Head Shooting Big Game

[WoodlandCritter]

I'm sure this topic has come up before, but my forum search didn't show anything in the first 5 pages of results.

I'm curious what some of your guys' experiences and thoughts are like on head shooting big game animals? Anyone here a dedicated head shooter? I know they're out there. For those of you that avoid it, is it mostly fear of ruining a trophy?

I bring this up because I took my first big game animal this year (WT buck), and while it did die within seconds, I don't like that it still had the ability to run 20 yards within that time. This is a problem I never have with squirrels or grouse which I exclusively kill with CCI clean-22 subsonics by shooting them in the brain. But for whatever reason, head shots on big game seem to be frowned upon. I've heard arguments about it being a more difficult shot, risk of maiming, etc... But in my mind, hitting a grouse cleanly in the brain at 35 yards seems more difficult than hitting a deer brain at 200. And a typical behind-the-shoulder shot seems to run a similar risk of maiming as a headshot if executed poorly. Sure blowing a jaw off won't necessarily be lethal within, say, 48 hours the way a gut shot would. But you also have a much better chance of cleanly missing the animal with a head shot. Whereas if you pull a body shot anywhere but very low, that thing is taking a bullet.

Not trying to rile any feathers here, just genuinely curious why the practice doesn't seem to be more common.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Oh boy… well i recommend you never archery hunt if a 20 yard distance bothered you.

Head shots are what I would consider irresponsible past anything but point blank, if you hit the brain/ spinal column you are great, if not, and the margins we are talking are much much smaller to go from a clean kill to a nasty wound and likely a far more painful death than shooting an animal in the lungs. At 200 yards a simple moa off your aim point will likely result in a wounded, un recovered animal. At 200 yards a shot at the center of the vitals is still in the vitals even if you are 4ish moa off,

 

[MuleyFever]

Lets say you miss by 4" due to your error or the animal moving as you shoot. Aiming at the head you have the possibility of missing the animal completely, hitting it in the neck, or hitting it in the face/jaw. If you are aiming at the center of the vitals you will still hit the vitals and the animal will die quickly. Its an easy choice for me.

 

[Wrench]

I've done it a few times due to the situation.....I'd never do it as a plan.

I've seen jaws blown off and other carnage that they survived.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I'm sure this topic has come up before, but my forum search didn't show anything in the first 5 pages of results.

I'm curious what some of your guys' experiences and thoughts are like on head shooting big game animals? Anyone here a dedicated head shooter? I know they're out there. For those of you that avoid it, is it mostly fear of ruining a trophy?

I bring this up because I took my first big game animal this year (WT buck), and while it did die within seconds, I don't like that it still had the ability to run 20 yards within that time. This is a problem I never have with squirrels or grouse which I exclusively kill with CCI clean-22 subsonics by shooting them in the brain. But for whatever reason, head shots on big game seem to be frowned upon. I've heard arguments about it being a more difficult shot, risk of maiming, etc... But in my mind, hitting a grouse cleanly in the brain at 35 yards seems more difficult than hitting a deer brain at 200. And a typical behind-the-shoulder shot seems to run a similar risk of maiming as a headshot if executed poorly. Sure blowing a jaw off won't necessarily be lethal within, say, 48 hours the way a gut shot would. But you also have a much better chance of cleanly missing the animal with a head shot. Whereas if you pull a body shot anywhere but very low, that thing is taking a bullet.

Not trying to rile any feathers here, just genuinely curious why the practice doesn't seem to be more common.

How many grouse have you missed trying to head shoot em?

 

[WoodlandCritter]

How many grouse have you missed trying to head shoot em?

1, the first one I ever shot at. I chalk it up to "grouse fever". Other than that I'm batting 5 for 5 including one with my bow.

 

[WeiserBucks]

1, the first one I ever shot at. I chalk it up to "grouse fever". Other than that I'm batting 5 for 5 including one with my bow.

No disrespect but it sounds like you have limited experience. Shooting big game in their vital organs vs brain will always be a much higher percentage of killing rather than wounding. If you have a hard time accepting animals making a short run before death perhaps killing isn't for you.

 

[Speaks]

A double lung shot with a good bullet will result in loss of consciousness within 20-60 seconds most of the time.

Few living things on this earth, man or beast, exit this world that swiftly.

An animal with a blow off jaw will live in agony until id dies a few days or weeks later from dehydration or starvation.

Now consider your one shot hit rate from field positions on lung size and brain size targets (a deer's brain is roughly the size of a tennis ball).

I get your question, concern, and intent, but I dont think on average you would be doing the animal any favors.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

No disrespect but it sounds like you have limited experience. Shooting big game in their vital organs vs brain will always be a much higher percentage of killing rather than wounding. If you have a hard time accepting animals making a short run before death perhaps killing isn't for you.

I definitely do, hence why I'm asking. Although grouse is a bad example, I only just moved to MT last year. Killed a lot more squirrels back in OH than I have grouse. Still not that many compared to pretty much anyone else on here as an adult onset hunter. And its not that the run bothers me or is something I can't accept. I think its more that I'm used to everything else I shoot (squirrels, grouse, turkey, raccoons) dropping instantly. And in my very limited experience, that's the result I prefer.

