Shoulder shooters?

[Guy Miner]

Your thoughts on shooting your buck, elk, or whatever, through the shoulders?

Personally, I like it, at least for mule deer, my most commonly hunted game. So far it has always dropped them in place, which is worthwhile in rough country. I don't want them going anywhere after being shot. I hear too many horror stories of lost bucks. Sometimes they fall down the mountainside anyway after the shot. I find a good high shoulder shot generally drops the deer in place, sometimes it kills them instantly, or very quickly, twice I've walked up on still living deer and had to pop another bullet into them to finish things.

With mule deer, I've found most bullets are quite capable of penetrating the shoulder blade and getting inside the chest cavity. Most will exit the other side too, but this isn't a sure thing with more fragile bullets.

Does it ruin some meat? Yes, it certainly can. More with fragile high-velocity bullets, less with slower bullets in my experience. Personally, I'll take some meat loss, to give myself the best possible chance of dropping the deer in place.

I don't have enough experience on elk or larger game to make much of a case one way or the other. Shot my only bull through the chest, but not through the shoulder area. Complete penetration, and a pretty quick kill, although he did take a few steps before dropping.

Your thoughts on shoulder shots?

Thanks, Guy

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Partitions are great on shoulder shots. On deer I don't worry about it too much. Shoulder shot, double lung shot, with a .270+ either way, they are not going far. On elk, I'll put the partitions through the shoulders, the big 180-200gr BT's I'd rater put just behind the shoulder....assuming they stand still long enough for me to be that discerning..... :?

 

[FOTIS]

I take a shoulder shot every chance I get. Especially on elk.

 

[russ808]

+1 on the shoulder shot.

 

[1Shot]

I have never had the opportunity to hunt elk but I have killed more white tail deer than Carter has little pills. I always try to put the bullet in or have it exit a front shoulder. I do most of my hunting in areas that have huge cut-overs and if a deer is able to run off a ways after being shot it is a chore finding it. For deer I like the Nosler ballistic tips or Sierra bullets in the front shoulder and it drops them in their tracks. The verdict is still out on the Nosler AccuBond because I have only killed two deer with them, 130's from my 264 win mag but it dropped both in their tracks. Unless it is a very large deer there is really not that much "real" meat on a deers front shoulders except for the triceps muscles and you can usually salvage it with a little higher shoulder shot. Don't get too high and get into the back strap though.

 

[JD338]

Most of the WT deer I have shot have been a high lung shot, tight behind the shoulder and 2-3" above body center line. They drop at the shot and do not get up.
For elk, bear and deer in tough spots, I put the bullet through the shoulders.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Shoulder shot drops game (moose, elk, bear (black and grizzly) and deer (whitetail and mule)). What meat may be lost is minimal compared to the loss of an animal that is able to make thick bush. Lots of mass and slow helps save meat, but fast and less mass works to put down game if it is a premium bullet.

 

[sask boy]

Hi on WT I normally try to take the boiler room but with bigger game I try to break down the shoulders as they can not go anywhere.
However a well placed AB or Part. in the boilerroom on any animal does not let them go very far.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[SJB358]

Count me in as another that always shoots for the shoulders, or the opposite leg on a quartering shot. I like to kill them in place, for the same reason as Guy does, it puts them down in place, most of the time. If they have a chance to run, it is usually downhill, and I have to hike back up the hill most of the time! Plus, as most of you have already said, the front legs are pretty slim on meat, and most of the time it is stew or burger at best. Scotty

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Count me in as another that always shoots for the shoulders, or the opposite leg on a quartering shot.

Those are great shots.

 

[cloverleaf]

+1 to whats already been said remember my post from last season "When they dont go down..??" Those shots ended up through the back of the ribs high /lung diaphram /gut. You can bet this year if I get the chance I will try and break the shoulder. Incidentaly, My big antelope got hit low in the near side shoulder out through the lung and the ribs on the far side. My little 250 Savage at 264 yards.... He walked around in a circle, laid down and was done. CL

 

[nitis]

I dont waste any meat I usually ear hole them all!

All joking aside most of the hunting I do is on deer drives the the deer really moving so a good heavy bullet any where just to slow them down but outside nor cal deer drives I opt for shoulder shots

 

[jtoews80]

Half a deer in the freezer or hanging is worth more than a whole deer in woods feeding the coyotes. Hit them where they drop and shoot'em again if you've got to. You owe your quarry a clean kill.

I used to be pretty good at tracking because I had time to track and was asked to recover alot of deer by people that didn't have the time. I was often successful.

One particular outing I ruined the cape on a 6X6 WT putting an anchoring shot into his neck, 300grn XTP from a muzzleloader. Somebody shot it thro the front leg. I had trailed him for 3 hours over 2 miles and the guy that shot him started to bug out about me ruining his cape. He calmed down mighty fast as I pulled out my tag and asked him what day it was(you have to notch the kill date in MB), wasn't nearly such a big issue when he realized I could claim the buck as I had recovered it.

JT

 

[jtoews80]

That 6X6 is on his wall with a neatly repaired cape, BTW.

 

[DrMike]

Good show, JT. You done it right!

 

[jmad_81]

I was taught to head shoot everything, once I started hunting off the farm I just shot everything behind the shoulder. When I started hunting bears the guys that took me told me to break a shoulder. When I went to Africa they told me to break both shoulders, but that was because of the different location of the vitals. So as far as elk and deer go I was just introduced to the high shoulder shot two years ago. I was drinking a whiskey and watching a long range hunting DVD with a buddy. Before that I had never thought about it. I had my wife make shoulder shots on both of her deer this year, but they all hit to low to get the drop them on the spot effect.

For me it depends on the situation, If I need to drop it right there I try for the shoulder shot. If its flat and open I put it behind the shoulder and save a bit of meat. The only exception is elk and bears, they get at least one shoulder everytime.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Shoulder shots are all that I've been taking since I was about 13 years old, so for the last 10 years now. Done it on a couple antelope, few bears, several whitetails/muley, and cow and spike elk.

The shoulder shot works great if you use the right bullets. They drop on the spot and die usually before they hit the ground.

Yes it ruins some meat, but I dont like nor am I a great tracker. Plus I dont want my animal running over the next hill only to have some other jack monkey claim it with my hole through its lungs.

Thorwing away a bit of meat is usually the last of my concern.

 

[longwinters]

If I have the option, I'll take the quartering towards shot every time.

Long

 

[JDMAG]

I take shoulder shots any time I can. seems to be a lot less tracking required.
It worked on my mule deer this year as well.

 

[hardpan]

well, on shoulder shots, I think that it depends on the game and the rifle/bullet combination. I have seen a lot of elk run with broken front leg/shoulder shot. and then had to find the elk for the hunter. My best advice is to use a double lung, and get a lot of blood on the ground. It will not always anchor an animal, but they don't run like heart shot animals, and it is a killing shot. More than once, I tracked an animal for several hours before finding it, and then had to kill it for the hunter.,

In general, if I am the guide, I won't let the hunter take a shoulder shot on elk. Deer is a different matter, but still the double lung offers a quick clean kill, and a short tracking session.

Last point, we as hunters owe the animal as clean a kill as possible. Hence, lung, neck, heart shots are all quick kills. The far shoulder as an exit is as well, but without an exit wound, blood tracking can get very hard. So, I prefer the lungs first, then heart, then neck.

Hardpan