[onehorse]

This question comes up a couple of times every year.
I like the "high-lung" shot" for several reasons:
1. It drops and kills deer in their tracks because so much energy is transferred to the spine.
2. It doesn't ruin any meat.
3. It has lots of room for "error". If you hit a little high, you break the spine and the deer drops; hit a little low, you hit the lower lungs or heart = dead deer; a little back, you still hit the lungs or maybe the liver = dead deer; a little forward, you break a shoulder and will kill the deer.
In my opinion, the neck shot is a no-no - too easy to wound an animal as there is very little margin for error. Listen to what Bruce says about the shoulder shot as you will ruin a lot of meat unnecessarily.
Also remember that the angle at which the deer is standing is important. If it's more than a couple of degrees from broadside, it is a good idea to consider lining up your vertical post with the far side leg (a little behind it), but still go for the high lung hit (about two/thirds of the way up).
Having said that, for various reasons, my last two bucks were killed with heart shots, but both of them ran about 30-40 yards before hitting the dirt. This has happened a lot with heart shots in the past, but NEVER with good high-lung hits.
When I taught hunter firearms and bow hunter training, it was surprising to see how many hunters, young and old, had no idea of where the organs of a deer are located, so if you are not sure, check some deer anatomy charts.

 

[onehorse]

2 years ago i was hunting with my Mossberg using remington copperSolid slugs..... and being used to the follow through with my .270, and i made a shot in between 2 trees, and hit her just a little slow, and got her in the gut. she ran maybe 5 yards, dropped, and went to get back up, and my buddy finished her off with a 220 grain -06 round shooting through about 30 yards of brush. shot for the shoulder, hit her in the head. i would post pictures of it, but id end up getting 400 pages of hate mail...it was....pretty bad.... i just prefer to hit the shoulder, releases more energy into the animal, and makes for a quicker bleed out, thus a faster kill. although i dropped a doe the same year at 340 yards and with the 130 gr. Nosler BT, she didnt just, move, nothing. she just fell over. Not even a death kick!

What you described here is nothing but a bad shot! Not a criticism, as we have all make them now and then for lots of different reasons. I don't understand your saying that a shoulder shot "releases more energy into the animal". The same mount of energy is released where ever the animal is hit - a bad shot is still a bad shot no matter how much energy is released. I will say that the shoulder shot has always been a favorite when hunting animals that can bite back (like bears, lions, etc.) as those shots will immobilize an animal, but on any other animal, they just aren't necessary and do waste a lot of meat. As for quick kills, every animal I have ever hit with the high lung shot hit the ground in its tracks very dead, and not an ounce of meat was lost. What more could you ask for?

 

[onehorse]

Sorry I've been away riding my horse in the mountains, but I would have been all over this one a lot sooner. Not to waste anyone's time repeating what's been said, but Hunting Man, Bruce and Ronn nailed this down pretty well. Bad advice just doesn't cut it on this site - that's not what it's all about, and more importantly it's not what ethical hunting is about either!!!!!!! Now I'm getting worked up too.:ranting: