OK...been living and hunting in the Great State of Texas my whole life. The first time I ever heard of the so-called Texas heart shot was when I went to Africa the first time.

Probably been discussed before...but who coined this phrase or how did it get its origin???

Lane: No insult intended here, but it seems that most of us have heard this phrase all of our lives. I grew up in the Intermountain West and first heard it as a very young boy 55+ years ago. What's up with you, a Texan, never having heard it? I figured that it was coined by Texans to take the possible embarrassment and edge off of an "up the bum", going away, last chance, "Hail Mary" shot, and to make it all sound very logical and reasonable.

Don't know where it came from, but in Africa I have also heard it called the "Portuguese heart shot."

. . . because Texans have hearts as big as their bums?

...because to Texans the heart and bum is the same thing?

No idea how it came about but I have shot whitetails and african game using using the shot. Walking away is nothing more than an outstanding opportunity to make a well place shot!

It is interesting that some hunters will not take this shot when presented.

I took it once on a caribou with a 130gr silvertip from my 270 Steyr Mannlicher.The bou dropped in its tracks(It was still standing from the first shot-that is why I switched to 300wm).

I propose we stop calling it a "Texas heart shot" and start referring to it as a "Shootaway brain shot."

quote:

Originally posted by Lhook7:
I propose we stop calling it a "Texas heart shot" and start referring to it as a "Shootaway brain shot."

One of the best posts I've seen here in a long time. Possibly the best ever!

Todd, we could call it the Double Rifle Shot, cuz once it's past 40 yards, you have as good a chance hitting him there as anywhere else :-) :-) :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Lane: No insult intended here, but it seems that most of us have heard this phrase all of our lives. I grew up in the Intermountain West and first heard it as a very young boy 55+ years ago. What's up with you, a Texan, never having heard it? I figured that it was coined by Texans to take the possible embarrassment and edge off of an "up the bum", going away, last chance, "Hail Mary" shot, and to make it all sound very logical and reasonable.

Don't know. I grew in a ranching family that carried rifles almost every day of our lives.

Started shooting when I was 6. Got my first rifle (a Win 9422) of my own to carry when I was 9. Hunted all over Texas and most of the West. Never heard of it until I went to Africa.

Might be because my Dad would have whooped my ass if I had of shot something up the ass as a kid. He made me shoot deer in the neck.

Anyway...just curious who coined the phrase.

Ledvm,
There is a time and place for just about everything and faced with the choice between losing game and making a going away "Texas Heart Shot" I finally learned to make the shot.

In fact, my first and maybe only opportunity at a big bull elk last year was at the butt of a rapidly departing animal, which I took with a shot from my .338 Win Mag.at 110 yards. It did require a follow up finisher through the heart, but take a look at this picture and tell me if on the last day of a week long hunt you would have let this critter trot over the ridge:

Here in Alberta what you call a cattle gate is called a Texas Gate.
No reason. Go digger!

Quote from 24hour campfire on the same subject

"It's because it's fun to tease Texans, and they deserve every bit of it."

I read the term "Texas heart shot" at least 15 years ago(maybe O'Connor, or Boddington). I repeated it to my hunting buddies and they got a kick out of it. None of them had heard the term before.

I always thought it had to do with Texans' "git'er done" attitude....

Wikipedia: Texas Heart Shot

Article: THS

The more I think about it I believe it might have been Capstick. IIRC, his description was something like: "Shooting at the South end of a North bound animal.... The ole 'Texas heart shot'".

quote:

Originally posted by Lhook7:
I propose we stop calling it a "Texas heart shot" and start referring to it as a "Shootaway brain shot."

.....................................................................

I am not doubting its effectiveness in the right situation. Or, criticizing anyone for using it. I was just curious who coined the term or where it came from. Certainly not prevalently spoken or executed in Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Certainly not prevalently spoken or executed in Texas.

