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[KillerBee]

These examples are the reason I don't allow my guided hunters to take anything but a broadside shoulder shot.....break down both shoulders and they're not going ANYWHERE! I don't like tracking deer in thick South Texas brush and taking a chance of losing the buck or coyotes finding him before we do!

A Broadside Shoulder Shot is not a shot I would ever take because I hate wasting venison since I am a meat hunter and not a trophy hunter. However I can see the value in it if you don't care if the meat is wasted. Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Smokies and Hot Italian Sausages are just way too tasty.

 

[stx]

A Broadside Shoulder Shot is not a shot I would ever take because I hate wasting venison since I am a meat hunter and not a trophy hunter. However I can see the value in it if you don't care if the meat is wasted. Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Smokies and Hot Italian Sausages are just way too tasty.

I hate wasting meat, as well....but I hate losing an entire animal to coyotes which is what happens in South Texas if they're not recovered quickly. I have a lot of hunters who have never seen the numbers and quality of bucks they see on my hunts and they sometimes get pretty excited! It's my job, as well as my guides, to keep them settled down and make sure they make a clean, humane, one shot kill. Being in on 80-120+ kills per season for the last 30 years I've learned that if you take their "running gear" out, they're not going anywhere. There's nothing worse in deer camp than a disappointed and upset Hunter because he messed up his opportunity at a trophy buck from poor shot placement knowing the animal suffered a miserable death. I certainly understand not wasting meat but in these cases, we're more concerned with sending the Hunter home, satisfied with a nice trophy, as well as plenty of meat.....a lot of my hunters don't even take the meat....in these instances, I have a guy that picks them up and gives them to his church who gives them to the needy! As far as meat goes for myself, we harvest a lot of does and management bucks on the 40,000 acres I manage, so my freezer stays full.....and every doe or cull buck that I shoot gets "lead to the head" with no meat wasted at all.....I'm kind of partial to fried backstrap, mashed potatoes & gravy with biscuits myself..!!

I make my living this way and no one loves to raise quality animals and watch them mature more than I do and I can assure you no one hates wasting meat more than I do....but by requiring my hunters to take broadside shoulder shots, we keep the loss to a minimum!! I respect these animals way too much to take any more chances than necessary!

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

These examples are the reason I don't allow my guided hunters to take anything but a broadside shoulder shot.....break down both shoulders and they're not going ANYWHERE! I don't like tracking deer in thick South Texas brush and taking a chance of losing the buck or coyotes finding him before we do!

I hunted with a buddy who hunts in South Texas earlier this year. He described it just as you have, they moved for solid shoulder shots for the exact same reasons. I too moved for shoulder shots for similar reasons and even if the animal doesn't crumble on the spot they never go far.

 

[KillerBee]

I hate wasting meat, as well....but I hate losing an entire animal to coyotes which is what happens in South Texas if they're not recovered quickly. I have a lot of hunters who have never seen the numbers and quality of bucks they see on my hunts and they sometimes get pretty excited! It's my job, as well as my guides, to keep them settled down and make sure they make a clean, humane, one shot kill. Being in on 80-120+ kills per season for the last 30 years I've learned that if you take their "running gear" out, they're not going anywhere. There's nothing worse in deer camp than a disappointed and upset Hunter because he messed up his opportunity at a trophy buck from poor shot placement knowing the animal suffered a miserable death. I certainly understand not wasting meat but in these cases, we're more concerned with sending the Hunter home, satisfied with a nice trophy, as well as plenty of meat.....a lot of my hunters don't even take the meat....in these instances, I have a guy that picks them up and gives them to his church who gives them to the needy! As far as meat goes for myself, we harvest a lot of does and management bucks on the 40,000 acres I manage, so my freezer stays full.....and every doe or cull buck that I shoot gets "lead to the head" with no meat wasted at all.....I'm kind of partial to fried backstrap, mashed potatoes & gravy with biscuits myself..!!

I make my living this way and no one loves to raise quality animals and watch them mature more than I do and I can assure you no one hates wasting meat more than I do....but by requiring my hunters to take broadside shoulder shots, we keep the loss to a minimum!! I respect these animals way too much to take any more chances than necessary!

Lot's of yotes here too as well and they can clean up a lost deer over night so I understand that predicament for sure stx! Many guided hunters are terrible shots, and many others suffer from buck fever when shooting at trophy animals, I personally do not suffer from either of those dilemmas. A gut or poorly shot animal can go a long way.

Never seen a deer or moose go far with either a double lung, heart, neck (or depending on the distance) a head shot. The vast majority of deer I shoot drop dead in their tracks.

 

[stx]

Lot's of yotes here too as well and they can clean up a lost deer over night so I understand that predicament for sure stx! Many guided hunters are terrible shots, and many others suffer from buck fever when shooting at trophy animals, I personally do not suffer from either of those dilemmas. A gut or poorly shot animal can go a long way.

Never seen a deer or moose go far with either a double lung, heart, neck (or depending on the distance) a head shot. The vast majority of deer I shoot drop dead in their tracks.

That's my goal on every shot...."dead in their tracks"! It's a whole lot different when you're not the one pulling the trigger! But I take the same shot myself on big, mature trophy bucks.....I don't take any chances! This 196 B&C buck was shot a little over 200 yards square through both shoulders with 140 gr TTSX from a custom 280 Rem. I watched him for 4 years since he was 2.5 yrs old and when he matured he went nocturnal.....at 6.5 this was the first time I'd seen him for two years except on game cameras......broadside shoulder shot...DRT....never took a step.

