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Headshots are just not right


bigbuckhunter
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Here's all I got on this topic. A nice 8pt I took 2 years ago with my ML.

Apparently someone else got a crack at him before I took him.

Headshots not for me.

Left ear

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Right ear

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This could be from fighting... Im not a expert but this could be from the rut. The ranger was convinced this same type of hole on my buck was from fighting and not a bullet wound.

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Edited by NFA-ADK
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suppose it could have been but what are the odds of another buck shishkabobbing both ears with 2 perfect slug sized holes not tears.

I'm convinced they were deffinately gunshot wounds, but of course I don't have any ballistic evidence to back that up.

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suppose it could have been but what are the odds of another buck shishkabobbing both ears with 2 perfect slug sized holes not tears.

I'm convinced they were deffinately gunshot wounds, but of course I don't have any ballistic evidence to back that up.

On the ones that have meat removed, I don't see any way they could be anything other than a bullet wound.

You know, there's an awful lot of people in the woods that definitely over-estimate their real shooting ability. If only they could shoot half as good as they think they can ...... and I'm not talking about benchrested off sand bags either ..... lol.

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On the ear damage. It could be from fighting. The buck I got last year hade the same type damage on the ears. I mentioned it to the Taxidermist and he said he felt it wasn't a shot. He sees it alot on the bigger bucks because they fight so aggressively. It isn't a tear from a point it is damage done by pinching between their antler and the other bucks antler. That would take a hell of a olt of force but think about how much force it would take to break off an antler or a point. He laid my bucks ear back against the main beam and it fit perfectly in line with the beam. So if you see ear damage see if it will contact any antler part and how it lines up.

Paula---I would suggest sighting in in as steady a situation as possible...then practice how ever you want....then any deviation is you and you KNOW the gun is on. It will also let you guage what distance you feel comfortable shooting from in different positions. ---just my 2 cents.

As far as the head shot. pistuce this....no buck tag left...still hunting.....notice a doe looking straight at you over the top of a log. You have a tree to rest against ..40 yards....30-06....straight on head shot and that is all that is visible. That was the situation on the only one I ever took. It never flinched. but I would not do it again because the mess bothered me.

I hate to hear any of us talk in such absolutes as some of these threads have brought out. (legal hunting situations I mean). To say a head shot is never ok....texas heart shot is never ok....broad side is ALWAYS the shot ( I have seen many gut shot deer from broad sides..many more than jaws hits from head shots). Not one single hunting situation is exactly the same and us as hunters are all different. Different equipment, different alotted time ...different skills and differnt goals. Many of these threads are on topics that hit on things we have been brought up around...or brought up NOT to do..all based on things passed down to us or just being learned by the new comers. But we are all differnt and this is a passion and our opionions are passionate as well.

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i am not a big fan of the headshot myself. A few years ago I was in the southern zone..only make a few trips a year and it was opening day...I still had my buck tag but my main purpose for being there was to fill my doe tag...About 8:30 am I look and here comes a small buck and i put the scope on it because something looked out of place...Sure enough i was right his lower jaw was just dangling from an errant headshot or possible running shot..I am then stuck with a dilema...Do I use my prescious buck tag on a deer i would normally pass on because putting the deer down is the right thing to do or let it suffer and probably never be retrieved...I chose to use my buck tag..>What would you have done?

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when i sight in my gun or just practice i like to do it without resting gun. i don't have the rest when i am hunting so why practice with it

Practicing I understand. But sighting in you need to eliminate the varibles inherent with offhand shooting to ensure the gun and load is grouping.

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In 18 years i have never been tempted by a head shot....maybe it was just the way i was raised (heart and lung) or my luck in the woods....but in thinking about this, i don;t think i would take a head on or a side shot. I would think that the odds are better from behind? From behind, you have a flatter skull?? and potentially the spine where as the side and front the slug (i'm in shotgun only) has the ability to ricocht off the skull? I have seen a lot of deer with both arrows and broadhead in the skull (for whatever reason) and it seems like that is tough to get thru unless the angle is right....?

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:spiteful: I did this to my target tonight just for you guys...

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Maybe you can get McKenzie to build you a replaceable target in the head for future practice.......easier to pull out that way.

If the center is a 10 on the body.....should you get double points or a penalty at a 3d shoot?

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Practicing I understand. But sighting in you need to eliminate the varibles inherent with offhand shooting to ensure the gun and load is grouping.

First you need to know that the gun is on..you can only know that for sure by sighting in with a rest.. then you can shoot offhand knowing that if you are not hitting your target it is entirely your fault not the gun..lol Once my gun has been properly sighted in.. I practice exclusively offhand for hunting

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