Shoulder shots

[Richard Crain]

I shoot base of skull or in the ear when conditions are right, farther back than most when not. I go for the liver and have always thought intentional should shots are asinine. One member did educate me on needing the animal to go down right where shot or not far due to hunting right/land/lease type issues. I don't have that problem so never considered it. That was the only good answer I felt was in the entire thread. YMMV.

I shoot base of skull or in the ear when conditions are right, farther back than most when not. I go for the liver and have always thought intentional should shots are asinine. One member did educate me on needing the animal to go down right where shot or not far due to hunting right/land/lease type issues. I don't have that problem so never considered it. That was the only good answer I felt was in the entire thread. YMMV.

Bet you chase and loose animals with liver shots. Shoot a bull elk in the liver and he can run 2 miles before dying, probably lost animal.

 

[mpayne]

My family loves to eat Elk so I try to shoot to kill without loosing much meat I usually try lung shot on 12/23/19 my 212ELD-X worked perfect!

 

[35 Whelen]

My Dad all ways liked neck shots, but know that he's getting some age on him (just turned 72) he shoots just be hind the shoulder as he is not as steady as he use to be. This gives him a bigger target. I take the best shot I think I'm going to get and that I feel comfortable with. Usually be hind or in shoulder. As far as meat I have seen a lot of blood shot meat saved by socking it in ice cold salt water (table salt not ocean water). DG I'd go for shoulder to immobilize them, this is for grizzly and brown bears as well, would do on black bear to depending on terrain and shot angle.

 

[Ranger Rick]

First off just want to ask how many guys here try to shoot animals in the shoulder? Secondly I want to know why? Not trying to be a edited just would like to see the reasons behind this.

My first choice is a neck shot from mid-neck to the base of the skull = instant kills for 33 years. Second choice is lungs or heart = usually down in less than 10 yards. I have taken one should shot over the years when that was all the was a target (range = 40-50 yards). It took a second shot to the neck to kill the bull.

 

[5gauss]

I only shoot shoulders if the situation calls for it. Like the only shot available. It certainly breaks them down quick.
Lungs shots leave deer and elk very dead while having a huge kill zone. Also saves a lot of meat.

Suppose there is a time/place for shoulder shots but one thing is for SURE, double lung shot is DEAD every time but yes, maybe 50 yards of tracking..no real meat loss..

 

[Jluck]

Bet you chase and loose animals with liver shots. Shoot a bull elk in the liver and he can run 2 miles before dying, probably lost animal.

I usually get both lungs too. Those vitals are much bigger than people think and to answer your snarky reply, yep I have lost an animal over the years. None with holes through the liver and lungs though.

 

[cynicrit]

If, for whatever reason, I want to keep the animal right there, I'll use a shoulder shot. Often it's because i want to prevent the animal from running onto property where recovering it will be problematic. In one of my more productive areas, some shots can terminate within running distance (for a whitetail) of the property of a nut bag who hates hunters, so I need to stop them running in that direction. There's no way I'd be allowed permission to recover them, and I won't give those people the satisfaction.

 

[Badgerclaw]

I've heard the term DRT (dead right there) used a lot in this thread. Just want to point something out. If your shooting animals long range (I'm not saying it's wrong, in and of itself anyway) you have no way of knowing if the animal is dead or not. Just because it hits the ground does not mean it's dead. By the time you reach the animal, five to twenty minutes, or an hour later, the animal is dead. How long did it lay there suffering?

Someone said "shoulder shot works great with bergers! Been doing it for 10 years" or something like that. I call bull $&!/. I saw a 300RUM with a 210 berger high shoulder an elk at 80 yards and it did not even penetrate into the body cavity. Not even a fragment!!! The elk dropped, didn't kick, didn't twitch (your regular uneducated or inexperienced person would call that DRT), but we were 80 yards away. So we walked up to the elk within a minute of shooting. As soon as the elk saw us, it tried to stand up and run away. It couldn't because it was a leg down and the spine was partially busted. Finished it off with my buddies pistol.

I only hit the shoulder when I miss the sweet spot behind the shoulder. And I DONT use bergers, so when I do hit the shoulder, the bullet will still penetrate to the vitals.

I know there are high shoulder, berger bullet, success stories out there but I attribute most of them to the fact that it takes the average long range hunter quite a while to reach their animal, and by the time they get there, yes, the animal is dead

 

[Kodiak Special]

Lot's of good responses and insights. For me it's all about putting them down quickly. Prefer to take out the the lungs, but a shoulder shot hammers them down.

 

[flylo]

Maybe DRT means down right there.

 

[Badgerclaw]

I should add, if you shoot barnes, hammer, cutting edge, partition, accubond, gmx, or bullets of that nature which are designed for penetration through bone, shoulder shots are awesome for a clean quick kill because you can break the shoulder(s), planting the animal and still cross through the vitals

 

[bigngreen]

I should add, if you shoot barnes, hammer, cutting edge, partition, accubond, gmx, or bullets of that nature which are designed for penetration through bone, shoulder shots are awesome for a clean quick kill because you can break the shoulder(s), planting the animal and still cross through the vitals

The Hammer is the only one of those I've seen still at 100% getting through an elk shoulder, Ive seen a higher percentage of Bergers get through than Barnes or Accubonds.

 

[Greyfox]

for the close-mid range shots I'll aim/angle for the top of the heart area. For the longer shots where error can occur(wind, mirage, etc.) iI aim for the "center mass" vitals; 1/3-mid height/behind shoulder. I will on occasion go for a shoulder shot at last light to anchor the game for recovery in difficult terrain.

 

[Will Gray]

If they are eating corn and moving one step at a time, I try to wait for a top of the heart shot with the near leg back and the far leg forward from a front quartering position. Takes out the heart or major blood vessel at the heart and the lungs with minimal meat damage. If it picks up a rib or two on the exit, it shocks the spine and aids in shortening any run. I don't hunt trophies but if I did, I would shoot the high shoulder for DRT result. Never head or neck shots because of the chance of an injury that will leave the animal running and not dying until the coyotes get it.