Shoot a Barrett .50 cal and do Euro mounts..... we won't need this discussion.

"you cannot know how little I care"

gb22 · Aug 30, 2011

I shoot behind the shoulder, so as not to ruin any meat. (Sometimes I shoot for the neck for the same reason.)

Within the shadows, go quietly.

400bull · Aug 31, 2011

I think that I now know why so many say that a well constructed premium bullet is required for hunting. Most seem to favor the shoulder shoot which would require a better constructed bullet to break through the shoulder and still have enough to get to the vitals. I choose to go for the vitals just behind the near side shoulder and then if I can break the offside shoulder that's a plus.

400bull

RELH · Aug 31, 2011

It takes good accuracy and a tough bullet for a "proper" shoulder shot. My father-in-law called it shooting the "Withers". That is a high shoulder shot where the shoulder joins into the backbone. It is alot smaller area then the whole shoulder. But a bullet placed there will drop a animal in his tracks and he will not get back up due to the nerve spinal cord damage and shoulder bone damage.

You must be accurate enough to hit that exact spot and it is easy to miss that junction by shooting high over the animal, or lower in the shoulder where it does not always drop the animal.

This explains why you have some hunters swear by the shot or complain about it because it did not anchor the animal.

RELH

kingfish · Sep 1, 2011

I have always been a shoulder shooter and have never lost an animal hit there. I have destroyed some meat with blood shot in the shoulder but all have been quick kills. If you break the front shoulder you will not lose any deer and it fragments bone into the vitals for more damage. Just my opinion

+1 bessy.

Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!

YukonDall · Sep 1, 2011

I TRY TO DOUBLE LUNG EM EVERY TIME, IF I CLIP THE HEART ITS A GOOD DAY AS WELL. IF LUCKY ENUFF TO SHOOT DOWN ON AN ANIMAL THE SPINE WILL ALSO WORK WELL. GOOD LUCK FELLAS....SHOOT STRAIGHT.........YD.

whitwell_56 · Sep 1, 2011

I was always taught that when hunting for a "trophy" that you should take out the shoulders. If I am meat hunting, I try to take a shot that damages as little meat as possible.