Head shots on deer...newbie question...

Sheprador1973

Well-Known Member
Hi all.

Searched SD, google & Youtube enough to be aware that head shots on deer are a contentious issue. Don't want to upset anyone but...why?

I'm from an air rifle background (as many of us are) and the general concensus when shooting quarry is that head shots are most humane. I know theres exceptions and chest shots are sometimes taken fairly on rabbits & pigeons etc. So why is this not the same with deer stalking please?

I've seen/read so many accounts of deer that have been shot in 'the vitals' having to be tracked over a period of time, implying a) harder work and b) I assume, a slower death. But from what i've seen head shot deer generally drop on the spot.

Is this a tradition thing? Or is it because if you want to mount a trophy on a wall it looks better in one piece rather than in a thousand? Genuinely interested yet confused.

Many thanks :)
 
In general a head shot is more difficult, with less margin for error, as a deer will move its head quite a lot without warning, the chest " boiler room shot" gives a much bigger kill zone, many people neck or head shoot deer, quite happily with great success, i personlly favour the " boiler room" but would take a head shot if required, ie injured deer that needed dispatched, it is a personal choice and if you are one of the many that has the skill / confidence to take a head/ neck shot, it is up to you, after all we all want a 1 shot 1 kill ratio,
if you do your DSC1 the Only target area is the chest shot preferably broadside on
Cheers
Ray
 
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Relatively small target compared to the chest, less margin for error.

Get a head shot slightly wrong and a jaw can easily come off, long slow inhumane death.

The head is the most mobile part of the animal, always looking around, whereas the body is usually a reliable still target.

There are those that swear by head shooting and those that strongly believe it's high risk and potentially inhumane. A real marmite subject. Those that head shoot by preference are the minority.

The only time I head shoot is when coming down a hill into a group of hinds lying down looking down the hill, half asleep. Unlikely to move their heads and the only available shot without getting them too their feet. It's a back of head shot.

My advice would be to keep it safe, give yourself as much margin for error as possible and go for the chest shot. When you are experienced, conditions are right and you're inside 100 you might look at neck shooting, but I still chest shoot 90% of my deer. Seen a few go wrong and it's not pretty.

Hope that helps.
 
There's the thinking...thank you. Hadn't considered the possibility of unpredictable head movement and that does alter the equation. But i guess at the cost of more meat damage and maybe having to track a shot animal? Thanks very much for helping clear the picture :)
 
On the DSC1 course the presenter brought home the reality that the head shot vitals are about 10 times smaller than the heart/lung area at best. And as mentioned, the head is more likely to be moving or move abruptly, so why take the chance. The pictures of a deer with its lower jaw shot off are pretty horrific, death by starvation follows.
 
As above, but I'd just add that with air rifles head shots are more humane because A) pellets have relatively little penetrating power and they are more likely to have a fatal effect on the head than the chest, whereas with a rifle the bullet has more than enough power to reliably kill via chest shots and B) the pellet is quite large relative to the head of your quarry and the quarry's brain and vital blood vessels are a fairly large part of the head. With deer, the head and neck are very large and the brain, spinal cord and blood vessels relatively small.
 
There's the thinking...thank you. Hadn't considered the possibility of unpredictable head movement and that does alter the equation. But i guess at the cost of more meat damage and maybe having to track a shot animal? Thanks very much for helping clear the picture :)

Get a chest shot wrong by 2" and you will not be tracking it far, 50 yds or so, nothing an average dog couldn't find in heavy cover in under a minute. Get a Head shot wrong by 2" and the results are horrific. You will never track it and live in the knowledge it took a week to die. Why be clever? Just not worth it.
 
Hi all.

Searched SD, google & Youtube enough to be aware that head shots on deer are a contentious issue. Don't want to upset anyone but...why?

I'm from an air rifle background (as many of us are) and the general concensus when shooting quarry is that head shots are most humane. I know theres exceptions and chest shots are sometimes taken fairly on rabbits & pigeons etc. So why is this not the same with deer stalking please?

I've seen/read so many accounts of deer that have been shot in 'the vitals' having to be tracked over a period of time, implying a) harder work and b) I assume, a slower death. But from what i've seen head shot deer generally drop on the spot.

Is this a tradition thing? Or is it because if you want to mount a trophy on a wall it looks better in one piece rather than in a thousand? Genuinely interested yet confused.

Many thanks :)

Head Neck Rib shots can and will go wrong if you shoot enough Deer and are honest.
Head Neck shots goes wrong Deer will run on 4 good legs not offering another shot gone for ever slow death.
Rib shot if you don't panic ( hard to do ) more often than not the Deer will lay up stiffen up and offer a shot to end it's suffering as Rabbit/Fox shooter's often find Stalking and shooting Bambie is a different game.
Imho leave Trick Shooting to paper where the only damage is your Ego and Pride :thumb:
 
This does also tie in with the accuracy thread that's running too and what people expect from their rifles and more importantly what theyr e able to achieve all the time in a variety of positions. I personally look for a head shot as I like to keep waste meat to a minimum but it's too hard to put into words what makes the shot achievable in any given scenario as there are so many variables that make up a 'safe' head shot. The last deer I shot was a high neck about 120m away and dropped on the spot, the previous deer was a young roe shot broadside in the chest at 30m and it ran off and had to be tracked and then dropped with a headshot. On inspection one lung was destroyed but had almost sealed up the wound and was bleeding very little.
 
