Don't shoot him with his head down (??)

[W. C. Quantrill]

John, that oughta wean you from watching Jim Shockey in the first place. That boy is counterfeit to begin with. He is the same one that came out bad mouthing muzzleloaders then went to work for TC hyping their inlines. Hes a Canadian Liberal. His ethics are questionable and so is his show info. He probably hangs out with Jackie Bushman.

Many years ago, Outdoor Life magazine had an article on kill zones on a deer. They looked at the deer from front, back and side, and also quartering shots. Where to shoot for a one shot fatal drop. No one seems to know that information any more..................why? Is it the posed TV shows that are tainting our good science? Also, if you watch that garbage, have you noticed those guys committing and promoting very unsafe practices?

I like to hunt about 9AM. Sneak through the bedding areas and try to catch that big one laying down. A successful hunt is finding an Alpha buck in his bed, and put a bullet through his neck, never allowing him to get adrenaline in his blood. If that buck were facing me and had his head down, I'd put a bullet in his neck from the top. I have killed two big bucks that were buried in brush, nothing but their faces and their butts showing. Is that a lost shot? Definitely not, if you know where to drive that bullet. It demands a good accurate rifle with scope and it demands a bullet capable of penetrating several inches of bone. When nothing but a butt shot is presented, its as good as a chest shot, just drive that bullet right up the spine. A good shot will cut the tail off and drive the bullet up the base of the spine, dropping the animal grave yard dead right there. A .22 wont do that yithian, but I'll still hunt with ya.

 

[bodab]

was it b\c they were waiting for the deer to pick his head upout the corn feeder so they could see the horns ?

 

[JohnKSa]

I dunno, it's hard to say what they're seeing vs what the camera's seeing.

As nearly as I could tell in both cases there was a clear unobstructed shot and the ranges were not excessive--nothing that would make assessing the antlers difficult. In addition, both bucks were observed for some time before the time came to make the shot.

If it had just been once, I would have dismissed it, but since two separate guides gave the same advice, it piqued my curiosity.

In one case the deer was nearly broadside but facing slightly toward the camera. In the other situation the buck was quartering away. In both cases a spine shot (above the shoulder) was taken.

 

[Art Eatman]

People get told all manner of things when they're on the up-side of the learning curve, and often don't do any critical analysis. The old "I heard..." that we see so often, here at TFL.

I started deer hunting in a serious fashion in 1963. I hunted for a number of years with "old folks" who themselves began working over Bambi in the 1920s. I never, ever, heard anybody mention anything about head down or head up.

Seems to me that TV shows about hunting, and Internet sites about guns and hunting have really, really spread a bunch of hooie that just doesn't make sense. Certainly not in any "one size fits all" fashion.

Seems to me the deal is that you want a clear shot that doesn't ruin eatin'-meat. If a deer's stance and angle make for a problem, you hold off and wait for a better shot. Maybe head-down means a problem with the shot; maybe not. If not, what difference does it make?

 

[fisherman66]

When head is up there is usually little movement of the body. When head is down I have noticed more sway and half-steps.

It has never made any difference to me, except on neckshots. For those I only shoot when head is up, but for a body shot an inch of movement isn't going to break the shot at reasonable (read MPBR) distances. The neckshots are a little tougher due to the ~2 sec window.

I've never intentionally shot as high as you mentioned in the video. I borrowed a 30/30 once that the owner said was 2" high at 100 and it ended up being about 6" high at 100. It was still a double lung, but I always try for a triple (heart+2lungs) when I have a good broadside shot. I aim right where the elbow intersects the body or even a hair lower for a top mid-rise distance in my trajectory.

 

[Scorch]

When a deer puts his head down, they go into "flight" mode.
They have let their guard down and are tense, alerted to jump, toward any perceived threat.
If they hear a "click", or "pop", before the actual pill hits, they may jump the shot.

Actually, if a deer is in "flight" mode, they won't put their head down because it makes them more vulnerable. They will only lower their head if they feel safe enough to do so. They are not stupid.
If they hear a "click", it's because you made some other noise before the shot, not because the gun made noise when you shot. Bullets are supersonic, i.e. travel faster than sound. Even a deer's keen reaction time is going to be 1/10th of a second, and in that time a bullet can travel 75-100 yds (depending on initial velocity), whereas sound will only travel 35 yds in the same amount of time. If a deer moves between the time you fired and the bullet hit, it likely because they saw movement when you fired.

Even if you are shooting a muzzleloader, the bullet is typically still supersonic unless you are shooting large caliber patch and ball.

In the end, I don't know why a guide would tell anyone not to fire when the animal's head is down. I keep reading the replies hoping someone knows.

 

[Yithian]

I was speaking of other deer, twigs, safety's etc. Not the actual bullet.
I can't think of the proper wording other than "flight" but lets just say, they tense up bad, ready to move asap. LOL
Comfortable enough to put the head down, does not mean they are comfortable.
It's a necessity they must do to eat.