 

[Erict]

If you don't like them running 20 yards then shoot them through both front shoulders.

Where do you recon all the blood ends up when the heart is immediately stopped from pumping? What effect does that have on your meat?

 

[Nine Banger]

It works until it doesn't.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

If you don't like them running 20 yards then shoot them through both front shoulders.

Where do you recon all the blood ends up when the heart is immediately stopped from pumping? What effect does that have on your meat?

The blood is an excellent point. I'm fanatical about getting fish bled quickly

 

[Chris in TN]

I don't think I've ever shot a big game animal in the head outside of a few close-range finishing shots.

It's just too small of a target, and big game animals tend to move their heads way more often then their bodies. Deer, being prey animals, tend to randomly move their heads, watch behind themselves, look around, and so on. I just don't see the head as an ethical target.

 

[TaperPin]

It’s a horrible idea and visions of the many animals with jaws hanging just waiting for dehydration to kill them weeks later still bothers me. When I see one I do go out of my way to contact game wardens and keep them in sight until they can be finished off.

That being said, pops and his hunting buddies killed most animals in Alaska including brown bear with head shots from their 17 Remingtons back in the 1970’s when the cartridge first came out. He would say if you can’t get within 200 yards you’re not much of a hunter, and if you can’t brain them at that distance you’re not much of a shooter. He’s not wrong. He’s also totally wrong.

History is often remembered with rose colored glasses. My very earliest memory of elk hunting was going along with a couple old ranchers, tire chains on all four tires, crawling up snow covered jeep trails. Elk ran across the road and the old guys’ 22-250’s were laying down the lead. These old guys shot everything in the head to not waste meat, and my guess is they weren’t the first to use that as their normal operating procedure.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I definitely do, hence why I'm asking. Although grouse is a bad example, I only just moved to MT last year. Killed a lot more squirrels back in OH than I have grouse. Still not that many compared to pretty much anyone else on here as an adult onset hunter. And its not that the run bothers me or is something I can't accept. I think its more that I'm used to everything else I shoot (squirrels, grouse, turkey, raccoons) dropping instantly. And in my very limited experience, that's the result I prefer.

The result we prefer isn't always possible. It's the goal of every hunter to kill quickly, no reasonable person wants an animal to suffer. Destroying vital organs results in a swift death and is our highest probability of success in the field. Go shoot at some tennis balls with a big game rifle from field positions, then do the same with volley balls and see how you feel about your odds of killing vs maiming.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Go shoot a competition with your hunting rifle. Take pictures of every target, and post them here...



Nothing tells the truth like a little pressure. Remember, you miss one target 2" off center and you just maimed that critter.

But if you miss by 5" with a high quality bullet that has some fragmentation and disruption that animal would be dead in seconds if you were aiming for the lungs.

 

[Bubblehide]

I love my ear-neck shots on pigs, and heart shots on deer. Both are small targets. Most are not capable of such small targets shooting from a bench, let alone at wild animals in the field; they simply are not targets that sit still waiting for you to pull the trigger. So in short, alot needs to come together, and one's skills and ability need to be top notch. But yes, properly placed head-neck and heart shots typically drop the animal from where they were standing.

With that said, head-neck and heart shots are exceptionally easy to slightly miss, or more than slightly. Most simply take the better odds of a much larger fatal kill shot (the vitals area), knowing that if they hit anywhere in the vitals area, the animal will die. A slightly off head neck shot, has significantly higher odds of not killing the animal.

I get not wanting to have to track an animal to it's death bed, especially if one lacks those skills. But, unless you're an exceptionally shot, in which everything needed comes together, you are likely going to be trying to track more animals with head-neck shots.

With that said, enjoy the pic.

 

[LCguy]

A deer/elk/bear/moose is not a grouse/squirrel. Shooting a one-pound grouse or squirrel just about anywhere with a .22 will drop it instantly. It's just not realistic on animals that are orders of magnitude larger and more robust than a squirrel/grouse. As has previously been stated, your margin of error on a headshot on big game is ridiculously small.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

Go shoot a competition with your hunting rifle. Take pictures of every target, and post them here...



Nothing tells the truth like a little pressure. Remember, you miss one target 2" off center and you just maimed that critter.

But if you miss by 5" with a high quality bullet that has some fragmentation and disruption that animal would be dead in seconds if you were aiming for the lungs.

You'll have to wait for summer, but I will. That's when my club starts running the hunting rifle match. Right now, indoor rimfire bullseye is about to start so I'll be busy with that in a different town, as well as getting back into my regular practice schedule for USPSA and the Steel Challenge match I help run. I have limited experience hunting, not shooting under pressure.

 

[doc holiday13]

explosive bullets are ideal if you're going to do a head/neck shot. Where I hunt most of the time, headshot is easy as most shots are 50yards or less. Varmint style bullets are ideal. They usually blow out a big part of the neck, but its the easiest carnage to avoid metal in your meat and give a quick death