Best deer point of aim. Where do you aim?

[birdbustr]

Where do you aim for the perfect "show stopper". Please consider minimal edible meat loss. Where is the majority of deer hunters hoping to hit?

 

[Bartkowski]

I just aim for the heart and lungs, if I hit either the deer will die.

 

[birdbustr]

I am trying to place the bullet between the heart and lungs also. Right there in the "armpit" (if deer even have armpits) of the deer.

Seems like many people are saying high shoulder and neck. I'm just wondering if it would be something new to try. Not that things are not working with the old aimpoint. What's the harm in trying if there is a better way?

 

[Bartkowski]

I don't like the idea of hitting the shoulder especially with lighter and smaller bullets.

And even heavier tougher bullets can deflect off, though it is unlikely one will do so.

 

[atblis]

I aim for the middle of the heart/shoulder blades/lungs. Hasn't failed me yet! I use normal tried and true deer rounds. 308, 270. Meat damage is minimal, no need for super duper magic bullets to get those rounds to work. Corelokts, Power Points, etc. Work every time.

EDIT: Actually, after thinking about it, I really just aim for the front half of the deer.

Right hear works too. Draw a line from the corner of the eye, to the ear canal. Right in the middle of that line (works on other mammals too). Notice where that is on the chart.

 

[birdbustr]

If you hit that shoulder though, there's a lot of splintered bone and loss of meat. It's true that you won't have to track the deer, but at the price of some of your hard earned venison.

I shot one with my old 30-06 in between the heart and shoulder blade one time and he reared up like Silver (The Long Ranger's Horse) and did a face plant. My box of meat was a little light when I picked it up from the processor. He said the shoulder was "all tore up". No price cut for that either.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Right behind the shoulder midway up.

I have shot one Mulie right behind the ear at 30 yds with my -06 cuz thats all he offered. Jumped him off the bed and all I could see was from the mid neck up. He looked at me and then forward and before he could take off I plugged him behind the ear. Came out between his eyes and thats all she wrote. He was a 2x3 so it didn't matter to me about keeping the antlers. Had he been a wall hanger then I would of waited to see if he presented a heart/lung shot.

 

[bang_bang]

Shoot them in the head if they are does, and in the shoulder if they are bucks. Not much meat on the shoulders and they usually end up blood shot anyway. Take out their legs so they can't run far if the do have a last burst of energy.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Right behind the shoulder. Doesn't mess up the meat and puts them down quickly.

 

[john1911]

I aim for wherever has the the best potential to but a bullet (or arrow) through the vital organs (heart and/or lungs). It depends on the angle of the animal, my position, range or a host of other variables.

 

[cobrian45]

As with most things, I think shot placement is dependent on the situation. Two of the main considerations being range to target and purpose of the kill. I think if it is a trophy you are after, crease of shoulder placement is a good idea so your taxidermist doesn't look at you like the red-headed step child you are for doing that to him. If I'm after meat and I'm comfortable with the range, head and neck are my preference. I haven't shot a deer in the shoulder in some years and haven't lost any either. You miss your shot, no wounded deer. It also brings the "aim small, miss small" theory. I've guided a lot of hunters that shoot "at" a deer because it seems like such a big target.

 

[Evocatii]

I think that a solid choice for shot placement is center mass which coincidentally places the lungs as the primary target. Unless you are a certifiable crack-shot, then I would recommend the lungs.

 

[GunTech]

Under 200 yards, brain. Over 200, heart.

 

[Orr89rocz]

there was an article i read about how to stop a deer in its tracks in a magazine and they pointed out the best point to aim is just in front of the shoulder blade about 2/3 the way up on the deer. If you look at the above posted chart, thats right where the spine comes down to the neck and part of the shoulder blade.

reason for this is, if you miss high, you hit spine. miss low, you hit shoulder bone then into the lungs. miss far left, you catch high lungs. miss far right, you may catch jugular in the neck or neck spinal cord. basically a dead dear either way you slice it

 

[birdbustr]

Orr,
that sounds like a very solid point of aim for a non-trophy deer. Should be minimal meat loss as well (except for maybe some shoulder roast, but don't really care about that anyway).

Should get the chance to try this next week. Over 100 yards I think I'll still take the lung/center of mass shot.

 

[chemist308]

It very largely depends on range, the deer's stance in relation to me and how much time i have to make the shot. If time is short and/or range is over much over 25 yards, then lungs are the obvious choice--they are the largest targets and the deer dies within 50 yards. If range is short and I have a little more time, then neck or brain. I've shot them all three places. The end result has been the same. The only difference is that head shots or well place neck shots result in not having to figure out where the deer dropped, which can be quite hard if you hunt thick woods or brush...

