Where to aim for neck shots

[VSS]

Interesting point regarding the clutter and I thought earlier about one potential downside of the chest shot could be not having your scope focussed correctly (not yourself more a general observation if this makes sense?) Here's the scenario, you are plotted up waiting for the deer to exit the woods at about 100yds away, parallax set, scope focussed and magged perfectly when all of a sudden you hear a bark to your left hand side and another doe has entered the field 30m downwind of you and has cut your scent, swing the gun round all you see is a blurry outline until you bring your scope into focus then take the shot. On a broadside chest shot I wonder how many people would take the shot without re-focussing the scope?

I don't know.
My stalking scope has fixed parallax, and I've never touched the focus ring since the day I mounted the scope and adjusted it to suit my eye.
I'm inclined to think that "less is more" on a stalking scope, which is why I sold the one with all the fiddly bits and bought a simpler, but better quality, scope.

 

[Selous]

Not so Im afraid. Neck shot will result in dead, or close to roe most of the time and retrievable.
Poorly place body shots result in runners, I have had my dog track Roe 1/2 mile a few time and bullets just needled the lung etc. Or in case of hilar shot, trachea ruptured and same, the deer run.
I aways get novices to take heart lung shot, but that does not make it the safest shot.
When I was destroying Roe as a pest, I away used varmint bullets and hit heart lung area for the first while, later I started high shoulder and have stuck to that, although it destroys both shoulders.

Are we talking about the same point of aim when talking about a hilar shot, as the devil is in the detail in these discussions. Right on the red dot on the hind is where I aim which puts the bullet through the base of the heart where the large vessels exit the heart. On the schematic it is just behind the lower black cross. Any shot within 3 inches will quite inevitably be fatal in 99% of cases.

 

[VSS]

Are we talking about the same point of aim when talking about a hilar shot, as the devil is in the detail in these discussions. Right on the red dot on the hind is where I aim which puts the bullet through the base of the heart where the large vessels exit the heart. On the schematic it is just behind the lower black cross. Any shot within 3 inches will quite inevitably be fatal in 99% of cases.

That is my understanding also. Right in that triangle. It's a very effective placement.

 

[JeffreyL]

When the novice NZ culler asked his mentor ‘where do I shoot these deer?’ The answer ‘in the eye son, anywhere in the eye’
Sounds corny but ‘aim small, miss small’

 

[Mungo]

Are we talking about the same point of aim when talking about a hilar shot, as the devil is in the detail in these discussions. Right on the red dot on the hind is where I aim which puts the bullet through the base of the heart where the large vessels exit the heart. On the schematic it is just behind the lower black cross. Any shot within 3 inches will quite inevitably be fatal in 99% of cases.

I’ve had them run with shots in that triangle, especially on quartering animals. Not as often as with further back, and I agree it’s a much more effective stopper than a classic heart/lung shot. But they will still sometimes defy all understanding of anatomy.

The high shoulder is more certain, but messier.

 

[kenbro]

What's wrong with it , suits me fine. In fact last year I never missed a single shot. 100 % success shooting deer and foxes with it.

There’s plenty to like about a high scope sight.
Ken.

 

[purdeydog]

I neck shoot nearly all my deer, mostly roe. If straight on below the chin, if side on high.

 

[Selous]

I’ve had them run with shots in that triangle, especially on quartering animals. Not as often as with further back, and I agree it’s a much more effective stopper than a classic heart/lung shot. But they will still sometimes defy all understanding of anatomy.

The high shoulder is more certain, but messier.

Totally agree, sometimes strange things happen!!

 

[levigsp]

Are we talking about the same point of aim when talking about a hilar shot, as the devil is in the detail in these discussions. Right on the red dot on the hind is where I aim which puts the bullet through the base of the heart where the large vessels exit the heart. On the schematic it is just behind the lower black cross. Any shot within 3 inches will quite inevitably be fatal in 99% of cases.

Unless the deer I hunt are a strange breed, your marks are to far back. But yes we are talking about the same spot where the main blood vessels meat the heart.

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

Unless the deer I hunt are a strange breed, your marks are to far back. But yes we are talking about the same spot where the main blood vessels meat the heart.

I’m with @Selous on this one, his aiming point is correct to hit top of heart.

I can say this with certainty, as shown in this diagram the top of the heart where the arteries attach is directly in line with the front leg, if you extend that line up.

 

[levigsp]

I’m with @Selous on this one, his aiming point is correct to hit top of heart.

I can say this with certainty, as shown in this diagram the top of the heart where the arteries attach is directly in line with the front leg, if you extend that line up.

