Whitetail shot placement

YoungMarine -- Nice shots -- what caliber??

CatCam said:

YoungMarine -- Nice shots -- what caliber??

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Thanks. I mostly use 150gr .308. One of those was with my old 450 Bushmaster.


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Well. 1 more to add to the count. 70 yds on a doe with a .223. A little farther forward by a couple of inches that what I would have liked as it messed up the shoulder a bit, but it dropped in its tracks.

Re: picture number 3 above. I was imagining higher up and going for the spine. Looks like that bled out ASAP, but just not where I was picturing.

when a deer runs = lower quality meat. adrenaline tastes like crap. In my humble opinion - a headshot is the only way to go. ive yet to shoot a deer anywhere but the head (short of my first few hunts as a young teenager) - even using rifled slugs in the midwest. of course this isn't good for a trophy, but I personally only harvest animals i plan on eating first.

I don't feel like its difficult to hit a deer in the head with todays available equipment.

Everytime I get a doe at close range I find myself wanting to try a neck shot, but always end up choosing a low chest. Larger target, a sure hit to the vitals and a minimum of travel with a wounded animal.

Generally if the deer is standing perfectly broadside, I aim 1/3 back from the front of the chest and 1/3 up from the bottom of the chest. I have the last few shoots moved the point of aim back just a few inches, still forward enough to avoid the gut, and still take out both lungs. The advantage to this is I find that the shoulder meat is not affected as much. Using a large caliber or a fast magnum round does so much damage to the lungs that the deer travels very little. The wound bleeds a lot, sometimes leaving lung tissue along with the blood. Tracking is never an issue.

If the deer is quartering in either direction I aim for where I want the bullet to exit the deer on the far side. In other words I picture a straight line through the deer aiming for the spot on the deer where the entrance wound would lead to the exit wound I want.

The only time I have neck shot was a spike buck facing me, holding his head high trying to see what in the world I was on the side of that tree. My point of aim was about 2" below his chin, the bullet striking just about at that point, only left of center. Instantly fatal, the deer did not bleed at all, I believe his heart had stopped before he hit the ground. Interesting thing is the bullet passing through the neck continued down the left side of the deer, destroying much of the left shoulder and rib cage.

This year I was really wanted to take a deer with my AR15 shooting 77gr HPBT. The business end of this round looks so small and I hunt in such heavy cover that everytime I pick it up, I end up putting it back down, grabbing my 7mm magnum or 35 whelen. But the season isn't over yet, got 2 tags left, and I'm going to make 1 more hunt next weekend, maybe I'll have the chance.

I was watching tracking videos on youtube a few months ago, saw one that may help you out in your predicament.

The guy was using a spray bottle filled with diluted hydrogen peroxide to detect blood on the ground. He started at the scene of the hit, misting the ground with the solution, when it comes in contact with just a minute speck of blood it makes a lot of white foam. Surely the white foam would be visible to your eyes.

Peroxide is cheap, you can easily carry a small sealed bottle in your pack, mixing the solution using drinking water when needed.

Twentynine, great idea with the peroxide! I have been working with my 8yo daughter this year to imagine the path through the deer and exit as you discribe. She has taken 2 so far, one was directly broadside which she placed it behind the shoulder and led to a short tracking senario. The second was quartering to us which she placed it directly in front of the shoulder exiting just behind the opposite shoulder. This one took a few steps, turned around, and DRT. She's shooting a 100gr Hornady .243 slowed down to about 2400fps muzzle velocity.

Drummy said:

Twentynine, great idea with the peroxide! I have been working with my 8yo daughter this year to imagine the path through the deer and exit as you discribe. She has taken 2 so far, one was directly broadside which she placed it behind the shoulder and led to a short tracking senario. The second was quartering to us which she placed it directly in front of the shoulder exiting just behind the opposite shoulder. This one took a few steps, turned around, and DRT. She's shooting a 100gr Hornady .243 slowed down to about 2400fps muzzle velocity.

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Glad you got something out of it.

It's hard for a kid to remember everything. Stay calm, control breathing, aim straight, don't aim at the deer - aim at one spot on the deer, squeeze the trigger. On and on.

If she's taken two with a 243 she's doing good. I've started mine with a 7mm-08, it's got a little more punch.