Would you have shot?

Got into a Deer Hunting discussion last night about a shot I passed on. A nice buck (a wide 8 pointer) was in a cedar swamp, about 80 yards away (I paced it off after the fact). I never had a shot at the body due to the thick stuff he was in, and the fact he never stopped walking. When he did stop, he was facing straight away, and all I could see was his neck and head. I was in a tree stand, with a very solid rest, crosshairs on the back of his head. I passed the shot. When he walked away, I again never saw his body, as he angled away from me. Who would have shot, and who would have let him walk? Thanks, WindLaker

I realize this won't sit well with some, but I would have taken the shot. The nice part about a neck shot is that if you connect, the deer drops right there. I know a rancher in SD who only aims for the neck because of this fact. I shoot all my does in the head or neck as it saves meat and trimming time. Also, a bullet hole in the neck can be fixed if the taxidermist is good. Your tag, but what the heck, I would have tried to fill mine.

yep and the only buck i every shot was when i was 12 and someone took made it hard for me to go back out after that. price you pay for hunting public land

i let one walk at 50 yards cause all i had was a head shot. sure i could of shot it but why ruin the head mount on my first buck i ever shot. 22 years now still haven't shot a buck.

I shot the pictured deer while it was laying in it's bed in tall grass facing me. Right through the front teeth. That's why you see him with his mouth open. He never got up. I never had to track. Yes, I had to buy a new cape, but that was a small price for a trophy that I stalked. I got within 40 yards. I learned my lesson on a 170 class deer: While waiting for it to get up out of it's bed, I got impatient, mouth grunted, and there was no smooth motion, it all of a sudden took off like a bolt of lightning into thick brush before I could even get my safety off. Wish to this day I would have pegged him in the head. However, I would never fault a guy for passing on a shot that he wasn't comfortable with ethically or otherwise. As long as you're happy with your decision, that's all that matters and I hope you run into that bad boy again someday! Sometimes the story you get to tell is as great as the trophy on the wall. Good luck, Chris

I would have shot him, but I'm also a skilled marksman thanks to my Marine Corps training. Head and neck shots are my preferred shots as any animal that goes down and stays down. Can't lose a animal that dies in sight.

its your choice, i have eared holed a lot of deer, saves a lot on ruined meat, all ear hole shots, were under fifty yards so it was pretty cut and dry, at 80 yards, you might shoot an antler off, i think you made a wise choice,it shows respect for the animal you hunt,jmo.great hunting everyone

Back of the head and neck with a scope and a solid rest?? No question. If you think thats an iffy shot you need to practice more in my opinion. But to each his own. Kudos on your self control and not pulling the trigger if you thought it was questionable.

I've never been in favor of the Texas Heart shot. It may incapacitate the deer, but you get exactly what you described. Slow painful death, and extreme mess to clean up. Not worth it, and just cruel. I've taken head shots on does, and neck shots on does and bucks. They both drop in their tracks and ruin minimal meat. Head shots kill instantly, neck shots shortly after. That said, the conditions have to be ideal before I take that shot. I've passed on 40 yard shots when the wind was gusty, the deer was not standing still, or I couldn't hold steady enough. Not worth the chance if it's not a sure thing.

Bunch of guys at work and I were yacking about deer hunting after the end of the nine-day. This was several years ago. One guy says he was on-stand one morning when he heard a commotion. He turned around and saw a large buck with a fine rack looking back at him, sort of "over the shoulder". The guy peers through the scope and has nothing but deer butt and deer face, and, reasoning that a headshot would damage the rack and impending mount, shoots the deer, you guessed it, right in the AH. With a 308. So the deer runs off and the guy and his hunting partners are having a devil of a time finding the thing. Finally they find him, but he had apparently spun around and around and around in a circle, spraying blood all over the woods and probably dying a prolonged, and very painful death. The deer has flopped around so much that pieces of its hide had torn off from flopping on the rocks that protrude out of the earth in so many places in northern Wisconsin. Sickening. I don't need a deer so badly that I'm going to take an "iffy" shot. Sure, I've wandered around the woods on the following days hating my own guts for passing up a shot, and then going day after day after day seeing nothing. That's deer hunting. I think we owe the animal a little restraint in taking questionable shots, that's all. RR

you dont know if you dont throw