What was the last thing to go through the deer's mind...
Head shooting deer?
- Thread starter johnmventers398
- Start date
If anyone wants to include anything remotely resembling logic into this conversation.
A typical bullet takes around a TENTH of a second to travel a 100yds. Not including lock time.
How far can a deer move whatever part your shooting at in that amount of time? Not including reaction time Seriously think about this.
A typical bullet takes around a TENTH of a second to travel a 100yds. Not including lock time.
How far can a deer move whatever part your shooting at in that amount of time? Not including reaction time Seriously think about this.
I will post something. Let me find it first. Let's beat this dead horse just a little more. If you CAN'T then DO NOT!
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
As a trapper, I've shot tons of critters in the head. I've shot a couple of deer in the head. I GENERALLY won't choose that shot for a free roaming animal at much distance.
I thought that the twin eyeball shot that Oliver posted was just creepy. And it can't quite be considered a brain shot, although it presumably dropped the deer in it's tracks.
Any head shot should effectively destroy the brain, especially the lower rear portion which includes the medulla. More in the region of the ears than the eyes. Of course any shot that ruptures the actual brain pan will PROBABLY cause instant immobilization and death, but not always.
When taking a head shot, remember that the brain doesn't make up the largest percentage of the head. I'd estimate about a third, and we had better aim solidly at that third.
I'll be the first to admit that a successful brain shot is very satisfying, and gives me -- pride?? An unsuccessful brain shot is pretty grizzly, and no cause for pride. jd
I thought that the twin eyeball shot that Oliver posted was just creepy. And it can't quite be considered a brain shot, although it presumably dropped the deer in it's tracks.
Any head shot should effectively destroy the brain, especially the lower rear portion which includes the medulla. More in the region of the ears than the eyes. Of course any shot that ruptures the actual brain pan will PROBABLY cause instant immobilization and death, but not always.
When taking a head shot, remember that the brain doesn't make up the largest percentage of the head. I'd estimate about a third, and we had better aim solidly at that third.
I'll be the first to admit that a successful brain shot is very satisfying, and gives me -- pride?? An unsuccessful brain shot is pretty grizzly, and no cause for pride. jd
As people said, "If you CAN'T then DO NOT!" If you don't have absolute knowledge that you can make the shot with the given conditions, then don't take it. I absolutely hate it when people brag about taking a shot at a deer at anything over 250 yards, but that's just me.
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I found what I was looking for. This was from a thread a while back. Basically most only use their own way of hunting as a "this is how everyone does it".
I have been deer hunting for 47 years. I did crop damage control for 15 years with my buddy where we took 100 deer each year of a big farm. I have only shot one deer in the head. I was hunting over a soy bean field and I needed one more deer for the freezer. It was the last day of my hunt. For the past three evenings this 6 point buck would come at the opposite end of this little section of the field that was 200 yards from my shooting house that was built up in a white oak tree that sat just off the edge of the field. The buck would stand right behind this big pine tree that covered his body and just stand there. The buck must have seen me move or something in the prior evenings when I was hunting there. As I said he came three evenings in a row and never moved to give me a good shot. On this last day of my hunt I made up my mind that if no other deer came into the field to shoot and this buck came back and stood behind that tree with just his head visible I was going to shoot him in the head. Sure enough he showed up just about 15 minutes before it got too dark to shoot. I had sand bags and a good shooting rail on the stand. I knew my rifle. It was a 26" #6 Shilen barrel 25-06 and with my 117 Sierra Pro Hunter bullet going 3000 fps it would shoot 3/4" groups at 300 yards on windless days. The way I had the 3-9x 50 Leupold scope zeroed 3" high at 100 yards I knew that on 9 power where the top part of the vertical post meets the cross hair on the duplex cross hair if I put that point on something as small as a plastic bottle top at 200 yards I could hit it. So with that buck standing at 200 yards with at the time only half of his head sticking out behind that tree I took careful aim at his eye and squeezed the trigger. I heard the bullet POP and when looking back at where the buck had been I could see a white belly showing on the ground. I had hit that buck right in the eye and it blew half his head away. One side of his rack was only being held on by a small strip of hide. The only reason that I took this shot was that I was in need of the meat and had no other option. In my observation of others taking head shots they are just too risky for bad things happening like one fellow only shot the lower jaw off a deer and it ran off and was never found but the lower jaw was laying where the deer was standing when shot at. Most likely the deer died a suffering death.
