I think you're on the right track when you are thinking bone fragments etc. contributes to the kill. This has been my theory as well. For a really drop dead kill, it seems you can either use a rapid expanding bullet high through both lungs, or a stout bullet through both shoulders. Either of these will come closer to being a straight down shot. The heavy strongly constructed bullet through the shoulder however is a far more versatile way to go if you're hunting anything larger than whitetails or mulies since you can make it work at any angle. My theory is the shoulder shot sprays bone and possibly small pieces of bullet through the animal, usually hitting spine or lungs, while breaking bone that will anchor it as well. I do know it works, so I guess it doesn't matter why. I like to make the shoulder shot fairly high, at least above the center line, I probably do hit the spine, which will make them fall hard, ass first on most of these shots. On quartering shots from the rear, aim to break the opposite shoulder, this has always worked for me. Some will say to put the vertical crosshair between the front legs, I like the opposite shoulder better I've done it for so long, and it works. I've done this enough it's become automatic, I've had animals turn to run from broadside at the last second, if someone asked I'd swear the animal was near broadside, the bullet may have entered between the last rib, and broke the opposite shoulder. I had exactly that happen with a running shot on a hartebeest last year.

O.K., I will show my ignorance here for the sake of a little insight. I have been hearing more and more about shots that take out both shoulders putting animals down quicker. Does it actualy kill quicker by putting bone fragments into the chest cavity or just anchor the animal by taking out the running gear? Where on the shoulder should you place the crosshairs for max. effectiveness?

I have placed bullets through the lower part of one shoulder or other on quartering shots but never both shoulders as it has always Seemed to me to be a little to far forward for my liking whenever the opportunity arose.

Up until now, on broadside shots I have placed bullets low, in the crease just behind the shoulder to take out the heart on easy shots and a little higher to take out both lungs (bigger target) on further shots. My observations so far from mostly deer taken from a few steps to ~300 yards are that all deer ran between 30 and 100 yards before "foreward progress" for lack of a better word, stopped. The heart shot deer have all seemed to expire with a little less fuss than lung shot deer even though I have observed deer that were not alarmed in the least from a rifle shot 250 yards or more from them unless they were hit.

Sorry for the long winded post but if theres a better, ie quicker way then I would like to here it!

I take shoulder shots when I do not want the deer to run. I use to be a heart lung man and still do take those shots. But there are lots of places you do not want a deer to run from or run into. When there is good tracking, heart and lungs work fine. I would rather break them down and drop them on the spot then let them run.

Steve: Do a search here and you'll find plenty of info on the subject ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Suffice to say the shoulder shot IS the way to go on just about every animal out there. It has the advantage of anchoring the animal (most of the time anyway) and taking out the vitals. One of the most irritating things I see are on TV hunting shows, where all these supposed "experts" either never take frontal shots (chest) and always wait for the animal to turn broadside before shooting where they invariably run just like you say.

I find this to be almost the opposite when you ask african PHs as to their shot preferences. To a man, they all say the sme thing: THE SHOULDER. jorge

...unless you butcher and eat your own game, I think. A deer or hog shot through heart and lungs is dead and, because of the usually good blood trail, mostly easy to find, even at night.

When hunting in the mountains and cliffs, it might be better to anchor it definitely on the spot, in order to avoid the instant preparation of burger meat and broken trophies.

For deer I don't really demand one or the other, I just take the best offered shot. Now for bear the more broken bones the better. All but one of my bears shot have been shot through at least one shoulder and my 2003 spring bear was smashed through both. even when hit this far forward the arteries from the heart are destroyed causing very quick bleed out, and although I don't remember checking the lungs for damage while dressing, I do remember hearing air suck in the bullet hole while dragging him out so a lung had to have been clipped too.

Working as a guide through an outfitter I have come to love the shoulder shot. Even though they can still cover some ground after a hit, it is a pretty short chase. The last one I "tracked" was 5 yards or so. Just went to the kill site and looked up . I prefer the shot to go through the vitals and exit an off shoulder or enter the shoulder and continue through the vitals. That way you get the best of both worlds.

I'm a double lung shooter normally. If the guide or I want the game nailed to the ground I usually move the crosshairs to the shoulder and about two-thirds (vertically) up the body.

If you break both shoulders the animal can't run away although it won't die any quicker.You pretty much need a perfect broadside shot to break both shoulders.If you only break one shoulder the animal will run at least as far as with a lung shot.There is also the chance that the bullet will change direction slightly when it strikes the shoulder and not strike the vitals properly resulting in a wounded animal.In any case there will be usually more meat wasted with a shoulder shot than with a lung shot.

