im lookin to drop a deer quick

[jessdrone]

i know if you shoot a deer in the head he will drop. Will shooting him in the neck will do the same? Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks

[ADK Tank]

It will drop it if you hit it good in the neck, just a lot smaller area to hit to than the body. I don't quite understand why you would want to "drop it " so quick. The best way IMO is a heart/lung shot. Larger area to accomplish the same goal.

[AlSara]

Tank's right on. The last buck I shot (2005) was taken with my semi 30 06 at 40 yards with 150 grain corelokt. I thought I missed him because after seeing the fire through the scope I lost site of him. After 15 minutes of waiting I started to creep toward where I last saw him. He was there. I hit him in the vitals and knocked him down right there. It was a good clean shot. No suffering, no tracking.

And he was tasty, too (the 8 points of antlers were a little chewy though ).

[toothlessannie]

I've seen neck shots go bad, sure if you hit the bone or the artery he's a goner but to hit just the meat of the neck sometimes results in a lost deer. Aim for the boiler.

[Rock]

idea_new.gif

Chase one off a cliff

[ken999]

high shoulder hit, just under the spine on a broadside deer....little meat loss w/ stout bullets...the deer will drop like a rock...if done right the lungs will be toast too...

[mohawkriverdan]

I was hunting with a group of friends once and I was one of the drivers. We had a doe permit and it was late in the season. So It was "If its brown, Its Down" rules. We were early into the drive and one of the guys lower down the hill side kicked up a nice doe right to me. She was;nt running just walking and looking.

She stopped about 15 yards in front of me looked down and I just wanted to drop her in her tracks then finish the drive and come back and do the dirty work. So I took a neck shot. She dropped and was down for the count with some twitching.( I thought).
We finished our drive and came back to the spot that I shot her. We were all happy and ready to end the day. but when we got to the spot there was no deer. Only a trail of messed up leaves leading down the hill. I was sure that this deer was dead when I continued the drive. We followed the trail down the hill, looked around and then this poor deer came crashing from our right side out of a pile of tree limbs and it could only move its back legs. It was actually pushing its head and front legs on the ground before itself. I raised up and shot again. she dropped. but It took a while for her to die. While we all watched.

I have shot and respectfully, responsibly, harvested a dozen or so deer before that one neck shot, but none since. Haven't even tried.


Do yourself and the deer a favor aim for the lungs/heart. Some will drop instantly others will run maybe 40 yards, with a good blood trail. If you miss high you will still harvest a deer if you miss low Its a direct hit or a flesh wound.

Save the neck shots for the turkeys.

[calvins]

Well, as long as I'm here...

I'm taking a different approach and my answer is:

It depends on your shooting skills. IF you have a rifle zeroed to where you can consistently hit within 1" of the bull at your shooting distance then I'd say, take a neck shot.

I've hunted for 45 years and taken a LOT of deer. Every deer I've taken has been with a neck shot and *every* deer has just plain folded in their tracks, never knowing what hit them. No adrenalin surge, no thrashing, no running, no nothing, just dropped.

We've all heard of the neck shots that went bad as we've also heard of all other shots that when bad.

"Aim small, miss small" is a phrase that basically means pick one *small* point on the target to hit, do *not* just shoot at the target, which many people do in hunting situations whether they want to admit it or not.

If, you can place your shots consistently then in my book the neck is the shot to take.

I've actually passed on a lot of deer where all I had was a chest shot.

Makes for a much cleaner job of field dressing too.

BUT I repeat: If you don't practice and know your skills then go chest. Actually, if you don't practice and know your skills, stay out of the woods. The neck shot is deadly if you can do your part. Most people out in the woods can't

If you can actually shoot accurately and consistently, the neck is a great shot, but that's a big if.

[alombard]

Forget the neck shot......I have seen neck shots go bad (several more needed to finish the job). A head shot......I'm not taking the chance of missing. Go for behind the shoulder.....good clean kill that does'nt ruin much meat.

[Rock]

Spine- If you want to see a deer literally fall over like a statue, this is the ultimate shot but there is a chance you may ruin the best meat!

The neck has worked the best for me, than I would have to say the heart.

I think head shots are the worst, I have seen deer run off with head shots!

But like others have said, don’t take a shot you’re not confident in or you don’t have the skill for.

The goal is to harvest the deer in the most humane way possible.

I was just kidding about the cliff!

[Sasquatch]

Head shots are for idiots. I've killed 2 deer in my life that had been shot in the head, but still running strong. One had it's lower jaw blown off, and the other was missing most of it's nose. Go for the kill zone, the double lunger. The longest I've ever had a deer run with a lung shot is about 75 yards. That's not very far, and it's a quick death.

[chaser]

Use a Buick and go for a broadside at 58 mph.

[Adkleaddog]

I hit mine in the spine, he dropped in his tracks...a close shot though..open sights..but if you have a longer shot, it could all go wrong! I have a scoped Mauser that I used for years, lot's went wrong! Then got a 30.06, open sights, haven't missed yet!

[chairrock]

I jumped one small buck out of its' bed. Stood there and looked at me ,all I could see was the head because of the spruces.It was 15 feet away. I aimed between the eyes with the 06. I wound up being a little lowbecause the rifle was sighted in at 100 yds.Well anyway I took out two molars and the bullet never came out of the skull. Dropped instantly.When I stopped at the deercheck on the way home , I got ribbed real bad that I had used a spot lite and aimed for the eyes...anyway I wouldn't recomend that to anyone...

[St.Regis]

Depends on what you are shooting and the conditions that are presented to make a good clean kill. This is my basic technique...

Standing still, open shot, or relatively close range = Neck. They are done.

Running/fast walk, long shot, or less accurate weapon (e.g. shotgun with open sights vs. flat-shooting scoped rifle) = Behind front shoulder. If they run, they are doing so on very little borrowed time.

There are no absolutes and every situation is different, but this is a good rule of thumb for me and my abilities to make quick, clean kills.

Calvins said "aim small, miss small" - that's very good advice (esp. when bowhunting). I'd agree that head shots are most often a poor choice. Most ass shots are unacceptable unless we've switched the discussion to Beyonce