Late Season NC Public Land 10 PT With Some Regret

[Bux_N_Beards]

If he was facing you straight on and you say the entry was 3” higher on the other side (of the neck), I’m assuming his body was facing you directly but his head was turned?

30-06, or something even larger for that matter, likely wouldn’t have had any different effect. You didn’t hit the neck bone/nervous system. I did almost the exact shot on a whitetail doe back in college with a 7mm Rem Magnum and had about the same recovery story.

Good for you on sticking it out with the recovery. Great buck, especially for public this time of the year.

 

[accone]

If he was facing you straight on and you say the entry was 3” higher on the other side (of the neck), I’m assuming his body was facing you directly but his head was turned?

30-06, or something even larger for that matter, likely wouldn’t have had any different effect. You didn’t hit the neck bone/nervous system. I did almost the exact shot on a whitetail doe back in college with a 7mm Rem Magnum and had about the same recovery story.

Good for you on sticking it out with the recovery. Great buck, especially for public this time of the year.

Wow you know your stuff, yes he was slightly quartered to and his neck was turned up looking at me exactly as you described. I didn’t realize his neck was turned as much as it was until I saw the bullet wound trajectory. I thought he was a little more angled directly towards me so I expected the neck shot to angle into the rest of his body. Like I said I had him scoped from 80 yards out but I should have been more prepared for him to look up at me. I thought the 30 feet up had me a little safer than it did.

 

[accone]

Sometimes the neck shot is all you have. For me it depends if the animal is relaxed and stationary, I have a solid rest, there’s a clear shooting lane, and I’m as certain as possible that I can make the shot. I prefer the base of the neck. I’ve made neck shot kills on elk, caribou, mule deer and lots of whitetails. .300 Win Mag, .270 Win, and .243 Win. As I sit here, I can’t remember an animal that didn’t drop on impact. You are to be commended for your efforts to recover that deer. Well done !!

Thanks! I think my elevation created more downward angle than I expected and the shot stayed somewhat low on the neck. I will say he seemed very determined to stay alive. Even after the final shot I took while he was down, which was straight into the boiler room, it took him another 5 minutes to finally kick it. I actually sat pretty close to him for those final 5 minutes and watched the lights go out which gave me even more respect for ethical shot placement.

 

[Bux_N_Beards]

Wow you know your stuff, yes he was slightly quartered to and his neck was turned up looking at me exactly as you described. I didn’t realize his neck was turned as much as it was until I saw the bullet wound trajectory. I thought he was a little more angled directly towards me so I expected the neck shot to angle into the rest of his body. Like I said I had him scoped from 80 yards out but I should have been more prepared for him to look up at me. I thought the 30 feet up had me a little safer than it did.

Gotcha. Makes sense. If you shoot enough deer, things are going to happen. Congrats again. Beautiful buck

 

[Dave N]

Am I the only one who wonders why you are 30 feet up?

 

[accone]

Am I the only one who wonders why you are 30 feet up?

I said 30 feet in the post but I’m 20 feet in the tree and he is about 10 feet downhill below the tree base. I’m terrified of heights and hunted 10 feet up the first year I used a climbing stand.

 

[np307]

Ahh you are correct it’s misleading because I def understood it incorrectly lol. Will stick to boiler shots going forward, I dont trust my personal aim enough to go for a spine which I expect is about a 3” target!

Nothing wrong with limiting yourself on shots based on what you're comfortable with. You might do a little more reading on neck shot placement before you write it off completely. If the deer was facing you straight on, you could have also taken a frontal shot and been in the boiler room. One important key to hunting from an elevated position is that you have to shoot for where you want the exit to be. Think about it like a bowhunter.

 

[Tradewind]

Nice deer. Neck shots are good. I have never had one go anywhere that was hit in the neck

 

[SecretCode]

Very nice Buck!. Congratulations. Neck shots work. Not my personal cup of tea but I will take a lower frontal shot for sure. I also knkw in the heat of the moment stuff can go sideways real quick. Lot's of vital stuff and even shoulders to mess up and really get the most out of bullet. Way to not give up and Hound Dog the one to the freezer.

 

[El Jason]

Looks more like a POA issue than a headstamp issue.

 

[NDcoyote]

I would've taken the same shot that you did. Beautiful buck, congratulations!

 

[Stocker]

First of all great buck!I’m not a neck shooter. But I’m not necessarily against it either. My thought process on shooting deer whether frontal or broadside is where can I put this bullet to do the most damage. If that’s frontal, it’s trying to hit the top of the heart. It’s a little risky because there can be a lot to get through to get to it and a high shot runs the risk of only catching 1 lung which would result in about the same thing that happened in your scenario.


If you hunt long enough there’s just gonna be misses and weird things that happen with bullets.

Practice, practice, practice so it’s just 2nd nature when you pull the trigger and a lot of that buck fever doesn’t affect the shot.

 

[Robert N]

Nice deer. Neck shots are good. I have never had one go anywhere that was hit in the neck

Actually, I had two situations that pushed me away from neck shots.

The first barely skimmed the top of the neck, put the deer down instantly. About 30 seconds later, got up and ran the hell away. (*the shot went high, barely clipped the top of the neck.). A couple years later, that deer was shot by another on the lease and they had discovered a knot on the top of the neck…so, not always fatal if it doesn’t go through the actual neck…

Second time, shot a doe through the neck…dropped it instantly. I walked up on it…and realized I’d blown a hole through the trach and it was breathing through it. That…was not a pleasant moment and ended it quickly.

I get head/neck shots - done right they are magic. Done wrong and it’s a mess. Personally, I shy away from them anymore.