The deadliest shot is one that puts a controlled-expansion bullet squarely into a deer's heart/lungs. The author also likes the high-shoulder shot because it drops whitetails quickly.

By Larry Weishuhn

I did it - hit him right where you told me to, behind his shoulder!" my excited hunter said. I simply nodded an affirmative. He'd indeed hit the buck behind the shoulder - but a long way behind it.
 
As he collected his gear and reloaded, I replayed the scene that had just unfolded. The buck was a good one, a solid 10-pointer with about a 22-inch outside spread and lots of mass. I'd seen that whitetail a couple of days earlier and estimated he was at least 5 years old.
 
The buck was exactly what we were looking for. He'd responded to my rattling horns, but came in cautiously. With some extra grunting, I was able to coax him out of the brush for a good broadside shot.
 
The previous evening, I had discussed shot placement with my hunter. I told him to wait for a broadside shot and then aim behind the shoulder. Unfortunately, that description was not precise enough.
 
"You did hit him behind the shoulder," I told the hunter, "but it appeared to be a bit far back. Let's give him a few minutes before we look for him."
 
I'd seen the bullet hit and noted by the deer's reaction the shot had likely struck the paunch. I hoped the bullet had also passed through the liver, in which case he likely would not run far. If he was merely gut-shot, it would be a different story.
 

Aim for the off shoulder in a quartering-away shot.

Ten minutes later, we walked to the spot where the buck had stood and immediately found a blood trail. There was blood on both sides of his tracks, indicating the bullet had passed through. I hoped he wouldn't go far, and indeed, that's what he did. Gravity claimed him 100 yards from where he'd been standing. The shot had destroyed the liver. I whispered a prayer of thanks.
 
I made a point while field-dressing the deer to show my hunter where the vitals are in relation to a deer's body, something I had learned long ago.
  
During my early years as a wildlife biologist, I worked with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, collecting data for the agency's Wildlife Disease Project. My duties included dispatching whitetails, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and exotic deer for research purposes. Back then, I shot a fair number of critters year-round, using the diminutive .17 Remington to .50-caliber cartridges. I performed necropsies on every animal collected. This not only taught me lessons in animal anatomy, but also showed how game reacted to various shot placements and the effects of different bullets.
 
The most devastating way to turn the lights out on a whitetail is to place a bullet into its heart and lung area. On a 150- to 250-pound live-weight buck, it's essentially a rectangle about 12 inches long and 9 to 10 inches tall, or about the size of a balloon inflated to 10 inches. 
 

This high-percentage shot penetrates at least a portion of the heart and exits the off shoulder.

That's not really a huge area. The heart and lungs of elk and moose are nearly twice that size. A caribou's vital area is about the same size of a big whitetail's or a mule deer's. Black bears also have a kill zone about the size of deer. The vitals of larger grizzly bears or brown bears are a bit larger.
 
Place an expanding bullet through the vitals of an animal, and it won't go far. The purpose of a bullet is to destroy vital tissue while creating a wound channel. This causes severe blood loss, and the animal expires quickly and humanely.
 
Some shot-placement charts indicate that the vitals of an animal are its brain, spinal column (beginning just behind the skull and extending just past the animal's shoulders), and the heart and lungs.
 
Hunters should refrain from taking head shots. Not to mention the probability of destroying the rack or skull, the head shot leaves too much room for error. A bullet striking just a half-inch off the mark can result in a wounded animal. I've seen the unfortunate results of this. The shot dropped the animal, but it was up again and gone before the hunter could shoot again. Hours of tracking that deer proved futile; we found only some blood-specked leaves and nothing else.

During my "collection" years, I occasionally took brain shots, but only when I needed to cull a particular animal and the head shot was the only one presented. Nowadays, I won't even consider aiming for the head.
 
I feel the same way about neck shots. I get a bit perturbed when someone says "Shoot a deer in the neck, and you'll either kill or miss him!" Like the brain shot, there's simply too much room for error to shoot at a deer's neck area. If the bullet doesn't strike the spinal cord, the animal may go down, but it probably won't stay down. In a few moments, it will be up and running again, leaving little blood to trail it, and later dying due to a destroyed esophagus or trachea.
 
Occasionally, a bullet will strike one of the spinal processes. This will instantly drop the animal. Then while the hunter is congratulating himself, the critter pops up and runs off never to be seen again.
 
Such was the case a few years ago when a friend and I hunted mule deer on great property just north of the Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado. As we rounded a bend in the trail, there on a hillside stood nine absolutely monstrous bucks. All were big mature 5x5s with 28 or more inch outside spreads.
 
It was one of the finest assemblies of truly big mule deer I've ever seen. Deciding which ones we would shoot, I cautioned, "Don't shoot 'em in the neck! Put one through his vitals!" My partner had won the coin toss for first shot, so I hesitated shooting at what I considered to be the best buck. 
 

Although deadly most of the time, the chest shot should be avoided. Wait for a broadside or quartering presentation.

"Far left!" I heard him say. That caused me to glance that way. As I did, I saw the buck fall like the world had been jerked from under him. After taking the shot, my companion jumped up right in front of me, preventing me from shooting the buck I wanted. "I got him! He's down! What a buck!" he shouted while I was trying to get around him to get a shot at "my" now-running buck.

"Make sure he's down! Looked like a neck shot!" I cautioned. But my friend kept celebrating and in so doing took his eyes off the buck he had downed. I tried to get a shot, but with my companion so close, it was an unsafe situation.
 
"Better shoot him again!" I cautioned again.
 
"Hey, look at that buck, looked like he just popped out of the sagebrush! He looks just like the one I killed. Wait a minute. That's the buck I shot!" My friend tried then to reload and get another shot into the buck, but it was too late.
 
Minutes later, we walked to where the buck had been standing. On the ground were a few hairs that looked like they came from the upper part of the buck's neck, plus three drops of blood. After an exhaustive search, all we found were tracks. My friend had indeed shot for the neck, which only momentarily stunned the animal.
 
I've seen the same thing happen with big South Texas and Canadian whitetails, too. Usually after such misadventures, hunters abandon neck shots. If you feel you have to shoot an animal in the neck, follow up with a quick shot through the heart and lung area.
 
I'd rather take what is occasionally called a "Texas heart shot," one that puts a bullet squarely up an animal's backside, than I would a neck shot. On the average, the former shot is much more deadly!
 
If you're thinking at this point that the ideal shot is one that puts a controlled-expansion bullet through the heart and lungs, we're in agreement.
 
There are some slight variations to this shot. One that I frequently employ is to shoot straight in line with the front leg on a broadside shot, and hold about a third of the way down from the top of the animal's back. Generally, this shot will destroy the animal's spinal column and produce tremendous hydrostatic shock. This looks particularly impressive because the animal goes down immediately.
 
The high shoulder shot is one I like because I frequently hunt in areas where blood-trailing an animal is not easy. However, I'm also a firm believer in putting a second shot into the heart and lungs of a deer that goes down quickly.
 
The best way to learn about the effects of shot placement is through experience. But there are a variety of good sources on the subject. One of the best is a book entitled "Perfect Shot, North America." Authored by Craig Boddington, it's available through his website, www.craigboddington.com.
 
Another source for learning about shot placement is a DVD that I had a hand in producing. "Shot Placement & Deer Reaction with Larry Weishuhn" is available for $17.95 (includes taxes and shipping). The DVD is 128 minutes in length and includes 18 whitetail and 16 other big game hunts. To order, send a check or money order to: Tin Lizzy, P.O. Box 1432, Uvalde, Texas 78801.

Larry Weishuhn
GunHunter Magazine - September 2006