Although branding is very important. I would predict with Lee's rebranding of the shot as noted above, that the shot is likely to experience a surge in growth and popularity in Texas. Sometimes it is the little things -- like a name -- that matter most.

quote:

Originally posted by DAL:
Here in Alberta what you call a cattle gate is called a Texas Gate.
No reason. Go digger!

Dal, if you are talking about what I think you are, in Texas it is not called a gate, but a cattle guard. This a set of welded steel pipes that cross an opening in the fence with about a seven inch between them so cattle can't walk across them to get out of a pasture, but a car or truck can drive across them without having to get out and open a swinging GATE. This type of cattle guard was first used in TEXAS for the very large ranches with many pastures.

The first place I ever heard the phrase "Texas Heart Shot" was in Colorado and was meant as a derogatory term pointed at Texas hunters.

Actually the phrase should be "African Heart Shot" because it is used there more than any place I've hunted, with good reason, because it works on large escaping animals especially elephant!

......................................................................

Better than "Alabama Eye Shot".

I’ve heard that phrase my whole life growing up around ranchers on the coast of California. I’ve always joked that in Texas it’s probably called the “California heart shot”.

It’s sure not ideal and they’re not much fun to clean... but with the proper projectile it works really well. I’ve had many clients pull it off where not an ounce of meat was lost. That shot may be encouraged more in Africa because the trackers are so darn good even if the shot is messed up they’ll still usually find the animal.

I have it on good authority from some Texans I know, that using the THS phrase while in Texas is not recommended!

I have always heard it called this (Texas Heart Shot), and it was always somewhat derogatorily used. Of course, I am about as far as it is possible to get from Texas in the lower 48, I think it was a regionalism.

What the old timers around here were implying was though it works, it showed no pride in what you were doing- that you took the easy way out. I suspect that this has been going on since Civil War days, and is yet another example of regionalistic prejudice.

I can assure you, the term is not complimentary here in Texas. Of course I have only been hunting, attending hunting shows, and hanging around hunters for a bit more than 45 years. And the only time I ever heard the term "Texas heart shot" used was in Africa. I am fairly articulate and read a lot. I did not take it as a compliment. In my opinion, it simply showed the lack of respect the owner and PH had for me the client in Africa.

Please don't take offence, but for rough-and-tumble cowboys, some of you Texans sure are sensitive!


I had better not mention one of my favorite sayings, for fear that I might be on the receiving end of some West Texas justice... Screw it! I just laugh every time I say(with my best cowboy drawl), "Ain't noting come from Texas but steers and queers!"


Sorry guys, that saying just kills me. I guess I find it funny on 4 levels:
1) It just rolls of the tongue.
2) It is not at all true.
3) It always gets a chuckle.
4) I know it pisses Texans off(even though it is completely absurd).

You guys shouldn't get upset. Every hunter world wide, and every patriotic American admires your great state. And I have noticed that white PHs in Africa who discuss immigrating to the US talk about Texas more than all other states combined.

Hoss12:

quote:

Originally posted by Hoss12:
I did not take it as a compliment. In my opinion, it simply showed the lack of respect the owner and PH had for me the client in Africa.

Would it have mellowed your opinion had you been told to "bust its ass" or score a "hole in one"?

The "Texas heart shot" has been around for as long as I can remember (haven't a clue who started it or why) but to the best of my knowledge is not used by PHs or outfitters with any derogatory intent - that is simply your personal biased opinion.

Often known in RSA as a "Freestate heart shot" but if the PH had said that, would you have known what he was talking about?

Suffice to say if I hear "XYZ heart shot" nowadays, I know that the speaker probably isn't associated with XYZ and wants me to shoot whatever it is in the ring.

If a Texan shoots a cape buffalo squarely through the heart with a 300 NPT/.375 H&H, would that be called a Texas Heart Shot?

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
Please don't take offence, but for rough-and-tumble cowboys, some of you Texans sure are sensitive!