Steve, If I don't want the animal to run at all...or only a few steps, I try to do this. I wait until the far leg is forward and the close leg back. I shoot through the close shoulder braking the main bone. The bullet will then go through the lungs and if you're luck you get heat damage too. You lose some meat but if you're in a place where a run of 30 yards could make for a miserable drag or even a lost deer it's a good trade. In a soy bean field that stretches to the horizon it may not be worth the meat. But on the edge of a marsh or in really steep mountains where the animal might run up over a crest and drop into a place where I'd have to wench it out... a 30 yrd. run could mean extra hours of misery and it's a no brainer.

Steve: My favorite shot on moose that are broadside are the hear/lung shots. I use a .338WM, with bullet weights from 230 to 275 grains. With bullets from 230-250 grains, I have only had one moose that walked 25 yards after the shot. I have shot moose through the lungs from 100 yards to 325 yards, and most have dropped with one shot, including the one this season. I set the crosshairs to almost touch the rear of the shoulder bone (above the elbow), but through the center of the following kill zone: Through the center of lower one-third of the body (this lower third starts at the brisket). I aim so the bullet hits part of the heat or arteries, and pass through the lungs. That's my favorite shot, and it does not destroy much meat. Best of all, it kills fast.

----Most of the moose I have killed have dropped on the spot, or very close to it, except for the one that walked 25 yards. I took a quartering-away shot on this one, and the bullet passed through the lungs, and cracked or broke the far shoulder bone.

----Those of you here who have hunted bears and other large animals, probably know by now that a shoulder shot to break the shoulder bone (or bones) is not as easy as it sounds, because most often the animal is not standing still, broadside, waiting for the bullet to hit a somewhere around 2" target (the shoulder bone). However, when an animal such as a bear is perfectly broadside, its heart is partially behind the near shoulder bone. If one has the time to aim LOW through that one-third of the body, and to hit the shoulder bone, then the heart can also be hit by the bullet in addition to the shoulder bone.



The problem with this shot, at least in brushy areas, is that one seldom sees the lower chest area of a bear. Most often one sees the high area of the shoulder, or the top of the bear. In other words, a low chest shot to break the shoulder bone is lethal, but also difficult. Also, most often than not, only one shoulder bone will be hit, because most times both legs are not perfectly aligned.

---Several years ago, I shot a moose thought the shoulder, and it dropped like hit by lightning. I saw the moose from approximately 250 yards away while riding my ATV. I stopped the machine, and kind of crawled about 50 yards closer, aimed my .338 so that the bullet would get close to the shoulder bone, and fired my rifle one time. I was 200 yards away when I shot it, and the bullet hit the shoulder bone, clipped the heart arteries and passed through the lungs, broke the far shoulder bone, and exited. I didn't plan this shot since I didn't aim to hit the shoulder bones, so I consider it a lucky (very rare) shot. Those shots, to break the shoulder bones kill fast, but are not always possible. And they turn more difficult past 200 yards, even with the large kill zone of a moose, an animal that is very tall. The kill zone of a bear in the brush is often out of view, because they are not as tall as moose, and if you can get close enough to see it, by then the animal sees you or hears you and does not stand still waiting for you to aim and break the shoulder.



In summary, if you have the chance to take a shoulder shot, take it. It prevents the animal from walking far, but it's more difficult to take than the usual lung/heart shot, since the target is much smaller, and often hidden in the brush. A shoulder shot to hit the heart (or heart arteries), and to break the shoulder bone, is lower on the chest than one may be used to, and if you shoot ahead of the bone, more than likely you won't hit but the brisket.

I blast em in the shoulder but for different reasons - I need to plant that deer NOW> I am color defecient. My red/oranges and blue/greens look a lot alike. Thus its very hard for me to see blood on fall leaves. (I always hunt with others but its much more gratifying to walk back to camp dragging my deer rather than asking for help to track)

I have used Nosler Partitions,Fail safes and NBTs - all busted both shoulders outta 30-06 and 300wm.

Works for me.

I like the "shoulder" shot for any big game from antelope up. It anchors them & prevents those sometimes long tracking jobs. Alot of guys scoff @ this shot, but I have never had an animal go more than a few steps if you can get both shoulders, a bit high & you get lungs, a bit low & you get the heart, a bit too far back & you get lungs.

I shoot through the shoulders, if the shot permits, high enough to clip the spine too.

No two ways about it for me. In fact, I get plain pissed off when I see "lung" shots. What it seems like many people call a lung shot to me looks almost like a gut shot...
A shoulder shot, if you know your animals anatomy, and cmon, its not that hard, will take out vital organs and well as mobility.

I get real pissed off when I hear that the lungs give a greater "margin for error", meaning if you mis the lungs, you may get the shoulders...or the guts.

Break the animal down, and it will bleed out and be dead long before you can walk over to it.

I have it in these terms; when I let off a shot, I expect the animal to fall and die where it was standing, and that is what normaly happens.

I have found that most hunters seem to have a natural point of aim. I am used to seeing animals drop in their tracks(did it yesterday with a fallow deer buck) I have friends who still get their game, but are used to seeing it run a ways before tripping up.

Each unto his own, but I think I am decided on which method I prefer.