Neck shot question and responses got me thinking. I was always taught to shoot behind the shoulders (with rifles) but with handgun rounds like .357 Mag and even 44 Mag I have seen deer run considerable distance. Not intending to make it a bullet thread; do you shoot behind the shoulder preserving a little shoulder meat or in the shoulder to put them down within a shorter distance?

I try and take a shoulder out, which depends on animals angle at time of shot.

Trapr

Behind the shoulder with expanding bullets if I can. If possible, I try to shoot low to take the top off the heart or open some of the large vessels. It often doesn't work exactly as planned but still seems to work well.

Both. Totally depends on the situation, animal, alertness, weather, etc.

I prefer going thru ribcage and leaving the shoulder out of the equation. Especially if I am grocery shopping. It?s a guaranteed pass thru, excellent blood trail, and a very short walk. I wait for the perfect shot angle. If is a nice buck then what I just stated does not apply.

Depends on the angle presented and what I?m using.

SHOULDER, SHOULDER, SHOULDER, ESPECIALLY WITH REVOLVERS

I use both depending on distance & angle. I'm always shooting a heavy for caliber cast bullet so I always get pass through's except for a couple of HP's in the last 4-5 years. Even then most of them are pass through's.
Shoulders on deer don't offer much resistance to a quality bullet of any kind. If I were guessing I'd say that too much speed might be the cause of most bullet failures. Just a guess.

Dick

Depends on situation, bullet and gun being used. But, if all is well, I try to take out at least one shoulder - preferably two.

Thru BOTH shoulders!!

Thru BOTH shoulders!!

Behind the should low, with an expandable bullet. Leaves a good blood trail if they run.

It depends on the situation and the gun I am using. For deer I typically shoot for the top of the heart regardless of the angle. Quartering away that can catch the off shoulder. Quartering toward just in front of the facing shoulder. Broadside just below center on the leg - low shoulder. On a big buck go for both shoulders centered to anchor him. When I was in Africa they ALWAYS tell you to go for center shoulder every time on any size animal.

I shoot for the lungs. If there is a shoulder in the way fine otherwise an expanding bullet behind the shoulder works just fine. That doesn't go for dangerous game which I have no experience.

I've typically aimed just behind the shoulder. The results varied depending on the bullet. A 155 grain A-Max between the ribs downed my first handgun buck after only two steps, while a 200 grain XPB in the same spot on a medium doe resulted in a 150+ yard run.

Within reasonable ranges, I might start attempting shoulder shots if I'm shooting tougher bullets.

I love big bore handguns and heavy bullets, but the fastest one shot kills ALWAYS have come from lighter, faster, more frangible bullets..keep that in mind...deer are not huge, they are thin skinned and not hard to penetrate..go lighter and faster..you'll notice a difference..my fastest WT kills have come from 125 gr Blkouts

2x lungs babe!

If I don?t have my ? head up my behind?, I?d go thru the shoulder. But, many years of rifle hunting will probably cause me to shoot behind the shoulder! At handgun velocities, particularly with cast bullets, I believe that it would make a quicker kill. Not only will you break the animal down in the front-end.....but the bone fragments will cause secondary damage to lungs, vessels, ect. memtb

I have until very lately always processed my own deer. I normally wait for a broadside behind the shoulder shot to minimize meat loss. I am sure that expansion with most jacketed rifle bullets at handgun velocity would be much more impressive hitting a shoulder.

Bob R

High shoulder since I switched to hard cast. So far, pass through on both shoulders and DRT.