Headshots are just not right

[bigbuckhunter]

in my opinion a headshot is unethical even if it drops them faster that is why hunters are portrayed as cold blooded killer.

questions, comments, concernes

[Paulie]

I don't do head shots. To me, too much could go wrong. Next thing you know the lower jaw is missing.........I'd rather a broadside double lung or heart shot.

[G-Man]

My neighbor will only take headshots as he loses no meat. and no messy gut to clean out...1 shot 1 deer...been doing it for 20 years i know of and probably most of his life 76 years old. Don't have a problem with them. Though i know some people consider them cabable of such a shot i myself wouldn't do it .

[BucktheBuck30-06]

Lol i mean it really doesn't matter your shooting and killing the deer reguardless.If you have the skill to take a headshot then take it its a for shure kill better than watching the deer flop around untill you finish it!!

[Geno C]

i dont take headshots at all... I do not see the need for my initial shot to be in the head. However, i did put a shot on a doe hit her in the shoulderand must not have hit any vitals, she dropped on the shot but was very much alive. I did follow my shot up in the head and ended it very fast. Not sure how some would feel about that but it was the first and only time i did so and it did the job.

[Pygmy]

The problem with head shots is that if you are off by just a little bit, you can shoot off a jaw, an ear, or perhaps perforate the esophagus and have the deer escape to die a slow and agonizing death.

I have shot a few deer in the head when they were very close and I had a very steady rest, but generally, I don't think it is a good idea.

A center rib shot is just as deadly, albeit the deer might run a short ways. And it wastes very little meat, with much less chance of a maiming, non fatal shot if you happen to be a little off in your aim.

[sits in trees]

double lung for me>>

[ny hunter]

I have shot deer in the head with my hand gun,if it was still alive after a rifle shot.But my first shot is always for the chest.I don't have a problem if the head shot is some ones favorite its just not mine.

[dave6x6]

My dad is a meat hunter and has been shooting deer in the head for as long as i can remember. Not every deer but certainly the ones close enough for him to feel confident with the shot. Cant ever remember any of his head shots ever going badly but only by pure luck. He also is notorious for wrestling his bucks and finishing them off by slicing their throat instead of plugging them with another bullet. Not bragging about the methods but he is old school and not politically correct. Only ever shot one doe in the head and that was the very first deer i ever shot. Dad dropped me in my stand and the last words he said to me was "If you get a chip shot at a doe then put it right in the ear and you wont ruin any meat." Two hrs. later a doe waltzed 25yrds. in front of me and i dropped her in her tracks. Dad hearing the shot came over and slapped me on the back and congradulated me on my first deer. Looking at the doe he said : where did you shot her?' At that point i lifted her ear and showed him the hole right where he taught me.. He looked at me and said " geez Dave, I was just Kidding''. That was my first and probably last head shot. Don't have anything against it for others though..

[Rev Ev]

The problem with head shots is that if you are off by just a little bit, you can shoot off a jaw, an ear, or perhaps perforate the esophagus and have the deer escape to die a slow and agonizing death.

Head shots are ethical for this reason. Being off just a little bit will cause undue pain and suffering. We should look to kill with the greatest efficacy. Lung/heart do this by granting a greater target area. Just because you have done it your whole hunting life and you are a super marksman, doesn't make it any more ethical.

[G-Man]

The problem is your pushing your ethics on other people by saying it not.. ethics religion its all a personal thing. You can state your. Reasons for not doing it but that's your own opinion. There are a lot of old timers that this is the only accaeptable shot that they will take passing up bucks of your or my life time because they can't get the shot they want... which is more ethical to me than trying a shot....

[the blur]

Why do hunters talk about ethics and a slow death, and then go bow hunting ? And the bow hunters class will tell you to wait 4 hours before searching for the deer.

[bubba]

I agree ethics are a personal thing, and no one can infringe them on you, but he did say in his post in my opinion. He is entitled to his opinion.

Me personally I have taken one head shot. It was the first deer I ever shot a 6 point running at me. It was pure luck and I hit in directly in the left eye. I guess if I did it today I would say I Bin ladened it. I was aiming for the brisket. The deer dropped in a pile right there about 5 yards from me and eh was tytotting away from a driver. I went over looked at the deer and was very estataic I had gotten it. When the older gentleman I was with came over he said well if your shot was 3 inches further to the left, he would still be running. I was 17and knew it all. Now with the standards I have set for myself now, I would not take a shot at that deer in the same situation. Running deer head on shot. Nope.

Edited October 8, 2011 by bubba

[Doc]

I'll probably never figure out why people think there is something great about shooting an animal in the smallest lethal spot they can find. What is the big attraction to passing on a high percentage kill area and choosing something that can end badly if the deer even begins to make any kind of last minute movement, or the shot simply is not executed perfectly. What the heck is the point? Is it supposed to prove something? I don't get it.

[SteveB]

For one with the skills, there is nothing unethical about it.

For those with the skills, it is an extremeely poor choice.

I've never tried it - but you guys have convinced me to do a "Texas" shot this year

[sits in trees]

i could never understand the part about "i take head shots to save the meat"? when you put a shot thru the lungs rifle or bow you are not destroying anything in the way of edible meat anyhow? just gotta aim right behind the shoulder.

i mean yea if the ribs were like pork ribs i might be taking head shots too, but they aint and i wouldnt feed them to my dog.

[Steve7]

Only heart and lung here. I have had to dispatch a wounded deer but prefer neck shot then. I don't get into the ethics ot it being right or wrong but I can see both sides of the argument. What works for you may not for others and I don't pass judgement on others decisions.

[Dinsdale]

In the head or up the poop chute....

They're all good.

[adirondackbushwhack]

While I have complete confidence in my shooting ability I won't take a head shot. It's been my experiance that while hunting, eventually, anything that can go wrong will go wrong and I'd be afraid that the deer would move his head just as I was squeezing the trigger. That would be my luck so I take the shot where a little can go wrong and I still put the deer down. I also wouldn't want to ruin the horns.

[cynthiafu]

i had a head shot once and it put him right down but it also popped off his antler . i would not do it again

[Paula]

Dad hearing the shot came over and slapped me on the back and congratulated me on my first deer. Looking at the doe he said : where did you shot her?' At that point i lifted her ear and showed him the hole right where he taught me.. He looked at me and said " geez Dave, I was just Kidding''.

that's funny dave

[fasteddie]

I aim for the lungs / heart . I don't think I would try a head shot . If a person is a good enough shot to shoot a deer this way , I wouldn't consider it unethical .

The first deer I ever shot , I aimed for his head , hit him in the neck and he dropped where he stood . . That was almost 45 years ago and I knew nothing about where to aim on a deer .

[Mr VJP]

I always shoot for the heart, but I don't look down on a man who is good at head shots. It is not for me to judge his ethics and the anti hunters can stick their opinions as far as I'm concerned. Guess they never saw how cattle are killed before slaughter.

[dave6x6]

You go down south and it's all about the neck shots. To me ethics plays no part in this subject. The laundry list of ill-advised shot on deer could be endless. Maybe we should debate the empty your auto 12 at a deer carrying the mail from 150yrds subject. My personal rules are kill them with one shot.. What part of the body i choose to shot at is up to me..

[nyslowhand]

Guess they never saw how cattle are killed before slaughter.

OMG, you've brought back an image I've tried to forget that I saw as a kid.

Gigantic dude straddling the unloading chute with a sledge hammer in this hands.

Cows came out, BAM between the eyes, 2 steps and over it went. Next cow out the chute......

Gives me a headache to think about it.