View attachment 355779

so i sugest something to you. Next time you have a deer down. Place its front leg as it its standing upright. Next get the knife and trace the outside of the leg up to the body and carry on up in a straight line 1/3 of the body up. Push the knife blade through into its internals. Then gralloch and eviscerate. You might be surprised where you have cut . I dont go by drawings or books but by taught and practical experience on uk deer, and other animals around the world. Even at my age I still managed to dispatch wild boar and red deer like this 4 years ago, yes with a knife, so I think I know where the heart lies. And i still maintain a shot placed slightly wrong because the deer is not at 90 degrees to you, roe especially will result is a wondered running deer that will die a lingering death if not found. Its each to their own where they want to place the shot. But I not buying this nonsense that the hilar shot is better or safer than others. They all result in dead dear if performed corectly, sadly not all shots are placed correctly.

 

[J@son]

There's been lots of debate on previous threads about placement for a hilar shot. The hilum in this context is the "autonomic plexis" - effectively a junction box containing the autonomic nervous system and the blood vessles that connect the heart and lungs. This area is about the size of a squash ball and is slightly forward of, and slightly higher than, the top of the heart.

In order to hit it, I use the leading edge of the front leg as a guide to my vertical shot placement. (Obviously this assumes the deer is in a standing position... but it's easy enough to judge what this should look like on deer that are standing with legs forward/back). I understand that this placement might feel a bit forward. I needed a bit of convincing on this point initially myself. But that's where you will find the autonomic plexis.

That said if you did place the shot back a bit, I am sure you will do enough damage to drop the deer on the spot. The deer drops because of you are knocking out an important part of the CNS; not because you have shot it in the heart. And that is the beauty of this shot - it is quite forgiving if you do not hit your mark as precisely as you should. More so, in my view, than a high shoulder shot.

 

[J@son]

Next time you have a deer down. Place its front leg as it its standing upright. Next get the knife and trace the outside of the leg up to the body and carry on up in a straight line 1/3 of the body up.

As far as I can see no-one is suggesting that the heart is anywhere else. I think you have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Stick with a sholder shot if that's what works for you. But I don't think you should argue that its "nonsense" to suggest a hilar shot offers a better or safer shot simply because you perfer to put your shot somewhere else. That doesn't follow.

 

[levigsp]

As far as I can see no-one is suggesting that the heart is anywhere else. I think you have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Stick with a sholder shot if that's what works for you. But I don't think you should argue that its "nonsense" to suggest a hilar shot offers a better or safer shot simply because you perfer to put your shot somewhere else. That doesn't follow.

If you read each of my posts you might realise its myself who has said that no shot is safer than another! They are all safe until misplaced. It was others who said the hilar shot was the safest.

 

[Utectok]

I love the level of precision people bring to this?! I mean great but in the field I just try to put one through the chest favouring further forward than backwards. I reckon that does the job if I adjust the aim so the bullet passes through the chest depending on angle the deer is standing at. Clearly they are experts out there hitting 1” invisible targets on the internals of a deer but they ain’t me.

 

[Dalua]

The deer drops because of you are knocking out an important part of the CNS

Just as a hand-picked point of order: I am not an anatomist - veterinary or otherwise - and I am finding the descriptions of the various special places in the chest which one might particularly aim for very interesting.
I think, however, that it is correct to say that none of them is part of the CNS.

 

[DEHL1980]

I had taken neck shots for years without any issues, until I switched to copper ammo & then had a couple of beasts that I needed to follow up on. May just be coincidence & actually poor placement, but that is my observation. Also relevant that I mostly shoot roe deer.

 

[jp 7saum]

I kill a lot of roe in the neck and I’ve never had a problem with a neck shot but when I head shoot I have had sometimes where they need the knife, I’ve even had a head shot roe at 25m hit square in the head with my 6.5 and not die, so I normally prefer a neck shot and I’m not fussy about high or low just whatever gives me a shot. But with deer it seams like no matter where you aim if you shoot them enough one will go wrong.

 

[DEHL1980]

That’s very true. Interesting what you said there. I’ve never head shot & was taught chest or neck a long time ago.
But from reading this thread it seems head shots are more common and more widely used rather than the neck.

 

[jp 7saum]

That’s very true. Interesting what you said there. I’ve never head shot & was taught chest or neck a long time ago.
But from reading this thread it seems head shots are more common and more widely used rather than the neck.

I do a lot of night contracting so it’s often easier to aim for the eyes, but head shots can be extremely good, I head shoot about 100 deer a year and maybe 2 would need the knife after and that’s me using a 6.5 and my 22-250. But it’s all about how steady you are, I won’t head shoot past 250m as a rule