Neck Shooters

[longrifle78]

I agree with everyone else, neck shots are risky. IMHO we owe it to the deer to kill it as quickly as possible, for me that means wait till i get the shot i want or don't shoot, i'v been on many hunts where i'v seen deer and could hav probably killed one but passed because i didnt get the shot i wanted.Just my 2 cents.

 

[Herb]

Yes, I shot this mule deer buck in the right side center of the lower neck at about 90 yards with my .54 Green River Leman I made and 120 grains of Goex 2F and a roundball, which chronographs about 1860 fps. It literally bounced off his neck! I looked for him for maybe an hour and a half and finally had to give up. Next I found bout 12 deer maybe half a mile to the west and made a good stalk on them. I studied their right sides with binocs and picked out the biggest buck. After about half an hour I got a shot and aimed for the top of the spine behind the shoulder. Dead deer. I loaded him into my VW Rabbit and when I got home, hung him up to hose the body cavity out. Noticed a big patch on the neck, about a four inch spot where the hair was blasted away down to an inch spot of bare meat. No hole in the flesh, no blood. After puzzling this out, I realized this was the same buck I shot early in the morning. That shot did not knock him down, did not even seem to inconvenience him. Another ML hunter told me of a failed neck shot. I will never try one again. And this was a normal, full power load, not wet powder.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Herb,
Good job on that three and a half year old!! :bow:
Where on the neck was the impact?
A PRB at 90 yrds is slowing down pritty fast but you should still get great penitration.
Did it "bounce" off it's spine in the upper neck.
I have never taken that far of a neck shot but plenty of broad sides out to 100 yrds and usally recover my ball in the hide on the other side.
If you diden't hit spine you should have still pentrated the neck.
All the neck shots I have taken with a muzzleloader were under fifty yrds and with great results.

:thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I am willing to bet that your charge WAS wet, regardless of what you now think. Try doing some penetration testing at 90 yards with that gun and charge, and that PRB. I am willing to be it penetrates through lots of wood, or whatever you use. at 90 yards, the ball should still be going over 1,000 fps. and a 230 grain ball at 1,000 fps. is going to kill any deer, breaking that neck bone. It will also knock the deer down.

I had a similar experience with my .50 cal. flintlock but shooting down at a small buck that walked under my deer stand late one afternoon towards the end of my deer season. I had the gun loaded all day long, beginning with damp conditions. By afternoon, the conditions had dried, and the sun had warmed me up, too.

My ball bounced off this small yearling's shoulder, not leaving any blood, but did knock him down. He got up and walked away at a fairly good gait, but slowed down about 50 yards away. The shot sounded "almost " normal, but the more I tracked that deer, finding not only NO BLOOD, but not even a limp! and the more I thought back to that shot, the more I realized that it didn't sound right at all.

That evening, when I cleaned the gun at home, I had substantial unburned powder residue in the barrel- much more than usual. Its always possible that your experience has another explanation, and somehow shed much more velocity over 90 yards than should happen, but I have my doubts.

I am glad you got that second shot at the buck, and your hunt ended with perfection. That is a very nice trophy, and a credit to your ability and tenacity as a hunter. Congratulations. :hatsoff:

 

[Bountyhunter]

I use neck shots quite a bit, but then I shoot quite a bit and I am confident of my rifle and my aim. But, let me ask this, this is an honest question, not a challenge.

Why would the PRB not penetrate the neck but would penetrate the shoulder? Do you suppose that it is because the neck is flexible and "gives" with the bullet? I know that several times I have taken long range neck shots with my .30-06, I am talking 300+ yards, the bullet took out the spine at mid neck but was lodged under the skin on the far side. One measured 298 yard shot flipped the big buck sideways and planted his horns in the mud. On body shots, the bullet just passes through.

I am going to have to redo this again soon to see what happens. Hunting deer at home is like shopping for meat at the grocery store. Getting a nice broadside shot at 50 yards isnt that much of a trick. It isnt a matter of shooting one, it is just picking which one you want to shoot.

I just got an email from a fellow shooter who remarked about the opening day of hunting season. He was up and out of the house by 6, drove out to where he was going to hunt, saw the big buck standing across a small valley, parked his truck, circled around and got a 50 yard shot, and had the gutted buck back in his truck at 7:15. Season over. Yup, neck shot.

I'll make some notes and take some pics if I get a chance to do this.

 

[roundball]

Reminds me of a strange neck shot occurance that happened back in 90-91...I shot a beautiful big buck at 165 yards using the only "muzzleloader" I was aware existed at the time, 3x9 scope, 300grn Hornady JHP, 100grns RS.

