I was taught to shoot a deer in the lower chest cavity right behind the foreleg in order to destroy the heart and lungs. I have done this with five kills and only one ran any distance before dropping. Recently, someone recommended shooting the deer at the shoulder to damage the lungs and spine. He claims that this shot will drop the deer in its tracks every time. I am a bit leery about this because 1. you have to shoot through the shoulder blade, and 2. if you do not damage the spine you run the risk of the deer running off without a catastrophic wound. I hunt from a stand in Western PA, so most shots are 30 - 80 yards and shot placement is not a problem.
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I have never hunted deer but I have shot a moose, caribou and a black bear and every time I shot them I put it low and behind the front shoulder and dropped them in there tracks. If it works for u to do it they way u have been then keep it up. Also think about this if u put it in the shoulder then u are messing up all that meat. I say keep ur shots where they have been and keep them dropping
I have shot several deer in the shoulder, using .270, .280 and .308 calibers and all deer expired quickly. I would not recommend a shoulder shot with lighter weight bullets, .223, .22-250, .243, etc.
Not enough meat on a deer's shoulder to fret over.
However, your heart / lung shot is also very effective. Always take the best, ethical shot presented when hunting, heart / lung, shoulder or neck.
I have always heard all you have is an 8" circle kill zone,but I have shot and seen deer shot all over their bodies and they all drop,neckshots,spineshots,lungshots even gutshots-drop,drop,drop.My personal experience is that the caliber makes a difference,if you're using a .223 etc etc,you'd better put it right through the heart,if you are using a 45-70 you have alot more room for "error"if you wanna call it that.
Deer shot placement
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