Do ya take em or no?

I do not. And, I'll chalk it up to: I always tend to make lung shots. And, if they don't drop right there...great, cause I love tracking almost as much as hunting.

Is it wrong/unethical to make head shots?

I'm not to say it is or isn't. I'm in the opinion that IF you are a skilled marksman, and have a pretty great success rate (which, to me, would be 100%---even if it takes another shot) at it, then, it's ok...IMO. Cause, after all, I make them on squirrels, so I can't be against head shots completely.
BUT, if you haven't had a good success rate with head shots, and/or aren't confident in your shots...then NO, no, no. Cause ain't nothing worse than a boogered up animal that can't eat cause it's jaw has been blown off and it just hauls off and dies of starvation.
I mean, it's a kinda small target....ya shouldn't try it if ya don't think you can hit it...right???
But, I don't even try them. I just wait for a shot that I'm completely confident about...and if one doesn't present itself...no biggie..I go back the next day.

Anyhow...your thoughts on them?

No, I don't do it with big game. I aim straight line for the chest from whatever angle....But, I have neck shot a few, particularly if useing a .22 caliber... .22 centerfires are legal here....and they have all dropped like they were struck with Thor's hammer.

Well, I have to admit that I used to take head shots. I recon that may have been a product of growing up on a farm and crop damage permits as well as sorta how I was raised. It was either a hit or a clean miss. I have yet to this day ever lost a deer that I hit in the head or neck.

As I have aged and started going for longer shots, my head and neck shots are pretty much now over, even on shorter shots. The last head / neck shot I attempted and made was probably about 7 years ago at camp here in Virginia and that was because It was the only decent shot available on that deer and something told me he was fixing to take off running.


99er

See right there.....that's why I can't say it's "wrong" cause we all hunt now how we were raised to. And if you are raised to make head shots....you are gonna be good at it. Same with any shots.

But, someone like me...who never tried it....it would be the worst kind of gamble to take that shot.

[quote=Hands,Aug 7 2004, 12:42 AM]
Do ya take em or no?

Hands:

For some reason I can't explain - I just never did take a head shot. Maybe it was the feeling that I preferred to try for "the boiler room". I think that was almost instinctive with me on big game. As I type this, I now recall also a squeamish feeling about shooting a deer in the head. (I never saw it but I guess it's messy, isn't it?)

It's odd when I think about it because I always tried for head shots on squirrels and woodchucks. It's an interesting question and i'm reading the replies with interest. We all approach hunting with our own almost "built in" kind of feelings.

i'll take it when it is all i've got and have had complete success with them. still prefer heart lung shot.

arky6.5

This was an intersting subject that I thought I'd bring back to the top for any new members to comment on, if they would like.

I have taken them when nothing else presented itself. I prefer a high shoulder shot or neck shot.

99er when we were farming we also had crop kills and one year my boys had a contest between them to see who could make the most cosecutive head shots. My oldest won with 100 and the youngest came in second with 60. That was when we could go out and count 200 deer in a 15 acre cornfield. The Game Warden said he had a waiting list for our crop kills as they weren't all shot up.

I don't try to take them but once I did hit one in the head. I was hunting on the side of a mountain. The buok was below facing toward me. I put the cross hairs on his chest and pulled the trigger. He dropped his head right at that moment to feed. I shot him right down the mouth. No entry wound either. I broke his neck. he did not run left nor right. Just crumbled right down in a heap.


I have a friend that was using a regular pump shotgun with punkin balls (slugs). He aimed for the shoulder but the slug as you know?????You never know where they are going to go. Hit the buck in the head and blew one of the antlers off. Hence one of the reason not to shoot a buck in the head. You might make him ANTERLESS!

LOL..oh man! My dad has a similar story about a guy he hunted with and a shotgun with a slug. He only took the top off though..lol.

I am not a fan of head shots but, Neck shots will take them down quick. If you hit them in the neck, the head is going down and it has been my experience that where there head goes, Their ass is going to follow.

I usually do not take long shots for ethical reasons [clean kill] so hitting the neck or shoulders usually isn't a problem.

Boy this is a real old thread ... alrighty then, I gotta once more admit to taking a neck shot in the Fall of 2005. Prolly the worst ever kind at that ... a front facing neck shot; didn't have a whole lotta of choice as the Deer was getting ready to bolt. The Deer dropped in it's tracks in a heap at bout 100yds. I expect my saving grace was that I happened to be practicing on a real skinny Fence Post (my fence post by the way) the day before with that gun .. my newer 243 model-99; that 243 just loves Federal 95gr BT's !!


99er

I also try not to intentionally shoot for the head on big game,......however.....I have taken two nice white tails that were bedded down,where I could only see their head. In each circumstance, I caught the movement of antlers in the cutdowns were we hunt,after checking it out in my scope I took the head shot. Each of them didnt move, but down.

Also when I hunted elk this past janurary here in michigan, I shot a nice cow elk through the heart/lungs. She went down, and after 10 mins I approached her,at about 50 yds she got up and started running straight away from me, when I then shot her in the back of the head,killing it instantly.
These were all with my 30-06, which I feel very comfortable with, however had I used a shotgun and slug.....the answer would be a definate no.

As far as neck shots..I'll take those in a heartbeat if I can't get in my favorite heart/lungs shot. Or unless I just don't want to drag it over God's green earth and want it to expire there.

So sad when someone takes a shot at a running deer and breaks the deers back. The deer goes right down. However the deer back is broken right where the deer chops are. That is the best part of the deer meat.

I dont take head shots on deer or elk. I have done it twice and didnt like the results. One spike buck fell at the shot, as I got to it he got up and ran, a shot to the shoulder stoped it. The first bullet just grazed the side of his head, knocking it out for about a minute. The other headshot hit dead center of the nose as he faced me, 7mag at about 25ft. made a ugly mess that was hard to look at, killed him fast but was gross.

Jamie

Never tried one never will. I shoot mostly neck and boiler room shots.

I haven’t and never will take head shots on large game. I think its one of those things that when your taught how to hunt it’s always aim behind the shoulder. It’s not like a rabbit or squirrel with the small head, a deer has a long protruding snout. But that’s just my opinion.

Nope, won't try them and wonder about the brain power of anyone that does try them on a regular basis.
Think about it, on a side shot if the bullet goes low what happens? Broken jaw and a deer running of to starve to death. Meanwhile the "hunter" "thinks" it was a clean miss and goes looking for another.