Are neck shots ethical for the average hunter

[JJ1965]

Would you do the same to a deer?

[2thDoc]

yeah i watched about 2 seconds of that video and knew what was coming. certainly makes me feel very uncomfortable.

I remember very vividly my father talking to my son after he killed one of his first deer. My son was crying. I was new to this and had no clue why. My father, who had more wisdom than I at that time, quietly walked over to Connor and said "Son, if you dont have a pang of regret every time you shoot a deer, you're no kin of mine...." (this is a warning to all dads trying to take their kid to kill a deer at a very young age when the child has no clue the magnitude of taking an animal's life).

[M.R.Ducks]

Would you do the same to a deer?

Would you take a shot at a coyote if he only presented a body shot/gut shot or let them walk?

[Highstrung]

Nope

I also wouldn't take a shot on a hog where I know I would lose him or be a prolonged death.. I'm not shooting at his damn hindquarters.

Before you try to turn that around, just know.. I don't give second thoughts to anyone judging me as a person or a hunter. I sleep perfectly fine..


There's one more difference that you're missing.. They videoed it and posted it online. They wanted attention, and probably thought they did no wrong.. That from the start is way fucking far from what I would do or any ethical hunters that I know.

[M.R.Ducks]

I had a coyote in the crosshairs one day (center mass) and for whatever reason, I pulled the shot, she moved, I moved, gun was off, I don’t know. But she ended up being shot in the rear end (.270). I instantly felt sick to my stomach. It was just day light so I got out of my stand and walked the 50 yards where she was dragging away and dispatched of her there. Tried to do right but it happens sometimes.

[JJ1965]

Nope

I also wouldn't take a shot on a hog where I know I would lose him or be a prolonged death...

And this is the difference between you and the people I am talking about. I am talking about people who intentionally gut shout a hog so it will run off and die later somewhere else, and then brag about it.

And I will add that I am fully aware that just because I have an opinion, that doesn’t make me right. It’s just how I feel. I gut shot my first deer when I was a kid. He suffered greatly and it took hours to find him and finish him off. Made me sick then and makes me sick 45 years later. It’s just a pet peeve of mine. I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be.

[2thDoc]

its an interesting debate.
I have trouble with people who dont think its "right" to shoot the cute little deer but its OK to spray for mosquitoes and squish cockroaches like they dont matter.

There's a reason we "save the whales" and not the sardines. Humans are funny that way....

[sftull]

Neck shots - If I'm very steady and the deer isn't bobbing and weaving like Iron Mike.

Head shots - "I aint no sniper bra..." For a number of year a had the opportunity to hunt a beautiful 5000 acre plantation in GA. It was a friend of my BIL's and he would let us come out a couple of times a year and hunt hogs and one doe if we wanted. It was just a treat to be out there b/c there was almost no hunting pressure, so animals were everywhere. I can remember one afternoon, we had 30+ deer, 25 hogs and 10 turkeys in a 25 acre food plot. It was an awesome place. Well one afternoon, my BIL decided to be Bob Lee Swagger and shoot a doe in the head. She was about 75yds from the stand and turned broad side. He missed her head and blew her bottom jaw off. I felt really bad for that deer b/c I knew it was going to suffer badly. Luckily for her, the land owner killed her the next day but he/we were not allowed back. The land owner thought that we were just killing to kill and during a conversation one night (4 years later at my BIL's farm) I mentioned that I wanted to shoot a pig b/c I was out of pork. He asked if I ate those hogs that I killed at his place and I said yes. He gave me an invitation to come back anytime w/o my BIL.

Killing animals - If I'm not going to eat it, it gets a pass. The only exception is a coyote.

[Carolina Counsel]

yeah i watched about 2 seconds of that video and knew what was coming. certainly makes me feel very uncomfortable.

