Head Shot

[J_Wales]

Too many, Ill finally be home for this next one! Its been way to long.

Enjoy it and good luck!

 

[vwarren]

I shot my first deer in it's right eye and it came out it's right ear with a 50cal t/c hawken muzzleloader when I was 8yrs old. the deer was behind a tree and all I could see was it's head I was only 8yrs old and did not have much patience however the deer dropped in it's tracks and that is the only one I have ever shot in the head or seen shot in the head.

 

[dross]

I know a few that hunt with rifles that will shoot does in the head. They don't really hunt for bucks, just putting meat in the freezer and spoiling as little meat as possible.

Same with shooting squirrels in the head with a .22 in their minds.

I've never quite understood why it's not the same.

What about prairie dogs? People shoot at them from hundreds of yards away. Do we think no one over wounds one that then crawls away to die in pain? They're both mammals, they both have the same kind of nervous system.

Also, we consider certain shots unethical, but we consider it perfectly acceptable to shoot a deer with an arrow then wait for it to bleed out.

I don't believe in cruelty on purpose, but those distinctions have always evaded. Like the size of the animal increases it's aliveness or something.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

I've never quite understood why it's not the same.

What about prairie dogs? People shoot at them from hundreds of yards away. Do we think no one over wounds one that then crawls away to die in pain? They're both mammals, they both have the same kind of nervous system.

Also, we consider certain shots unethical, but we consider it perfectly acceptable to shoot a deer with an arrow then wait for it to bleed out.

I don't believe in cruelty on purpose, but those distinctions have always evaded. Like the size of the animal increases it's aliveness or something.

Im going to say that a deer getting shot with a .223 and prarie dog getting shot with a .223 is quite a difference in "aliveness". Also, prairie dogs are for the most part considered nuisance animals, deer however are meticulously managed by many hunters and we just dont like the thought of someone making shot on a deer that could leave it mortally wounded to go run off and die somewhere to not be recovered. I understand that it happens a lot with vital shots, but there is much larger room for error when shooting for the vitals. I believe if someone is 100% confident they can make a clean headshot there should be no reason not to do so, but if they can take a vitals shot, why chance it?

 

[HICKMAN]

deer however are meticulously managed by many hunters and we just dont like the thought of someone making shot on a deer that could leave it mortally wounded to go run off and die somewhere to not be recovered.

I would say that is true for those hunting bucks... those filling the freezer, no so much.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

I would say that is true for those hunting bucks... those filling the freezer, no so much.

Though not as many hunters manage does, it still necessary to manage does to maintain a good doe/buck ratio, but thats for another thread.

But yes, not as people do it.

 

[HICKMAN]

roger that, like I said before, I see this done more with those hunting with rifles vs bow/shotgun/ML

 

[ctbreitwieser]

roger that, like I said before, I see this done more with those hunting with rifles vs bow/shotgun/ML

Agree, most my perspective on this subject comes from the thought of doing it with shotguns. With rifles, it is more understandable/practical.

 

[Hookeye]

I dislike making them "ugly" so don't shoot them in the head. However, this past season on a facing away deer with neck halfway erect I went for a spine shot and the slug blew the vert and went up the throat, under the brean cavity and lodged just under the hide in the sinus, hole under the eye. The resting place of the bullet was not obvious and was unknown until skinned for a Euro mount.

I only shoot groundhogs intentionally in the head. Even squirrels I pop in the neck or front shoulders.

I just don't like it on my game animals, if their eyes are all blown or bugged out. Odd I know, but I try to keep them pretty out of a bit or respect (and jacked up eyes freak me out a little- had eye surgery as a kid so maybe sympathetic).

 

[Hookeye]

A deer is less apt to move the major body kill zone during bullet time of flight, or that microsecond before the trigger breaks and you can't stop the shot.

Deer can twitch the head to a sound, a bug bite or for whatever.

Small game, if it moves the bullet power scaled to body is much greater, and even misplaced bullets can render quick death.

Deer, blown off jaws, split mouths, infection............seen it. Not good. Put down a fevered buck that was rather nasty in the face due to a shot a bit off the mark by somebody else 2 weeks prior.

 

[ZS84]

Also, we consider certain shots unethical, but we consider it perfectly acceptable to shoot a deer with an arrow then wait for it to bleed out.

I have shot several deer with a bow and all but a few have not ran very far at all. Almost all of my deer that I have taken with a bow have not ran more than 70 yards. Some have only gone 20 yards. All deer shot in the heart and lungs bleed out. If you use a rage broadhead it happens really quick. My godfather shot a deer with am arrow and it was a complete pass through, the doe turned around and blew at the sound of the arrow hitting the ground on the other side. She then fell over before she ever knew she was shot. No suffering there.

 

[Hoosierbuck]

I don't shoot for the head as a matter of course. One reason not yet mentioned is that on those kind of shots, the blood remains in the muscle tissue, making the meat much more dark red. Can't say that I have noticed an advese effect on the flavor, but I prefer to let them bleed out from a heart/lung shot. We eat a lot of venison, and that's my preference.

HB

 

[Hookeye]

Copy "Also, we consider certain shots unethical, but we consider it perfectly acceptable to shoot a deer with an arrow then wait for it to bleed out".

Yes, arrows kill by hemorrhage (not shock like a bullet), pretty much put them to sleep by blood loss.
Hell I nuked a doe at 25 yards with a double lung and she twitched at the hit, looked around and continued feeding with the other doe.
Then she started to wobble and fell over.

I've hit several that made three jumps or so, wobbled and fell over. Arrows work pretty good.

Ever cut yourself with a super sharp knife? Feel a tug or sting and holy cow, all that red is gushing? Now have that knife at 200-300 FPS.

Humane, if you understand what is going on. Unfortunately a lot of gun people don't.

 

[Yeah]

The surest way to avoid causing an animal misery is to not shoot it at all with anything. Other than that, it is a matter of degree. In the end you've killed the thing, which is the culminating indignity regardless.

 

[Fordtough25]

Too bad you lost the heart though. Fried strips of deer heart is ggggooooooooooddd eating!

Man, how many more days until deer season?

Yea man! The 12 gauge slug destroyed it, she sprayed blood like no other the whole distance. I'm ready to hunt!!

 

[ATOMonkey]

I've never quite understood why it's not the same.

What about prairie dogs? People shoot at them from hundreds of yards away. Do we think no one over wounds one that then crawls away to die in pain? They're both mammals, they both have the same kind of nervous system.

Also, we consider certain shots unethical, but we consider it perfectly acceptable to shoot a deer with an arrow then wait for it to bleed out.

I don't believe in cruelty on purpose, but those distinctions have always evaded. Like the size of the animal increases it's aliveness or something.

If we lived in a state that allowed for flatter shooting projectiles, I would say take head shots to your hearts content.

The big slow rounds that we're allowed to use in indiana begin to drop rapidly after 50 yards, and I don't know about you, but I can only judge to about +- 20 yards within 100. That's the difference between a clean head shot, and taking off the bottom jaw.

If aim COM, errors in distance don't have as much of an effect on the lethality of the shot.

IMO, I don't know if there really is an "ethical" way to kill an animal. They're all pretty gruesome.

 

[AZ Hunter]

I shot two bucks in back to back seasons in the head. First one was with a 20 gauge right between the eyes with no exit wound. Taxedermist hid it well and I proudly display it on my wall. The other was a small buck but late in the season and meat hunting. I find shooting deer in the head helps avoid meat loss. Havent read all the comments but just adding my two cents.