I had better not mention one of my favorite sayings, for fear that I might be on the receiving end of some West Texas justice... Screw it! I just laugh every time I say(with my best cowboy drawl), "Ain't noting come from Texas but steers and queers!"


Sorry guys, that saying just kills me. I guess I find it funny on 4 levels:
1) It just rolls of the tongue.
2) It is not at all true.
3) It always gets a chuckle.
4) I know it pisses Texans off(even though it is completely absurd).

You guys shouldn't get upset. Every hunter world wide, and every patriotic American admires your great state. And I have noticed that white PHs in Africa who discuss immigrating to the US talk about Texas more than all other states combined.

We use that phrase in Texas too. But in Texas we know that "Texas" means UT (or "tu" for us Ags...gig'em).

Wow, if someone feels that it is a derogatory phrase or can find offense or be upset over the use of phrase Texas heart shot it is time for chill pill.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Wow, if someone feels that it is a derogatory phrase or can find offense or be upset over the use of phrase Texas heart shot it is time for chill pill.

Agreed...I am just curious as to the origin of the phrase.

Lane, your question is actually an interesting one, I was just surprised by some of the commentary suggesting that it was derogatory or something to get upset over.

Don't know the origin of the phrase and I never gave much thought to whether it would be upsetting to some but I do know it is a very effactive shot that I have used to great effect on more than one ocassion.

Mark

quote:

I’ve always joked that in Texas it’s probably called the “California heart shot”.

No, here we call it the "Oklahoma brain shot".

California is only referenced if the shot hits the genitals.

I shot a big male baboon last year , from behind, while he was bent over drinking water. The bullet entered its scrotum and exited between the shoulder blades. I deemed it " The Jersey Heart Shot" . I was born in NJ, but not by choice!

I am a life long resident and hunter. My first buck was shot the November following the Cuban missle crisis. I never heard that term used anywhere until about 15 years ago in a magazine.
A co-worker from Colorado once told me that Texas hunters were really hated by the locals so I kind of assumed that was where the term originated.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Wow, if someone feels that it is a derogatory phrase or can find offense or be upset over the use of phrase Texas heart shot it is time for chill pill.

Agreed...I am just curious as to the origin of the phrase.

I have shot cape buffalo smack in the middle of the tail just below the root, and he dropped straight in his tracks.

I have shot several buffalo in rear end when that was the only chance I had of shooting them.

The thing to bear in mind is that you should be using a bullet that does penetrate very deep, and can reach the chest cavity.

My Grandfather referred to that shot as the Texas brain shot. I didn't know that he was all that familiar with many Texans.

Jim

I hope this helps!
In hunting, a Texas heart shot is a shot fired at the base of the tail of an animal facing directly away from the shooter. Executed correctly only a handful of times in known history, most recently by Utah resident Sean Collins, the texas heart shot is widely considered the pinnacle of archery perfection, and the ultimate accomplishment in the hunting realm. Lauded in medieval times as the mark of a true king, and viewed as a spiritual state of being in ancient Anasazi lore, those able to accomplish a true texas heart shot were considered gods among men. Ancient apocrypha mark the accomplishment of such a shot as the spark to Achilles rise to battlefield fame and glory. The term is euphemistic argot. The objective of such a shot done in crude manner may be to break the spinal cord, break the large bones of the hips, cut the femoral artery, or have the arrow penetrate the length of the animal's body until reaching the heart and lung area. Done correctly, the arrow penetrates the rectovesical excavation and penetrates unhindered all the way until the animals heart, resulting in a perfect, nearly bloodless kill.

The shot carries many ethical concerns. It is frowned upon by many hunters; it is generally recommended only as a last resort finishing shot on a fleeing wounded animal. A shot that breaks the spine or hip should instantly kill or incapacitate an animal; however, damage to the digestive tract will likely lead to inhumane suffering and affect much of the animal's edible meat if it is recovered.

The term "Texas heart shot" may be used in other contexts simply to refer to any gunshot wound to the buttocks region.