Never say never.
I'll sign on to the idea that head shots are usually not the best choice, especially from the front or side. Nothing more upsetting than the thought of shooting a deer's jaw off. Twice in my life, when confronted with a head shot being the only shot, I passed on it.
Once, I was standing, having just hiked up a slope and there he stood, a nice 6, staring down at me. A broken off tree stump obscured all but his face, antlers and a little bit of the white patch on his throat. Only about 40 yards and I had a scoped '06 but with my heart pumping from the climb, I just couldn't hold it still enough to justify the shot. When I put the rifle down, he left in one hell of a hurry like he knew what had just happened.
Another time, I had 2 does broadside, the rear one's head blocked a heart/lung or neck shot on the other doe and a large rock blocked her vitals. All I had were head shots on both deer. This time I was carrying a flinter and I tried to spook 'em slightly with a whistle but they took off in one bound over the hill. No shots fired that day either.
Then about 5 years ago, last day of the flint season and there's almost a foot of fresh powder on the ground from the night before. Walking through the woods was as quiet as I have ever experienced. As I worked my way up a slope in knee deep snow, I stopped for a rest and sat next to a large boulder. While I sat, a big doe came down the hill, I never heard her until she came into my peripheral vision. She turned and bedded less than 10 yards from me, with her back to me. Now it's the last day and I wanted that venison pretty bad but I don't take head shots. I sat quietly hoping she would stand up again but she didn't. My Daddy taught me to learn from my mistakes so I didn't want to try the spook'em method again. Seems like all day went by in only about 10 minutes when I realized that I'd never get the rifle up on the boulder and the hammer back without spooking her anyway.
Well I did, I got a good rest on my arm on the boulder and I got the hammer back without a sound and she was still sitting. I still had no shot except the back of her head and I figured it'd be pretty hard to shoot her jaw off from behind her. Well I talked myself into it. I put my sights right on the back of her head where I figured I blow her brains out and she'd never even know what happened. I smoothly squeezed the trigger and the rifle went off as quick as you could hope for. That doe went off like a rocket down the slope and she was out of sight long before I figured out what just happened. My rifle was sighted for dead on at 100 yards - about 3" high at 50 yards. I had just put a .50 cal ball right over the top of her head between her 2 ears. I triple checked but no hair and no blood in the fresh powder confirmed that she had just earned the right to live another year.
Point is, sometimes a head shot is the only shot you get and you have to decide based on what's inside of you and how much you practice and your abilities. Under the right circumstances, who's to say that your heart/lung shot is more ethical than another man's head shot. I've seen some guys throw some pretty unethical heart/lung shots (to me) at running deer or deer out 100 yards or more. A lot of these same guys don't even know where the closest practice range is.
Ken knows what he can do - don't preach at him.
Finnwolf
