Word of wisdom from a deer processor

[mosseater]

I always try and take the lungs out. I like the heart and neck. I have shot deer straight through the lungs, never touched anything else. In between ribs on in going, and out between ribs on outgoing. Made soup out of the lungs and didn't touch anything else. Deer didn't even know it was shot. It simply fell over. No drama, no flopping. It was a thing of beauty. Then there was that archery gut shot....

[cdi]

Can someone splain to me the difference between the front shoulder and the just plain old shoulder?
More on topic, I try to reduce meat loss by shooting them in the head. Head shots will not spoil meat on either the front OR the back shoulder.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

I try to shoot them in the anus,no one eats that part anyway ! Just Joking ! Geeez !

[27hand]

My goodness. A lot of responses with different targeted areas.

It is of my opinion, I don't care about others, that most hunters are not proficient enough to place a bullet on command to various body parts given movement of deer, multiple presentations at various angles.
The shoulder is a fairly large target with room for error. The animal will generally go down but a substantial amount of meat can be lost. I believe this is the reason for the OP's post. I agree.
The next largest area would be behind the shoulder or essentially a double lung hit. This is the area I shoot for.
You can be a reasonable distance off your mark and still put the animal down quickly. I have been taught that a double lung shot deer will travel less distance than a heart shot deer. I took a tracking seminar years ago by an expert tracker that gave us that tidbit of info.

I personally disagree with trying to do head shots or neck shots. If you make exact hits in these areas, they will certainly do the job.
You can also miss by a little and not recover the animal.

I can somewhat equate this to personal defense shooting.
While a head shot through the ocular cavity is as close to immediate dispatch of a bad giy, it is an extremely difficult shot to place. We are taught generally to take COM shots as it's a bigger area, easier to hit and does what's needed.

I am not criticizing people's choices here and if it works best for you, have at it.
I suppose I have trouble believing that everyone trying neck and head shots always end up with immediate drop in their track shots.


I agree with the OP but it's only my opinion

For the record, opinion's are like anal apertures, everyone has one, they all stink, but mine.

Hunt safely.
Hit your mark.

[eatmydust]

Archery or firearm, double lung is the shot I am always shooting for. Hypoxia stops everything, including all of us one day.

[mpan72]

I decided to just wait in a tree and jump on any deer that passes by. I can just cut it's throat or snap its neck. That would be an instant kill with no meat loss at all. It will also save the lungs which I can turn into a nice backpack.

[God's Country]

I'm not aware of anyone intentionally aiming for the shoulder out of ignorance. You take the shot you have. It's easy when they're in field to be picky over shot placement. When you're hunting a cut or any heavy cover waiting for that deer to move 2 feet can be the difference between a full or empty freezer. I have aimed toward the shoulder knowing full well I may ruin most of a shoulder because the angle of the deer was such that I would rather risk the shoulder than a gut shot.

That said i'm aware of the consequences of my actions.

[Manxdriver]

My goodness. A lot of responses with different targeted areas.

It is of my opinion, I don't care about others, that most hunters are not proficient enough to place a bullet on command to various body parts given movement of deer, multiple presentations at various angles.
The shoulder is a fairly large target with room for error. The animal will generally go down but a substantial amount of meat can be lost. I believe this is the reason for the OP's post. I agree.
The next largest area would be behind the shoulder or essentially a double lung hit. This is the area I shoot for.
You can be a reasonable distance off your mark and still put the animal down quickly. I have been taught that a double lung shot deer will travel less distance than a heart shot deer. I took a tracking seminar years ago by an expert tracker that gave us that tidbit of info.

I personally disagree with trying to do head shots or neck shots. If you make exact hits in these areas, they will certainly do the job.
You can also miss by a little and not recover the animal.

I can somewhat equate this to personal defense shooting.
While a head shot through the ocular cavity is as close to immediate dispatch of a bad giy, it is an extremely difficult shot to place. We are taught generally to take COM shots as it's a bigger area, easier to hit and does what's needed.

I am not criticizing people's choices here and if it works best for you, have at it.
I suppose I have trouble believing that everyone trying neck and head shots always end up with immediate drop in their track shots.


I agree with the OP but it's only my opinion

For the record, opinion's are like anal apertures, everyone has one, they all stink, but mine.

Hunt safely.
Hit your mark.

Do you eat the meat of the bad guy you shot? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaa! Sorry, couldn't resist.

[God's Country]

Do you eat the meat of the bad guy you shot?

Makes one hell of a fondue.

[Tim Ault]

I'm not aware of anyone intentionally aiming for the shoulder out of ignorance. You take the shot you have. It's easy when they're in field to be picky over shot placement. When you're hunting a cut or any heavy cover waiting for that deer to move 2 feet can be the difference between a full or empty freezer. I have aimed toward the shoulder knowing full well I may ruin most of a shoulder because the angle of the deer was such that I would rather risk the shoulder than a gut shot.

That said i'm aware of the consequences of my actions.

Your last sentence is the key . Now if everyone thought that no one would bitch when it's time to pick their deer meat up after it was processed and the general reason I posted . A lot of guys and gals only see the little hole in the hide and that's it not having the slightest idea what nastiness lies beneath the hide .

And about taking out the fillets and backstraps or else they will vanish . Well that may happen some places I'm sure , but I'm not not ever gonna risk a job I've had for many years and good money near xmass time not to mention a lot of very very bad karma headed my way for a few lbs of deer meat ! No way no how ! And I treat processing others game same as I would if it were my own .