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Kind of ironic for me right now. Last Saturday, I had a doe standing 40 yards from me whilst on one of my stands in Missouri. I usually just aim for the front shoulder, centered up and down and let her fly. 90% will drop like a piano fell on them. The others run maybe as much as 40-50 yards but are dead when they hit the ground. This usually results in a lot of meat loss on the front quarters. On this doe, I had 4-5 seconds to take aim. This time, I aimed just behind the shoulder at the center of the body up and down. She dropped in her tracks and was motionless before I could take aim again. The bullet punched through both lungs but completely missed the front quarters with almost zero meat loss. From now on in, if I have the time, this is the shot I'm going to take.

 

[Deanimator]

I just got back from deer hunting in Missouri. I passed on a shot at an eight point because I couldn't see the point of aim for the heart shot (and the gun shoots high at 100 yards anyway). A friend shot him when he started walking away from me and toward him. He went for the same shot, but hit high. The bullet (a 155gr. Hornady A-Max) hit, mushroomed and ricochetted into the spine, shattering it. The deer dropped like he'd been hit with a 37mm cannon shell. When we examined him, there were no obvious entrance or exit wounds. There was quite a bit of blood in the body cavity. We didn't actually find the wounds or the bullet until we skinned him and cut him up.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed with the Hornady A-Max, which mushroomed perfectly.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes I was taught to aim in the area formed from the triange of the heart, lungs, shoulder blade in the beginning diagram. I like just behind the line formed from the leg at the shoulder. Prior to being taught that aiming point, I would go for a lower heart shot, and after twice getting good heart shots without lungs, and having to track the critters about 100 yards, I moved my point of aim. They tend to drop in thier tracks or go only a short distance, BUT I also use a .54 flintlock, a .77 flintlock, OR a 12 ga slug.

LD

 

[mustanger98]

I usually aim so my front sight's about halfway up the deer's side and in the crease of the shoulder. That way the bullet's gonna catch 'em somewhere in the lungs... hopefully upper lungs and spinal, but just lungs will do.

That buck I got last Thanksgiving... my 150gr CoreLokt went in throught the right shoulder just back of the bone, punched both lungs about halfway up, and exited about midway of the ribcage. He ran about 75yds and piled up. Seems to me the whole thing was over in 15seconds or less.

 

[MeekandMild]

I think that the diagram puts their lung shot just a little to far aft. Maybe 2-3 inches forward of the point they marked should give less chance of the bullet going through the rumen. Heart shots have too much chance hitting the esophagus, with the same sort of green goo as rumen shots. I have become a disbeliever in spine shots due to the risk of CWD.

 

[ChopperKen]

Head

I am lazy,I don't like tracking(I've done my share).
This is the best way I've found to be lazy.

 

[41 Mag]

Going by your diagram, the last few deer I have shot have all been in the Corotid-Neck area, however this was mainly due to the angle they were to me. I have found through years of hunting that this is a very good area to aim for especially when cover is thick and light is dim. All of the deer I have shot in this area simply face planted and were done. The bullets went in and destroyed the junction of the neck and spine and also clipped the main arteries coming from the heart.

The most taken shot by me has been the heart or lower lung shot. I try to avoid shooting through shoulders, but if it is a once in a lifetime buck, I will take them out and not be overly worried about the trim out. My best buck to date is a 21'wide 8 point taken from a friends place at 283yds using a 7 mag and the shot mentioned at the top. He simply face planted and my season was over in 15 miuntes.

If at all possible I try to get something either through the heart and lungs or behind one shoulder and out in front of the other. The ony other shot I will take and it is generally when nothing else is possible is through the neck in the white ring, in the front and out the back. I will take this shot over chest shooting one every time, as I have trailed to many others deer who chose to go for the straight on heart shot. It generally leaves little blood if the deer runs, and to often this has happened. The only deer I have shot in the chest was a large doe and at the shot instead of falling or even stumbling she broke and ran stright towards me then stopped turned and looked back towads where she had come, at this point I shot her through both shoulders. When we picked her up we found that the first bullet had entered the chest a little high, traveled the length of her no hitting anything and come out her left ham leaving a funnel shaped hole. The shoulder shot broke both shoulders, and took out her heart completely. This stays in my mind when a frontal shot is presented as well.

 

[.41 magnum man]

I usually aim for the lung area if the stance of the deer allows since it is the biggest target. I have shot them in the neck if they were in close and most of them hit the ground dead. I did shoot my biggest buck in the neck, and he walked up the hill, then came back down and stood broadside giving me a shot into the lungs which I took. He flipped over backwards and died instantly. It really amazed me that the neck shot didn't seem to effect him as I thought it should. But the main thing was, I got him.

 

[32winspl]

I've had very good luck with heart shots on stationary deer. I did once take a headshot on a particularly nice buck (because that's all I could perfectly-clearly see), but probably wouldn't do so again. The bullet, a 170 gr Winch Silvertip (.32 Win Spl) SERIOUSLY disrupted his skull, replete with cartoon-like
but seriously-gross eye-popping. What had been a nice rack became my rattling antlers. When possible, I'll stick with a heartshot and a 20 to 50 yard walk.