High Shoulder Shot vs Behind the Shoulder Boiler Room Shot

[gunner45]

Those of you that don't mind trailing one 50-75 yards, surely have not hunted south Texas. Everything here has a thorn on it and is usually so thick you have to crawl through it. I have seen deer, leaving a blood trail, lost because you couldn't get to them. Pulling cactus thorns and doctoring mesquite thorn scratches half the night is not worth it for a venison shoulder.
I like to bust one or both shoulders. That is usually DRT. There's not much meat on the shoulders, and we get 5 deer tags with our license. I can get enough meat from 5 deer to make up for a few ruined shoulders.
No double lung shots for me, thank you.

 

[edge]

I agree that high shoulder or a neck/ body intersection shot generally puts an animal down quicker than a heart /lung shot deer.
Dangerous game probably always warrants a break down first shot with a quick follow-up and then a coup de gras.

Deer on the other hand may go 150 yards with a lung shot, 50 yards with a heart shot with a traditional mushrooming bullet. A Ballistic tip tends to shorten this significantly ASSUMING it reaches the boiler room.

I prefer a pass through for my bullets and at my normal range that recently has meant an Accubond for quick expansion combined with reasonable weight retention.
My aim is almost always the heart and take that shot from any direction except the rear.

IMO, physics tells me that bullets perform meaningful work only when moving fast. If a bullet comes to rest inside an animal, then it ceased doing meaningful work some distance before it actually stopped moving.
IMO, if it exits, then if the angle had been more severe, or had it encountered more dense bone then it still probably would have reached the vitals.

These are personal decisions as are anyones ethics so I won't argue someone else's POA or bullet choice

I love backstraps and under most circumstances don't want to lose any in exchange for a shorter tracking job.

NOW, being an Eastern hunter, my long range is not the same as you Westerners, AND this is LRH so an animal that may take an hour to hike to the kill location probably warrants a DRT shot and the high shoulder/mobility shot is probably always needed.

Circumstances would dictate the shot location, IMO..... convoluted enough

edge.