 

[KillerBee]

That's my goal on every shot...."dead in their tracks"! It's a whole lot different when you're not the one pulling the trigger! But I take the same shot myself on big, mature trophy bucks.....I don't take any chances! This 196 B&C buck was shot a little over 200 yards square through both shoulders with 140 gr TTSX from a custom 280 Rem. I watched him for 4 years since he was 2.5 yrs old and when he matured he went nocturnal.....at 6.5 this was the first time I'd seen him for two years except on game cameras......broadside shoulder shot...DRT....never took a step.

Nice deer stx, here is one of mine, Alberta Buck 206 B&C Gross. Double lung shot,he did not make it very far

 

[stx]

Nice deer stx, here is one of mine, Alberta Buck 206 B&C Gross 206. Double lung shot with my bow, he did not make it very far

Very Nice! Great Mass and Brows!

 

[KillerBee]

Very Nice! Great Mass and Brows!

That's stx, 24 1/2" inside spread, the base of his antlers are 9 1/2". the longest tine is 14". I will probable never kill a buck like him again, and consider myself really lucky to have taken him.

 

[stx]

That's stx, 24 1/2" inside spread, the base of his antlers are 9 1/2". the longest tine is 14". I will probable never kill a buck like him again, and consider myself really lucky to have taken him.

Yes....buck of a lifetime! Congrats!

 

[Nomosendero]

Thanks Stx & Killer Bee for these pics of beautiful animals. Concerning bullet placement, both of you are right, depending on the terrain, vegetation and type of bullet.
I lived for several years in South AR. & hunted some of the time over pipeline right of ways or roads in dense clearcuts & learned pretty quick that double shoulder of 'high shoulder" was the way to go for higher percentage DRT kills. Some of these clearcuts were so thick that I had to crawl in to retrieve Deer & crawling out with a Deer or Hog was tough. South TX brush country can be similar and this situation DRT, or at times "not going far" is unacceptable, especially if they go a few yards before the blood trail starts.
Now that I live in N. AR & hunt hardwoods and edge of fields I usually lung them to lose less meat, if they go 50 yards or more at times it is not a big deal.
So both are right, just depends.

 

[KillerBee]

Thanks Stx & Killer Bee for these pics of beautiful animals. Concerning bullet placement, both of you are right, depending on the terrain, vegetation and type of bullet.
I lived for several years in South AR. & hunted some of the time over pipeline right of ways or roads in dense clearcuts & learned pretty quick that double shoulder of 'high shoulder" was the way to go for higher percentage DRT kills. Some of these clearcuts were so thick that I had to crawl in to retrieve Deer & crawling out with a Deer or Hog was tough. South TX brush country can be similar and this situation DRT, or at times "not going far" is unacceptable, especially if they go a few yards before the blood trail starts.
Now that I live in N. AR & hunt hardwoods and edge of fields I usually lung them to lose less meat, if they go 50 yards or more at times it is not a big deal.
So both are right, just depends.

Thank you for your well thought out assessment Nomosendero, I would have to agree!

Plus I would make a bad guide, because I would not be able to handle other people shooting animals that I could kill, basically instantly.

 

[WildRose]

That's my goal on every shot...."dead in their tracks"! It's a whole lot different when you're not the one pulling the trigger! But I take the same shot myself on big, mature trophy bucks.....I don't take any chances! This 196 B&C buck was shot a little over 200 yards square through both shoulders with 140 gr TTSX from a custom 280 Rem. I watched him for 4 years since he was 2.5 yrs old and when he matured he went nocturnal.....at 6.5 this was the first time I'd seen him for two years except on game cameras......broadside shoulder shot...DRT....never took a step.

As a guy who's been killing deer in Texas for 45 years and who made a very good living as a guide and outfitter for a long time I'd much prefer that a hunter in whom I'm not completely confident as to their shooting abilities be limited to a straight on chest shot right above the sternum. Six inches off in any direction and the animal is still dead and if they miss by much more than that it's a clean miss.

 

[stx]

As a guy who's been killing deer in Texas for 45 years and who made a very good living as a guide and outfitter for a long time I'd much prefer that a hunter in whom I'm not completely confident as to their shooting abilities be limited to a straight on chest shot right above the sternum. Six inches off in any direction and the animal is still dead and if they miss by much more than that it's a clean miss.

I Have no doubt you know what you're doing and that works well for you, but as someone who's been killing deer in South Texas since the late 50s and in on 80-120 kills per season for the last 30+ years, I'll take a broadside shoulder shot...preferably high shoulder....anytime! I sure others have they're preferred shots, as well, but that's what has worked in my camp! As far as my hunters shooting ability, I have them all shoot when they get to camp and quickly access their ability....then we try to limit the distance these hunters have to shoot. We can usually keep them within 100 yds.....that helps tremendously!

 

[WildRose]

I Have no doubt you know what you're doing and that works well for you, but as someone who's been killing deer in South Texas since the late 50s and in on 80-120 kills per season for the last 30+ years, I'll take a broadside shoulder shot...preferably high shoulder....anytime! I sure others have they're preferred shots, as well, but that's what has worked in my camp! As far as my hunters shooting ability, I have them all shoot when they get to camp and quickly access their ability....then we try to limit the distance these hunters have to shoot. We can usually keep them within 100 yds.....that helps tremendously!

I'm sure it does at that distance. We don't generally think in those terms around here. gun). I'm always in the camp too where if they are going to miss I want a clean miss.