There is really no need for this

Cygnus

Well-Known Member
I got a phone call yesterday from the landowner where I stalk, regarding a dead deer calf.
I drove over and found the animal which had been badly shot and was lying out in the open on a short grass field.
The field is on the boundary with neighbouring farmland which is commercially shot over.
No contact from anyone regarding permission to enter the ground to collect and obviously no follow up or search with dog.
Why oh why, do some people persist with head shots on small mobile targets like this, resulting in these horrific injuries.
 

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This is where head shots go badly wrong, and without a good dog you are in trouble.

Head shots are ok if you are competent and the beast is facing head on or straight away from the stalker, with a good rest and a reasonable distance to shoot over. Not some of the ridiculous claims that some people make at 200yds head shooting!!
 
headshots in the open field.,,a great way of trying to prove to yourself you have a bigger C*** than you really do.

sikamalc is right too of course. if short distance and rock solid, and the bullet is only going in the back of the head or missing, then it could be 'considered',,IN LACK OF ANY ALTERNATIVES, alternative beasts to pick from a group posing better shots, and/or that beast really having to be culled for XYZ reason and there's no chance to 'come back tomorrow'..
 
Head shots are ok if you are competent and the beast is facing head on or straight away from the stalker, with a good rest and a reasonable distance to shoot over.!!

No they are not OK because things go wrong all the time. It is totally unacceptable to take a shot if there is a chance of this happening.
You shouldn't have a licence or a gun if you think head shots are acceptable. Coming out with words like competent, confident, and all the other bovine excrement words which people use to excuse cruelty like this.
 
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No they are not OK because things go wrong all the time. It is totally unacceptable to take a shot if there is a chance of this happening.
You shouldn't have a licence or a gun if you think head shots are acceptable. Coming out with words like competent, confident, and all the other bovine excrement words which people use to excuse cruelty like this.


Thats a daft thing to say

If you can do the shot, its a good shot with far less suffering to the beast than a lung shot or simila.

If you cant then dont do the shot

Every fallow I have heart shot has ran. Every fallow I have head shot has dropped on the spot

Shot choice is no less significant a decision than back stop choice.

If I am on sticks stalking its got to be a very well stalked anamal for me to take a head shot but if I am in a high seat with a steady aim I will and have in the past head shot anamals out to 100m where I know i can put a buillet within 1" of point of aim

Bassed on the experiance of shooters with 20 + years under their belts, I prefer to use ballistic tip for head shot so as to do maximum dammage in minimal penitration. That said our DSC1 instructor (who always head shoots aparently) prefers soft point to Ballistic tip so thats a bit confusing for me to be honest.

All I can say is with 243 BT I have had massive dammage on the exit side. Usualy half the head is blown off or the internals are just mush
 
A perfect display of a lack of moral courage, and to do the right thing. If a shot goes wrong, you need to swallow your pride and do everything possible to track it, or at least get help to find it, to end the suffering as quickly as possible.

It's clearly a lack of self control by the firer - makes you wonder what other bad choices they will make in control of a loaded rifle......
 
A perfect display of a lack of moral courage, and to do the right thing. If a shot goes wrong, you need to swallow your pride and do everything possible to track it, or at least get help to find it, to end the suffering as quickly as possible.

It's clearly a lack of self control by the firer - makes you wonder what other bad choices they will make in control of a loaded rifle......


Totaly agree

As for the shot its self he missed by 4-6" left or right so obviously he either didnt have the steady position or the skill / experiance or worse he was lax in his decision makeing

ATB
 
The best reason/argument I have ever heard for not taking head shots is that the target, the head, can move a lot quicker, and further during the bullet time in flight. Something that the shooter has no control over.
 
I would like to think that this is the work of poachers rather than a stalker. Given limited levels of damage is that a 22 rim fire rather than a centre fire.
 
I remember taking a friend stalking for the first time about 20 years ago. He was a competent shotgun and rimfire shot. I took the first opportunity and shot a nice Sika stag h/l. We only had about 30 minutes left before we had to leave. So I let Pete carry the rifle about 50 yards in front of me while I dragged the stag back towards the forest track for collection. Pete climbed up on a bank and took aim at a deer I couldn't see. He had been around firearms his whole life and I knew he wouldn't do anything stupid. Before I could get up to him he fired. Looking around he gave me the thumbs up- the deer, a nice Sika pricket was down - poleaxed by a head shot. The pricket was facing and the .270 hit just in front of the left ear. Because we were under time pressure I sent Pete to get the vehicle while I bled and grolloched the deer. The pricket almost had its ear blown off by the impact of the bullet and it's eyes were rolled back in its head by the massive brain injury I assumed! As I lifted its front leg and inserted the knife to bleed it - the eyes rolled back!! It turned out that the bullet had glanced off the skull stunning the deer and inserting the knife brought it back to its senses! It was very much alive! Luckily it was a small pricket and not a large stag! Nevertheless I had to use the knife to kill and almost uninjured deer. It was an unpleasant experience and one that has put me off head shots for life!! Needless to say by the time Pete arrived back the drama was over and he went home with a nice pricket delighted by his success.
 
You shouldn't have a licence or a gun if you think head shots are acceptable. Coming out with words like competent, confident, and all the other bovine excrement words which people use to excuse cruelty like this.

Stupid comment and a massive over-generalisation. Head shots have a place in deer management under a range of circumstances and anyone who shoots enough deer will take a head shot when it is the right choice. It's certainly not the only choice or a choice for inexperienced shoots, but it is an option when the circumstances allow.

Back to the original photos - slightly confused by fact nose is damaged but also back of head - is that just where the crows/foxes have been at the carcass?
 
Only last week on FB stalking forum some one was boasting that he had shot his first Roe buck, he estimated the range at 200 yds & took a head shot !! he then paced it out at 320 yards (he did kill it) DI-- Head ??
 
The "head shot" debate runs and runs.

In this particular case, what is more puzzling is why anyone would shoot this animal. It seems an odd choice. Could it have been the victim of poachers? or even of a shot aimed at a different animal? We can't know, I suppose, but that doesn't stop it serving as a reminder that you can never be too careful when discharging a rifle.
 
I had the same thing a couple of years ago I found 2 fallow over a couple of months with head shots that had gone wrong this ground is only a few hundred yards from a large estate . so I went round to see the owner and over a cup of tea in kitchen we had talk about the issue and he did say to me he will be speaking with the syndicate because as the owner he found it unacceptable that it was happening and he would be putting his concerns to the syndicate members . and so far I have not found any more . the trouble with taking head shots is we all think we are better shots than we really are .
 
the trouble with taking head shots is we all think we are better shots than we really are .
Really? I think that most of us are actually far more capable than the shots we take would have people believe. Personally, I shoot well within my ability and I think that most genuine stalkers are the same. That's why as a whole and considering the numbers of deer that are shot every year, we don't wound too many!
 
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