Head shooting deer?

[Larryh128]

Whats the worldwide view on this? I do it but only when my self set rules are met.

I understand this is a hot topic and i want to get views opinions and no doubt some griefe.

I am a profecional guide and population manager and my veneson goes for comercial perposess. I will shoot arount 120 animals thisyear my self and clients willl take around 80.

So thats abit about me.

My issue with head shooting is sometimes the head moves at the shot, it's not real cool to blow a bottom jaw off. I used to but I quit after I shot the jaw off one and didn't recover it. That and it makes a big mess.

 

[people]

I am for head shots. If how you hunt prevents do so then do not. The rest of us will as opportunity shows its self.

 

[fredo]

Slippery slope when ya start imposing your own self derived 'ethics' onto others...
Rather than "going there", it's likely more constructive to point out the obvious 'margin of error' allowance that a broadside 'boiler room' shot offers, over a 'head shot'...

That target size discrepancy is NOT up for debate.

Likewise, the 'lethality' of a well placed 'head shot' is NOT up for debate.

Therefore, the debate comes full circle around to the decision making of the individual. Obviously, grown men don't appreciate being told what to do, or how to do it.

So, with that personal part removed from consideration, the decision becomes a simple equation of deciding which shot offers the higher percentage for success?

Answer that without bias, and you have your own answer...

 

[Larryh128]

I am for head shots. If how you hunt prevents do so then do not. The rest of us will as opportunity shows its self.

I have no control over when that deer moves it head, if you want to head shoot that's fine with me. I'm simply sating that I won't anymore.

 

[people]

I have no control over when that deer moves it head, if you want to head shoot that's fine with me. I'm simply sating that I won't anymore.

I am good with that.

 

[AckleymanII]

Head shots.

I noticed that with a 4-12, I was not real comfortable. 4x16, still not comfortable.

6.5x20, starting to feel comfortable. 6x24 now you are talking. With a rifle that shoots flat , grouping 3/8" an better, 200 yards and under, sitting in a tree stand that is not blowing around from wind, good rest, elbow supported...no problem. If a deer is flicking it's tail, don't even atempt a head shot. I carry a silent dog whistle to get a big doe's attention, better be ready to shoot.

Remington 700's in 7 mag, bedded, floated in a good stock, Muzzle break, great trigger(I like around 1 lb), sub half inch groups are attainable.

Our family shoots a lot. We just do not pick up a rifle two weeks prior to hunting season and think we will be ready to head shoot does at 300 yards.

For less than ideal conditions, the junction of the neck and shoulder is deadly.

 

[Barlow]

Last November during our deer season a lady noticed a doe trying to drink out of the lake she lived on. The doe was having a hard time and something just wasn't right. The lady got out her binoc's and saw it's lower jaw was blown off. She called a neighbor, who called the local warden and the neighbor shot it and put it to good use. Head shots off course can be made, but it don't always work out. I prefer heart or lung shots where they bleed out better. Barlow

 

[AckleymanII]

My opinion is that you should be a very, very accomplished shot and know your equipment before ever attempting a head shot, perhaps a neck shot, also.

Guys that get to bragg'en about making head shots in deer clubs leade to deer getting mangled up.

 

[Someoldguy]

Every time the subject of ethical shooting is raised, the ensuing discussion is always predictable.

 

[people]

Every time the subject of ethical shooting is raised, the ensuing discussion is always predictable.
View attachment 1053473

Yes it is. This horse has been beat so long it is now just a depression where the horse was when it was just first being beat.

 

[jds holler]

We usually hang our deer by the head, sooooo --- naaahh. jd

 

[blackwidowp61]

Geez, jd, how do you get them to sit still long enough to get the noose around their neck?

 

[pirate ammo]

Geez, jd, how do you get them to sit still long enough to get the noose around their neck?

maybe he coated himself with that deer honeymoon spray stuff,,,

 

[jds holler]

Geez, jd, how do you get them to sit still long enough to get the noose around their neck?

I'm a pretty fair roper; can usually grab em out to thirty yards.
"Mamas don't let yer cowboys grow up to be liars!!" jd

 

[oliver88]

This was my best deer shot ever. It took about 5 minutes to wait for the deer to position her head just right because I wanted the eye not just a head shot. The shot went into the left eye and out the right eye.
This is a rifle that I shoot frequently so I was confident of the shot.

Head shots should be avoided by novice shooters.

 

[Mr. Ten-X]

There is a lot of the "head" that can be hit that will not kill. Great instant kill under ideal, controlled conditions (and if you know the exact location of the brain). Otherwise, the high-percentage double-lung shot is ALWAYS lethal and leaves far less to chance.

 

[blackwidowp61]

I have had 16 surgeries, most on my knees and back, so I prefer my deer to be dead-right-there-stayed-that-way (drtstw), hence my choice of shots (head, neck, high shoulder and boiler room is last). All of my shooting is within 150 yards and the rifle I use can put two bullets through the same hole at 100 yards. I shoot it a lot, and when I take it to the range a few days before the opener, I usually have the spotter ask me what target I was shooting at (after my second shot) because "I can only see one hole". And as stated above, the conditions have to be just right for me to take a head shot. Any doubt and I shoot elsewhere.

 

[jds holler]

I have heard of elk hunting units where if you don't shoot for the head, you will never get your elk. Even with a perfect boiler room shot, it's not uncommon for an elk to run a quarter mile or more. By that time, in a crowded area, another hunter will almost certainly put more lead in your elk, and claim it. I have heard tons of stories to this effect, and some of them nearly lead to shoot-outs. jd

 

[blackwidowp61]

I have a better one. One of my sons was on a stand on one side of a ridge and his cousin was in a stand on the opposite side of the ridge. My son shot a deer in the boiler room with a 44 mag at about 40 yards. He said the deer staggered around the point of the ridge when he couldn' shoot at anything but the rump. Then there was a shot from the other side of the ridge.
After waiting a while with no more shooting, I joined my son and we went around the ridge tracking the deer. We found my nephew standing by it with a huge grin on his face. He told us that he saw the deer come around the ridge and had shot it. (It was the first deer he had ever shot.) When we told him that my son had shot it with the pistol, he insisted that the deer hadn't been staggering or acting anything but normal. When I checked the deer out, I found a lump on the shoulder on the same side as my nephew had been. Having a very good idea what the lump was, I asked him again about how the deer was acting when he shot it. Again he said it hadn't been shot, so I took out my knife and dug the pistol slug from just under the skin and showed it to him. To this day he swears that the deer hadn't been shot! Oh well...

 

[Hydenseek]