I was in a treestand when he stepped out of the woods into the cutover beanfield a couple hundred yards away and started walking towards me and a group of does and two small 4 pointers between us.
He had a big heavy rack, neck was all swollen up thick and hard...the two 4 pointers turned and trotted out of the field...the does all began to walk away when he got closer, and he stopped at 165 yards watching them walk off.
I was shaking so bad I couldn't take the shot...laid the rifle down and tried to breathe for a few seconds but mindful he could turn and start walking further away I tried to steady the crosshairs on him again...finally got to where I could keep it "sort of " still.

He took a few steps to my left, stopped, and turned his head & neck back around to my right (his left) still watching those does moving off...presenting me with a big hard stretched out neck that looked like a tree trunk. I put the crosshairs right in the middle of that thick swollen neck and shot him. Down where he stood like he'd been hit with a hammer...front legs stretched out straight up in the air and in a minute he lay still...climbed down and walked over to him...this is what I found:

The 300grn Hornady JHP had hit where I was aiming at the curved hard stretched tight area of his neck, but only went through the hide, mushroomed fully when it hit his strong neck muscle, slid along between the hide and his neck muscle about 8 inches and exited the hide a few inches below the right ear...not the first drop of blood. I assume the energy impact to the vertabrae must have paralyzed his respiratory system and he suffocated.

Of course, I was operating with the understanding that I had a new powerful long range weapon in my hands because the salesman had said so :shake:... but even at 165 yards I was shocked that on the one hand the Hornady hit hard enough to fully expand and transfer enough impact shock effect to kill it...but never penetrated that swollen up, thick hard neck muscle...gives another whole appreciation for problems that can be encountered with neck shots.

 

[Dave K]

Well I am just the messenger, not the author. I have been in hunting camps where the guides will give you a good arse whopping for either a neck or a shoulder shot. These guys have said they have trailed and lost more game from that shot, than any boiler room shot. Can't say they are wrong and since they see more kills than I probably ever will. I will follow their advice.

Good going on getting the buck. Glad you now know where your first buck went. :hatsoff:

 

[Little Wattsy]

I am willing to bet that your charge WAS wet, regardless of what you now think. Try doing some penetration testing at 90 yards with that gun and charge, and that PRB. I am willing to be it penetrates through lots of wood, or whatever you use. at 90 yards, the ball should still be going over 1,000 fps. and a 230 grain ball at 1,000 fps. is going to kill any deer, breaking that neck bone. It will also knock the deer down.

I had a similar experience with my .50 cal. flintlock but shooting down at a small buck that walked under my deer stand late one afternoon towards the end of my deer season. I had the gun loaded all day long, beginning with damp conditions. By afternoon, the conditions had dried, and the sun had warmed me up, too.

My ball bounced off this small yearling's shoulder, not leaving any blood, but did knock him down. He got up and walked away at a fairly good gait, but slowed down about 50 yards away. The shot sounded "almost " normal, but the more I tracked that deer, finding not only NO BLOOD, but not even a limp! and the more I thought back to that shot, the more I realized that it didn't sound right at all.

That evening, when I cleaned the gun at home, I had substantial unburned powder residue in the barrel- much more than usual. Its always possible that your experience has another explanation, and somehow shed much more velocity over 90 yards than should happen, but I have my doubts.

I am glad you got that second shot at the buck, and your hunt ended with perfection. That is a very nice trophy, and a credit to your ability and tenacity as a hunter. Congratulations. :hatsoff:

:hmm: :hmm: :hmm: Interesting point!

 

[Herb]

The shot hit just where I aimed it, on the right side (see Stumpkiller's picture) over the bone just above the spot labeled "carotid". I have fired many thousands of centerfire and muzzleloading rifle rounds, and know that this was a normal round. My rifle is a percussion, not flintlock. I know it is hard to believe, but it happened exactly as I described it. I also know that people kill deer with neck shots, but I will never try another one. Someday I'll go back to that spot with a metal detector and find that flattened ball. A wimpy load wouldn't blast a four inch hole through the hair, and a one inch hole through that tough neck hide.

 

[tg]

Some odd things happen with most any choice of shot placement and for the most part we can only speculate as to what really happened, with deer that escape quite often I have heard "I put the ball right in the boiler room" but the ball is not enough for deer, I suspect that the deer would have been found if the ball had been put there, this is common with hunters early experience with PRB and usually not knowing the gun well enough and trying to shoot to far.