Throughout all my time growing up hunting whitetail here in TX, I have always been a big fan of taking a neck shot when hunting doe or spikes. To be specific, the aim is usually at the base of the neck, or at least the lower half of the neck. The thought process of our family was that it almost always ends up in a clean missed shot, or the deer drops dead in its tracks.

I've never lost a deer that I hit, but I've clean missed a few deer. Never followed a blood trail more than 20-30 yds.

Obviously, if you're trophy hunting, you would want to take into consideration if you are going to get a shoulder mount and go for a heart/lung shot instead.

I mainly ask this because I absolutely never see any hunting shows/videos use a neck shot, and I never read about anyone taking a neck shot on deer.


Am I just a backwards redneck who has been doing it wrong through all these years of deer hunting, or is there some ethical issue here that I'm not aware of and have been violating this whole time?


ETA: To clarify, there's no way I would advocate taking a neck shot on a deer past 250 yds unless you are an extremely confident (and competent) shooter/rifle combination. Novice hunters would likely struggle with good shot placement at that range and would benefit from the larger target of a behind-the-shoulder shot.

I have heard lots of people that take neck shots on meat deer. It's not just you. I don't because I don't want to risk missing.

I'm a neck shooter

I got lots of videos to show how awesome they are and the cleaning of the animal is a lot less messier

Have i missed before? Yes
Have I hit a deer and it got away? Once. I hit it in the scruff of its neck and shot it again the next weekend
Have I ever had to track a neck shot deer

Never

And I've never seen a deer nice enough that I would have to shoulder mount it

I prefer euros anyway

I was on a nilgai hunt in Falfurrias and the guides tell you to shoot at the white patch about 6 inches under their chin on their neck because you don't want to be tracking them. As OP said, it drops them in their tracks or results in a clean miss. You hit it, you buy it.

Neck for me on all does and cull bucks! If its a "trophy" I'm probably bowhunting him anyways

Here's a few of mine

Nice video

shoot necks most of the time if I can.

Neck shots on does all day long

Spent lots of time in the deer stand with other hunters and I've seen lots of things happen. Here is my take on neck shots:

Base of neck - closer to neck/shoulder junction - is the best aiming location, IMO

A miss-hit on a neck shot can be bad. I've seen it result in a brisket hit. A leg hit. A lower neck hit that leaves a gaping wound.

That said - the same can happen with shoulder shots (ex - high in the back, in the brisket, in the leg)

IMO - if your gun is capable of 2" groups at the distance you're shooting, the neck shot is a nice way to keep the shoulders clean and lead out of your meat.

Neck / Head shots only.

I have neck shot shoulder mounts. I even have an earhole European mount that got me a cussed / fussed at, but Taxidermists are artists. If yours isn't find a new one...

I suspect a good number of "clean misses" are through the flesh, no vitals hit, insufficient resistance for expansion, so the exit wound is small and relatively bloodless. As versus "missed my point of aim, so naturally I must have missed it by a 4" halo and not made a minor wound, but rather missed big instead of small"

The distribution of misses would seem to be against it being a clean miss every time it's not a fatal hit. If the deer heals up then I guess it's no big deal, but the idea that if you miss, you happen to miss completely but at least 2-3" doesn't make sense.

I never see targets with shots either inside the 9 ring or outside the 6 ring with nothing between.

5.56 neck shot at ~50 yards a number of years back. Only deer I've taken by neck shot. Didn't run...as you can see.

Didn't goooo 20!

That's what I do now. I don't have to go looking for a deer. It also makes the cleanup a lot easier like everyone is saying.

I'll shoot a deer anywhere......except the nuts! Here's my advise on neck and head shots - dont shoot when they are feeding, wait until they are locked in looking at something.

A buddy of mine took this video with the following caption:

Quote:

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22 Creedmoor, 82gr Berger 3350fps, prototype/ pre production serial number 0001 March FX 4.5-28x52 with PDK reticle. 200 yds right where the neck and head meet.

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https://www.facebook.com/100008258719035/videos/2832947813657148/

I don't like them. To me, you have a smaller success window, and a near miss on that will not do enough damage to drop the deer in most cases. They either drop or run off lightly wounded and can't be tracked, which leads to a lot of "clean misses" that probably were not. The only neck shot I ever took was when I was on foot headed to a stand and had a buck walking right towards me down the trail at about 30 yards out with his nose to the ground. I whistled to get him to stop and he raised his head and stared right at me. A shot to the heart/lungs would have exited through his guts. So I took a neck shot and broke his neck, but it took forever for him to actually die.