I shot 2 bucks last year, both 8 pointers. Rifle was Remington 700 in 30/06, 150 gr. Ballistic tip. First one was through boiler room broadside from about 40 yards. It took off like nothing happened, piled up 50 yards away. Second was about 75 yards away, quartering toward me. I shot this one at the neck/shoulder junction. It was a bang flop, but upon approaching the deer, it had eyes open and still breathing, although immoble. I finished with .45 to head. I did not expect or like finding the deer alive. Neck shots are not necessarily immediately fatal. Maybe at the neck/head junction. I would like to have bang flop DRTs to be ethical to the animal. Head shots worry me due to movement that can cause maming and suffering. I guess I would vote for boiler room shots. I shoot competitively, and am confident in my abilities and my equipment, but don't want to wound the animal.
Logic, ethics, probabilities, etc, etc, have no place in our selfish society. Just ask the head shooter. Seems we are talking about the wrong animals brain.
As I said before, I think it's totally wrong to take a shot at a deer at 250 yards or better, no matter what shot you are taking. The chances of the deer being wounded and/or not recoverable are far too great to be ethical. But there are those that will say that it has never happened to them and they think nothing of taking such shots. Again, this is just my opinion. Would I ever say something like this - "Just ask the head shooter. Seems we are talking about the wrong animals brain." about the people who take these shots? Hell no! I would be making myself sound like an idiot or worse. If you have a problem with something, that's fine. To denigrate anyone because they don't conform to your idea of proper ethics...
The reason this question even comes up is due to the fact that the vast majority of hunters have been taught and know a head shot on a game animal is NOT an ethical shot.
According, it’s not MY “idea of proper ethics” that fuels my denigration, it is the generally accepted body of hunting ethics most of us have abided by our entire lives. You may prefer to stay silent, but I am afraid I can’t.
Someoldguy
May I ask a question?
Do you hold the same standard for small game, such as a squirrel or rabbit?
Why or why not?
The fact is most hunters are very poor shots on the best of days.
The "We have always done it this way" mentality is very prevalent in the hunting community. When teaching kids to hunt they by nature are very jumpy and getting a solid hit on the front half of a deer can be challenging enough. So yes many tell new hunters it is "not ethical" to take head shots. What we should be telling them is you are too excitable and are a piss poor shot in the field so you should not take these shots.
The real question is does the hunter practice shooting how they hunt? Most never shoot off hand but think nothing of it when out deer hunting. They will take shot after shot at a running deer from an off hand position. Most of these "ethical hunters" will not ever look for blood. Then we are the bad guys for taking a head shot or a long distance shot they could never pull off even with our equipment.
I have said this time and time again. "Ethics should play no part in hunting. Ethics are for those hunters who should question their skills."
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Your last paragraph is the most idiotic thing I’ve read in a long time!!
No matter how great a shooter someone might be there will always be variables in any hunting situation that preclude 100% assurance that your shot will hit exactly where you want it and that is why you aim for the largest vital area, period!
Someoldguy
Gonna have to pass.
I didn't ask if you had a video clip of some guy explaining it for you.
That’s what I thought. The video is not about small game hunting, but I realize that really doesn’t matter to some old guys.
Ah Jim, you are hardly an authority on hunting ethics and the guy on the video isn't either. You figure that anyone and everyone should bow to your way of thinking or they are beneath contempt. This has gone way beyond being objective at this point and should probably be closed.
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