Download Heart Shot
Sara Ruballos
Trying to finish up my mission on Hirschfelden and the heart shot on a red deer mission and thebkne after are my last. No matter how hard i try i miss the heart by inches every shot angle. Does anyone have a fool proof shot placement they can share with me?
I was set up for a shot at a buck approaching from my left. Naturally, this one decided to come from my right. Very slowly, I swiveled my chair around that way. The buck turned around at the same time.
I remembered reading of this particular shot, but it was the only time, in 41 years of deer hunting, that I was properly positioned to attempt it. Several others commented, on the old site, that when they did it the gutting job was messy, and/or the meat damage was significant.
Enjoyed this one too, although I didn't find myself agreeing with everything as heartily as I did the Hail Mary post.
Anyone who's read the hunting mags, or spent time around the campfire or woodstove knows that the debate about the neck shot has raved and raged and will still go on when you and I are hunting the highest of the high country. But I still contend that a competent (not expert) field marksman can make a clean neck shot as easily as he can hit the vitals. On most big game animals, that kill zone on the neck is almost as large as the traditional heart/lung area.
It requires understanding the way an animal is built (the spine does NOT run right along the top of the neck, folks), and the patience to wait until the presentation is right (broadside is much better than dead on or facing away).
Personally, it's my chosen shot under the right conditions. In anything less than an ideal situation, I'm looking for heart/lungs instead. And maybe that's the difference... knowing when it's "right" and when it's not. Or maybe you'll say (as others have) that I'm just fooling myself.
I don't like headshots under normal conditions, by the way. Way too much abrupt movement going on there, and way too much non-vital area that can result in an ugly, crippling wound (nasal cavity, jawbone, eye socket, etc.). I've heard a lot of guys swear by them, and seen a lot of quick, one-shot kills, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a risky shot that may well do the animal an extreme injustice.
As to the Texas Heart Shot, that's a meat-waster if there ever was one. It can certainly be quite deadly, as there are a handful of serious arteries running through that back end, but at best, you're gonna lose a hunk of ham... at worst, you'll blow out tenderloins and backstraps and spill guts, feces, and urine into everything that's left, and that's just a damned shameful thing to do.
Loving this topic, and looking forward to reading more!
Phillip, I debated a moment because I knew the neck shot piece would generate controversy, but I decided to discuss it anyway. I've made a decision to use it once on a deer at 40 yards. The deer was in brush and the neck and head was the only thing visible- it turned out well and the deer fell instantly. You're right- folks will argue this one until we're both hunting "over the mountain". I think guys that will take that shot will take it no matter what I say but I still can't say I prefer it to a proper lung shot.
I meant to make a stronger reference to folks using small caliber rifles- ie. the .223 and taking the neck shot because they think they lack the capacity to shoot for the lungs. Although a proper .223 SP in the lungs will kill a deer stone dead- its a trick I'd rather not contemplate.
Locally in Alaska- its common for folks to attempt neck shots using the .223 and FMJ ammunition. Although its legal, you can imagine how horrific that frequently turns out...
I can't believe anyone would use a Texas heart shot as a strategy - that's kinda sickening.
Thanks for this piece. I am extremely picky about my shots because I'm pretty new at this and I want the best possible odds, and pieces like this bolster my decision to be choosy.
I agree the Texas Heart Shot is wasteful and haven't ever attempted it for that reason. Seen it, though. The proper way to do it (say at the first photo, sans pickup and trailer) is to shoot the root of the tail, breaking up the back end of the spine. The animal can't go anywhere and a finisher is then made. Not a clean kill and ruining a lot of prime meat, but better than trying to drive through the gut to something vital.
As to neck shots, with calibers bigger than .223 the impact of the bullet seems to break the neck and/or damage some pretty important tissue. You're absolutely right about the debate and the risk of wounding. Like that deer you shot, in the right circumstance it can be really deadly. As for me, I haven't tried one (except as a follow-up once a bullet was through the ribcage) in a long time.
Great article you have there Hodgeman. I tend to read most but first time to comment since this involves my home state. I'm sure like many things it has alot of origin stories, but the only one I've ever heard down here is that it's based on the fact that most Texans are over gunned for just about everything we do and the fact that most Texans actually know how to shoot. From personal experience I've never met a fellow Texan in the woods that had anything lighter than a .308 on them during deer season. This and anything larger works more than well on the size of whitetails we have down here. So for the Texas heart shot, the key is a very powerful caliber, and of course marksmanship. Should it ever be a first or anything other than a last choice? No. Over my two decades of hunting I could count the number of times I've used this shot on less than two hands but I've never had it fail either. When I've used it I've gone for the high Texas heart shot, placed right at or an inch or two higher than the base of the tail. In all the cases except one, the bullet hit the spine dead on or went over the base of the tail and hit the spine farther up all the way to the back of the neck. Every time the animal never moved from where it stood. The one time this didn't happen, I was actually out after hog and was using a .375H&H, the bullet hit the base of the tail and traveled all the way through the deer and exited the lower chest. The deer was probably dead before he hit the ground. As for a low Texas heart shot where you're looking to 'anchor' the animal by breaking the pelvis, well I just don't see the point of anchoring when you can just kill. For the other 99% of my shots, I do neck shots and only neck shots. I'm not a fan of tracking and I've never had too with the neck shot. I never take anything less than a .30-06 in the field, and even when the bullet itself didn't penatrate the spine, the hydrostatic shot alone destroyed it. In a few cases I have used a heart/lung shot at animals over 400yds away, and it did work. However I almost feel if I'm taking a heart/lung shot, the animal might just be too far away to be shooting at in the first place. Although my hunting style tends to fly in the face of what you wrote, I advocate your point for the thousands of hunters out there that literally only take their gun to the range the week before deer season and who think if they can hit a pie plate at 100yds that it's good enough for a deer. Keep up the good work, I look forward to reading more of your blog.
If you are the type of despicable idiot that would take a texas heart shot, you deserve to be shot yourself. Same goes for head and neck shots. There is no time when any of those shots are ethical. If the animal doesn't present a broadside you leave it alone.
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Infernal Kiss an action that Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Rosa perform upon the completion of non-optional Chapter Verses (excluding those that end with a boss fight or cutscene) in the first game, Bayonetta. By blowing a kiss, these Umbra Witches send a trio of heart-shaped projectiles at their target, an otherwise impassible angelic seal. This opens a small portal to Inferno that shatters the seal.
In Bayonetta 2, a variation of Infernal Kiss can be used that is known as "Heart Shot." This allows Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Rosa to shatter barriers by launching several bullets at them, in a heart-shaped formation but only on demon barriers.
Jolanta, it's like Christmas morning to discover your blog up and running! I am a non-Facebooker, so the blog is one of my best connections to other's tracking stories. Incredible story! My suspicion is that the pericardium (sac around the heart) had somehow not been entirely penetrated and had maintained some heart pressure. Perhaps the blades were dull and the heart trauma was "blunt trauma" so to speak. Otherwise that wound should have led to rapid blood loss.
A heart shot will kill a deer within minutes, likely not running more than 100 yards. With a double-lung shot, deer can live for 30 to 90 minutes. With a single lung or liver shot, a deer can live for four to six hours. A gut-shot deer can live for 8 to 12 hours, or longer, making recovery extremely difficult.
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