I remember very vividly my father talking to my son after he killed one of his first deer. My son was crying. I was new to this and had no clue why. My father, who had more wisdom than I at that time, quietly walked over to Connor and said "Son, if you dont have a pang of regret every time you shoot a deer, you're no kin of mine...." (this is a warning to all dads trying to take their kid to kill a deer at a very young age when the child has no clue the magnitude of taking an animal's life).

Had the dang near identical talk with my 9 year old over Thanksgiving. He was struggling with the conflicting emotions of elation and regret/sorrow. I told him that if he ever stops having conflicting emotions when killing a deer, it's time to stop killing.

[2thDoc]

good stuff, CC. Its things like this I wish people would listen to....

[JJ1965]

When my son killed his first dove, we walked up to it and he was just standing there looking at it. I asked him what he was feeling, and he looked up at me with a little tear in the corner of his eye and said, “I feel kinda sad, but I want to do it again”. I told him that was a perfect blend of emotion and thanked God that my son was a hunter and not a killer.

[2thDoc]

perfect

[2thDoc]

and for full disclosure, I've done some unsavory things with wild hogs....

[Frank1]

This is a family site . . .

[Glenn]

its an interesting debate.
I have trouble with people who dont think its "right" to shoot the cute little deer but its OK to spray for mosquitoes and squish cockroaches like they dont matter.

There's a reason we "save the whales" and not the sardines. Humans are funny that way....

Charismatic mega-fauna. Cute needs saving, ugly needs eliminating. It's the same reason vegans have no concern over all the animals that die from large scale corporate farming, including deer from deprivation permits. As long as they have their soy and tofu they're good to go.

I've gut shot pigs so I didn't have to deal with them. Laziness on my part and I regret doing it.

[Rubberhead*]

My deer hunting hero always shoots for the neck. He misses sometimes but, in my memory, it's always a clean miss. He hates looking for deer.

Dead in the middle of the neck...


It's hard to tell with this one but the bullet hole is right in the fork of the deer's right antler...

[2thDoc]

i know your hero and I trust him....

HOWEVER, I've found plenty of dead deer for those "neck shooters" who didnt even go and look bc the deer didnt drop dead.

I think its important for those that have less experience at deer hunting to understand that shooting at the neck does not always mean a deer that drops dead. There is a lot of neck and only a percentage of it is a quick kill.

I strongly suggest taking a different shot.

[coonsqualler01]

RH your pictures are always excellent. I think it ultimately depends on the shooters experience. Rifle nerds and people who never check their rifle are two entirely different groups.

[Rubberhead*]

i know your hero and I trust him....

HOWEVER, I've found plenty of dead deer for those "neck shooters" who didnt even go and look bc the deer didnt drop dead.

I think its important for those that have less experience at deer hunting to understand that shooting at the neck does not always mean a deer that drops dead. There is a lot of neck and only a percentage of it is a quick kill.

I strongly suggest taking a different shot.

I've been around deer hunting all my life and I just think "plenty" is way, way too strong of a word. I lost a heart-shot deer that mule kicked, ran full speed, crashed and piled up in the middle of a grassy road, then got up and ran into a thicket to never been seen again. He didn't leave a drop of blood anywhere.

Shoot too low on the neck and you cut a windpipe/jugular. Shoot too far back and you get a shoulder. Shoot too far forward and get the base of the head. A high in the back of the neck shot might not drop the deer and it might mess-up his fighting plans for the rest of year but it probably won't be vulture food anytime soon.

Every shot at a deer comes with the risk of loosing it. In the thick brush of most South Carolina clubs, a neck shoot is way, way less likely to be lost than a heart shot. In my opinion.

[Rubberhead*]

RH your pictures are always excellent. I think it ultimately depends on the shooters experience. Rifle nerds and people who never check their rifle are two entirely different groups.

Thanks. I love that top shot of dad looking at the deer. I was trying to get a picture of him with the deer but that admiration of the deer was completely natural and not scripted. I think it really shows the respect good hunters have for the very nature that we sometimes have to kill.