I can't help but but think this thread will go tits up really quickly, but to me, deer welfare first, meat damage a big second.
Put it in the engine room, dead deer.
For those that head shoot, it will go wrong at some stage, although i doubt many will admit it.
I can count on less fingers on one hand on the amount of head shots i have taken, the last it went wrong, luckily i resolved it quickly, that was many years ago, i have never done it since.
Cheers
Richard
 
Funnily enough I was thinking about a neck shot on a roe last week, but once you start watching them through the scope you realise how often and how quickly the head moves. This was a rutting buck who was feeding whilst keeping an eye on and occasionally pestering his doe, he was never still for long. I've never been one for snatching the trigger, I just can't shoot well like that, I like a slow squeeze and a surprise break. This doesn't sit well with head shooting.

I did shoot a red hind in the back of the head last year, it was lying down and very still, quite a long way out too. But I think you need to be very wary if the deer are active.
 
As a "hunting bunny-hugger", I feel quite strongly about this (many people do on both sides of the debate, and I respect those who disagree with me). I have head-shot the occasional beast in the past but I look back now ashamed at the risks I took with animals' welfare. I generally got lucky but trusting to luck has no place in hunting.

Nowadays, I would not have someone on my ground (either UK or Mozambique) who head-shoots large game. Also, I refuse to deal with any game dealer who insists upon, 'encourages' or offers a price-differential for head-shot animals.

It is neither a question of accuracy nor of skill; it is a question - as has been said - of margin of error. Quite simply, head-shooting is too binary: either it goes very well or it goes very badly. That, in my view, is philosophically incompatible with the respect each of us seeks to show to our quarry.

Neck-shooting from the rear is a bit safer but, if you are new to stalking, stick with chest shots for now. There's nothing worse than that sick feeling that wells up from the pit of your stomach when you realise you've maimed one of these creatures.

As for meat damage, most of the good stuff is at the other end of the animal anyway.

Best,

Carl
 
As a "hunting bunny-hugger", I feel quite strongly about this (many people do on both sides of the debate, and I respect those who disagree with me). I have head-shot the occasional beast in the past but I look back now ashamed at the risks I took with animals' welfare. I generally got lucky but trusting to luck has no place in hunting.

Nowadays, I would not have someone on my ground (either UK or Mozambique) who head-shoots large game. Also, I refuse to deal with any game dealer who insists upon, 'encourages' or offers a price-differential for head-shot animals.

It is neither a question of accuracy nor of skill; it is a question - as has been said - of margin of error. Quite simply, head-shooting is too binary: either it goes very well or it goes very badly. That, in my view, is philosophically incompatible with the respect each of us seeks to show to our quarry.

Neck-shooting from the rear is a bit safer but, if you are new to stalking, stick with chest shots for now. There's nothing worse than that sick feeling that wells up from the pit of your stomach when you realise you've maimed one of these creatures.

As for meat damage, most of the good stuff is at the other end of the animal anyway.

Best,

Carl

:tiphat: Shame there is not more out there with your ethics and mind set :thumb:
As for the Video Link best part of that is the End Where was the Crop damage !!!!! Herds of crop raiding Deer !!!!!! Shooting late in the evening !!! More shots than Deer shot not a good advert for Deer stalkers :banghead:
 
:tiphat: Shame there is not more out there with your ethics and mind set :thumb:
As for the Video Link best part of that is the End Where was the Crop damage !!!!! Herds of crop raiding Deer !!!!!! Shooting late in the evening !!! More shots than Deer shot not a good advert for Deer stalkers :banghead:

I agree re the video. I turned it off when I heard the following: "with the pressure on, we're going to take our chance...".
 
If you head shoot a deer , you destroy the nervous system and also stop the heart from pumping and the lungs etc too so the deer doesn't bleed out properly. End result, a carcass with muscle tissue that's still saturated with fluid and is of a very poor Quality.
If your a good enough shot for head shots then you can do an even better job with a chest shot.
Kindest regards, Olaf
 
shoot through the top of the shoulder,you lose a bit of meat but it puts deer on the floor

Often referred to as 'pinning' through the shoulder. Yes, it does drop deer on the spot as it also smashes the spine in between the shoulder blades.
However, it is a horrible shot as the deer generally remains alive but paralysed below the shoulder and needs to be dispatched. No major organs or blood vessels are hit. Not a very humane shot in my opinion.
MS
 
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