Head Shot on deer, Good or Bad?????

[Thescandinavian]

just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

I disagree. I would disregard that as an opinion and instead call it facts.

Headshots are for idiots trying to compensate. I have seen and had to dispatch of two deer that had their jaw hanging down from some $"'>£}! that tried to head shot the animal. Try headshots on steel and be humane about animals

I totally agree. I had deer as close as 20yards grassing and I have had there skull in the middle of the crosshair and each time I have dismissed the thought of a headshoot because of the risks involved.
A bad shoot aimed at the chest is still likely to end the life of a deer within minutes or reduce its mobility greatly. A blood trail it's possible to follow is also more likely.
A headshoot here is also likely to get you reported for irresponsible hunting and your likely to be finned. After all we dealing with creatures that feel pain and fear at the same level as ourself, show them some ******* respect.

 

[FEENIX]

Went on an out of state deer hunt with a buddy of mine and we shot our buck deer in the first two days ( got pretty lucky). With lots of time left to hunt we each got a antler less tag and went back out. To make it more interesting we decided any shot less than 500 yards would be a head shot, of course conditions had to be ideal. We had great weather and no wind for the afternoon hunt. I shot mine at 350 yards, DRT. My buddy shot his at 400, DRT. With no meat loss and having such a great time I am thinking this was a great idea. So I thought I would see what you guys all think, just looking for honest opinions? Is there any reason this is just a bad idea?

Troublemaker!

We all know "Harry Callahan's opinion on opinions", just type/search on youtube and see.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

I feel literally the same about it as LRH. If you put in the practice so that when you pull the trigger you are thinking "dead deer" and not "hope I hit it" then carry on.

I chuckle when people are ok shooting a lung @1000 but not a head @ 300

I will continue to shoot headshots in situations I deem appropriate until it's illegal for me to do so.

 

[Canhunter35]

I would be a hypocrite to call headshots bad, but they're certainly high risk. Making it a competition puts added pressure to make a head shot possibly when conditions are less than ideal for it, so I would say that's the bad idea.
Last year I had two elk tags had already shot one through both lungs and she crashed into dense bush, the others were looking at us so I knew my wind call, it was at 425yds, she was alert, I took the shot and dropped her.
I also had a buddy when we were teenagers graze the skull of a deer and knock it out, it came to and we stood on its horns and cut its throat.
Only thing is, he was aiming for its neck. that's what happens when a teenager has a 7mm.
Another buddy shot a deer in the head, broke it's skull and wrecked the rack that way. So I think they're a appropriate times and confidence levels that ultimately are left up to the shooter, but often we are best served with the widest margin of error, we're humans after all lol

 

[Mram10us]

I feel literally the same about it as LRH. If you put in the practice so that when you pull the trigger you are thinking "dead deer" and not "hope I hit it" then carry on.

I chuckle when people are ok shooting a lung @1000 but not a head @ 300

I will continue to shoot headshots in situations I deem appropriate until it's illegal for me to do so.

I would hope people on this forum are smart enough not to take a 1000 yard shot unless they are VERY trained with PERFECT conditions. A head is MUCH smaller at 300 than the boiler room at 1000.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I guess its up to your skill level. How big is a deer brain? 3" max? If you can cold bore a 3" target 100% of the time at 500 yards and you can see into the future that a bird wont fly by or a branch falls, or any other distraction that would cause the deer to quickly move its head to look, then go for it Seriously Im tired of seeing so many wounded elk in my area Im not sure it matters. Since so many shoot in the guts and rear quarters a head shot would have been a clean miss. So I guess I just changed my mind, If your a good shot dont do it, if you suck, go for it LOL

 

[Oldschool280]

The main reason most don't take a head shot is the chance that they may move and the perfect shot becomes a poor choice.

The safest way to make a good shot is the traditional chest shot because it is the most stationary and full of vitals that can/will end the hunt very favorably.

It is great that you made the difficult shot count, But eventually these shots will jump up and bite you.

just my opinion

J E

The main reason most don't take a head shot is the chance that they may move and the perfect shot becomes a poor choice.

The safest way to make a good shot is the traditional chest shot because it is the most stationary and full of vitals that can/will end the hunt very favorably.

It is great that you made the difficult shot count, But eventually these shots will jump up and bite you.

just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

Well said, i wish other people would respond as if they were in person.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

A head is MUCH smaller at 300 than the boiler room at 1000.

To clarify you are saying a cold bore @1k on a ~10" target is easier than a cold bore 300 on a 3" target?

 

[Deleted member 48126]

To clarify you are saying a cold bore @1k on a ~10" target is easier than a cold bore 300 on a 3" target?

pulling out the old ratios on em, eh?

 

[memtb]

I feel literally the same about it as LRH. If you put in the practice so that when you pull the trigger you are thinking "dead deer" and not "hope I hit it" then carry on.

I chuckle when people are ok shooting a lung @1000 but not a head @ 300

I will continue to shoot headshots in situations I deem appropriate until it's illegal for me to do so.

Folks seem to discredit the simple fact that for no apparent ( to us) reason, an animal can suddenly move. It takes much longer to move a 10" kill zone in the center mass of an animal away from the intended POI, than does a 3" to 4" kill zone that can be moved very quickly! memtb

 

[CVCOBRA1]

How many of you head shooters out there would shoot a 200 point whitetail in the head?

 

[Backcountry sports]

Very bad!! A perfect shot in hundredths of a second can go bad. A human scent on the wind, a snapping twig, or any number of a multitude of things can cause an animal to move it's head......quickly.

We found a live deer that had suffered for several days, with it's lower jaw destroyed just at the back of it's teeth. If this was an intentional "head shot", either the hunter missed by inches or the deer moved it's head. Had this been a shot behind the shoulder......dead deer!

My wife used to take pride in head shooting game.....until we found this deer, alive and suffering! She's never taken another head shot! memtb

 

[Mram10us]

Memtb said what I was about to. The head moves more and quicker than the body

 

[Backcountry sports]

Wait and shoot in in the lung are no meat loss to many head shots miss and now where is your bullet going or hitting wrong animal or a bullet deflected the wrong way and that's not good