Mostly neck shots for me as well since most shots are <75 yards.

A lot of it is what your comfortable with

I know people who have a feeder 50 yards from the stand and have hit guts. My best neck shot was at 225ish.

My rifle groups well and I have a big honkin scope and I feel very comfortable shooting in the neck. Head shots are rare for me. I've seen a lot more head shots gone wrong than I have neck shots gone wrong.

Ultimately it boils down to respecting the hunt, killing the beast, and getting it into the cooler as efficiently as possible

And for me, that putting a baseball size hole in the neck, heck sometimes I don't need a saw to cut the head off.

Only neck shots for me and my 11 year old son. I have had several nice bucks mounted with neck shots, unless you are using a howitzer, the the taxidermist can cover with no problems

I've had 2 different deer I've neck shot dead center not die. One ran off after I got down from the stand never to be found. The second took another neck shot dead center after raising his head and ultimately had to be finished with a knife. No more head or neck shots for me.

Miss the spine and good chance of a wasted deer running away to suffer. After seeing deer with holes in ears and missing jaws it just isn't worth some false ego stroking.

Our shooting lanes are only 15' wide and the deer are usually moving so I normally go for the double lung shot. Prefer a neck if I can.

jmazz said:

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5.56 neck shot at ~50 yards a number of years back. Only deer I've taken by neck shot. Didn't run...as you can see.

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I still see the spots on that fawn

I'm kind of 50/50 on neck or shoulder shots. I go with what I'm comfortable with for the given situation. If I'm hunting from a stand with a comfortable rest for my gun then I'll take a neck shot on a doe or something. If I'm in a tri-pod and things are not set-up as well then I'm usually aiming for the boiler room. I want to be confident in the shot I'm taking. I do like neck shots and I grew up only shooting the neck since that is what my dad always did. Never had a deer take a step when they're hit in the neck.

Neck shots most of the time for me and those would be high on the neck just below the skull. This is on meat animals, trophy deer I anchor through the heart.

Another shot I particularly like for meat animals is a high lung shot 4 inches or so back of the shoulder and mid-line on the body so it is well above the heart. This works if you are shooting relatively level and not at a down angle from a high blind. Wait until the deer is turned completely sideways so you get a through and through without damaging either shoulder. Animals usually instantly drop, but they bleed out almost completely internally because the heart is still pumping into the lung cavity void. Makes for a messy gutting but much better meat with all the blood drained. Let the deer's heart do the work. Suppressed will give the through and through due to no bullet expansion. FMJ will do the same.

To clarify, there's no way I would advocate taking a neck shot on a deer past 250 yds unless you are an extremely confident (and competent) shooter/rifle combination. Novice hunters would likely struggle with good shot placement at that range and would benefit from the larger target of a behind-the-shoulder shot.

txrancher69 said:

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Suppressed will give the through and through due to no bullet expansion.

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Can you please explain what you mean here? I don't have any experience hunting suppressed.

ETA: I'm familiar with suppressors; just haven't hunted with one.

I'm with tsuag10. Looking for an explanation on that suppressor statement re: expansion.

I hunt with both a suppressed AR10 and an un-suppressed bolt .308. The vast majority of my shots are 80-100 yards and I get pass-throughs with both rifles using the same ammo 99% of the time.

And to make this topical...I usually aim for the neck with does. Had only one that I had to go looking for. She dumped a TON of blood over about a 200 yard path and I never did find her after >3 hours of looking. I clearly hit major blood vessels but missed the spine and thus she ran.

Most people don't really shoot enough deer to really have a good indication of how many times the neck shot fails when it is a little off. I have seen my share of deer that are wounded in this way. You are not always missing when you think you are. Have killed a few deer with clean holes through the neck. Also seen faces blown off on does from head shots gone wrong. I have shot big bucks in the neck on a few occasions because that was the only shot presented as they were looking at me from the brush. A lot of ranches that i have been involved with do not allow those type of shots to be taken during culling operations because the odds are just not in your favor.

Never tried a neck shot. I have questions - where specifically do you aim - base near shoulder, middle of neck, up towards head? High/low, i.e. above/below spine? Does it matter? Dial me in on a good shot placement & I could see giving it a try...

adding another comment........it also depends on if I am hunting "family" land or a guest somewhere. If its the ladder I go right up the backside of the front leg aiming to the leg on the opposite side.

from another forum / not my photo - this is why I dont take them and instead aim for crease in the shoulder.