Shot placement for deer

[priv8ter]

Sniff, Sniff

Try ambushing a deer convoy with a single-shot. Good luck. I want to be sporting and all that, but I knocked down two deer at a time more than once this year.

Now see here...that's just plain mean and spitefull. I'm one of those guys that lives in a state where you are only allowed one deer a year. Now I'm all jealous.

greg

 

[JShirley]

Shucks. I think the limit was 2 antlered, 10 does in this part of GA this year...Certainly makes ya grin when you see 4 or 5 deer trotting by the stand, all in a line!



Don't be too jealous. WA weather is way better than GA's.

 

[J. Garand]

Here you can take one buck and five does a year. Fill your tags in either sept mzlldr. or dec rifle.
I take one picked doe in sept for pepper stiks and then hunt for horns in dec., i could really care less if i shoot a buck, if i see a basket rack that looks ok but next year will be nice, i pass on him. i take great enjoyment meeting differant deer each season. i watched a spike last year come in during the sept blkpowder season. the batcelor groups had just broken up and the pre rut jitters were setting into the herd, my boy had just had his asskicked by every bigger buck that a week before was his pal. If that deer was a human he would be in the state hospital on haldol! he came jitterbugging into my AO and it was all i could do not to laugh out loud! Nervous nervous nervous!
by midway thru the dec hunt if i am not onto a buck i like, i take another fat doe.
To each his own on the rifle preferece. but, i betcha can't load just one!

 

[JShirley]

Could so huh!

Just don't know that I'd want to drop my longarm as I transitioned to sidearm...and I'd be kinda iffy on the 125 meter shots with my 3" 657!

John

 

[smokemaker]

I never noticed too much trouble with shot placement using the old foster slugs, or the new pistol bullet style slugs, but the original BRI sabots, and even the winchester or federal versions of said slug required careful shot placement, or they'd just whistle through. The Original BRI's had an awful habit of breaking in half on firing, too.

 

[J. Garand]

for you guys that have to hunt shotgun slugs: can you in your area use blackpowder? skip all the one shot stuff for a minute and consider that the tecnoligy on those rifles gives them a lot longer legs these days. some states will let hunters scope them ( i think thats cheating) if its legal, you might consider checking them out. also the season is earlier and its warmer and pleasant, an added plus to the season is not many people are into it ...yet. more every year.
Looking for a read from you all on this...
to keep on topic/ shot placement is critical

 

[45crittergitter]

quote:

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big bullet going slow is like hitting the deer with a 2x4. It will knock the critter down just with the force of its passage.
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Absolutely false. Defies the laws of physics. Last deer I shot was with a .416. It didn't knock either one of us down, but of course the deer died.


A must-read on this subject is John Barsness' excellent article "Shooting Meat" in the May issue (#213) of Rifle.

 

[smokemaker]

J. Garand,
One of the reasons I got into BP is to get some legs over the slug gun I'd been using. In NY you can use a ML during shotgun season. Yeah, the scope might be cheating to some, but my shotgun wears a scope, and so does my Omega. The difference is the Omega will get to 200 yards and the Ithaca won't... unless you really lob them in there. I do use traditional ML's, without optics, my Lyman GPR in .54 being my favorite rifle, but after having a few too many caps go fffft! in the snow or rain, I had to step up to a good, quality inline. (Cheap inlines are sometimes worse than sidelock guns.)
BTW: Muzzleloader season is after regular deer season in my part of NY. Yes there are less guys out, but the weather is usually colder and snowier.

Oh, and I'm OK only having one shot. You choose your shots carefully then

 

[J. Garand]

Smoke-
That was my point exactly. i would rather be able to get out farther with one shot from a ML then use a shotgun. If you shoot a scope then cool. if i could use one in this state i would, if i said differant i would be lieing.
I also agree on quality. I have a hawken, i like it. it kills deer. I also have a couple of inline guns. Traditions firebolt. they are the deal. low light sights. very fast and for the sake of the shot placement theme in this thread, i can hit a deer with a 245 grain powerbelt bullet with 100 grains of pyro. driving it and all a deer has EVER done is stumble and fall. i dont know if its hydrostatic shock or blood loss or bullet retention (don't care). They go down. Hard.
I do have a question for anyone willing to give it a go.
After shooting several deer, i have tried yelling "RUN TO THE TRUCK!!".
It does not seem to help.
Any suggestions?

 

[Art Eatman]

J. Garand, it helps to wait until the deer moves closer to the truck. In the jeep trail is preferred...

, Art

 

[J. Garand]

I shall take your advice Art and hold fire until said deer is at or near my truck. I wonder if i built a ramp and filled the back of my truck with shelled corn if that would be...
Legal?
Ethical?
Shot placement in this situation would be critical. to much differential drag on the bullets core could result in an IHOV (inadvantent hit on vechicile).
All in all a sticky wicket. i better stick to screaming at them.

 

[smokemaker]

Two years in a row I've been able to pull my truck right up to the deer, and load 'em up... no drags
I wish more people would be careful about shot placement, though. I shot a doe this year on the last day of shotgun season (with my ML though) and she had two holes in her already... and she stunk bad. My uncle shot one 50 miles away that had an arrow in her rump, and she stunk bad. First deer I ever killed had an arrow in her back, and we threw her out, arrow and all. I know people make bad shots occasionally, but come on. Too many guys don't do a thing to prepare for deer season besides digging the ol' shotgun out and stuffing some slugs in it. And why does everyone think they have to empty their shotguns every time they pull the trigger? boom!-boomboomboomboom! I just don't get it.

 

[MeekandMild]

coltdriver,

It is really weird. I have seen good shots with fast light bullets drop a deer in its tracks but not actually knock it over. The only deer I've seen actually knocked down were hit with bullets in the high chest close to the shoulder. These were all heavy, 200 grain .35 Remington and one .45 sabboted lead hollow point slug out of a .50 caliber black powder rifle. To me it looked like they were lifted off their feet and sent tumbling with the feet up in the air. The feet waved around or twitched for a few seconds.

I attribute this to the blow of the bullet knocking them off their center of gravity. I haven't ever shot a deer with a .45/70, but I think that a .45 slug powered by 110 grains of pyrodex is a pretty hefty kick. Maybe better than a 2x4?


With big bullets it seems like the low shots, the ones that hit the heart are the ones that caused the deer to run a few yards.

 

[lycanthrope]

If you are in doubt the safest shot is right behind the front shoulder, at the centerline. It offers the greatest leeway in all directions for a shot that is lethal. Pulled shots happen.

Couple this with abullet that displaces A LOT of tissue and you will maximize your ability to get a kill. Not arguring ethics or sporting or meat damage....just the kill.

graphic pic

This one didn't go far......like no where.

 

[birddog]

Mannlicher

I am glad you mentioned the low neck shot. This year I killed 3 deer that were slightly angled toward me with a low neck shot. None of them went anywhere except down. I also favor a "throat patch" shot for a deer that is straight on facing me, as is often the case in one of my favorite creek-crossing spots, where the deer crest the ridge right in front of me, facing me. I've killed almost all my deer there with a neck shot. No escapees.

I am also of the bowhunting persuasion, and "behind the shoulder" was the only way I went for years, even with the rifle. With the rifle and shotgun, I slowly progressed to an "on shoulder" shot, to put them down quicker. Now, I have to say, even when a deer is broadside within reasonable range, I much prefer the neck shot. Less wasted meat, less tracking, instantly viewable results.

Great thread.