There was a thread on a N.Z hunting forum on shot placement and the Kidney shot came up.

I have no plans to ever try this shot,but has anyone here ever tried this shot??

Have you ever heard of someone taking this shot?? does it work??

TP,

I would not have thought that there was such a thing as a kidney shot. Any shot that takes out the kidneys will either smash up the spine or come close enough to anchor the beast.

Incidentally, I also wouldn't have thought the shot to be fatal. The kidneys are situated so far back in the body cavity that even severing the spine there, will purely incapacitate the animal rather than kill it.

I may be wrong but it doesn't sound like a good idea. Besides, Who wants to put a shot through the sirloins!!

Rgds,
FB

Gidday TP,

Personally I haven't tried it but at my suggestion a mate tried it on a fallow buck when we were down the Greenstone about 3 or 4 years ago. This buck was playing cutesy around a tree and Leigh (the guy with the feral cattle) remembered me mentioning Rex Forrester suggesting the kidney shot.

Leigh lined up on him at about 120metres slightly uphill (just behind the mid Greenstone hut but a kilometre or so towards the Steele Creek junction) and took the shot. It did not go quite as planned and for whatever reason the shot went a couple of inches low. A 140gr ballistic tip from a 270 makes a hell of an exit wound on a gut shot deer.

We had to track that deer for about an hour with just spots of blood, Stomach contents and pieces of intestine that caught up on branches, saplings and tree roots as the unfortunate beast did his best to evade us.

When we caught up with it we found it almost totally without any thing left inside below the diaphram but still looking at us wondering what in hell had it done to deserve all the agony. He was in sight of the hut about 50 metres away.

So if you are asking about whether I would recommend the kidney shot the answer is an unqualified no.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

No No and Hell no.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
No No and Hell no.

Exactly. Kidneys are retroperitoneal. They hug the spine. Aiming there is nothing more than a gut shot animal and the risk of damaged GOOD meat.

I once put in a HUGE flinch when shooting a roe buck. I was convinced I had well and truly gut shot it. I didn't try to follow up until 2 hours later to allow it to stiffen up.

The deer was stone dead about 10paces away. The only vital thing that was hit was a kidney which was mush. Huge amounts of blood in the abdomen with very little green stuff. The spine wasn't touched.

Stupid shot to try given the surroundings but should you accidentaly hit one it will be fatal.

Why call it a kidneys shot, call it what it is a high gut shot...

Why would you want to take a kidney shot? If you had a shot at them, the vitals would be available as well. Vitals being the heart and lungs. I screwed up on a buck last year trying to "spine" him from a tree with my MZ. The heart lung region is the only place to shoot for.

I prefer the pituitary shot.Heehee

That is one of the dumbest ideas I have heard. Why gut shoot something? Makes no sense, causes unnecessary pain and is just plain stupid...

I saw a good buck drop dead from a flubbed shot on a strong quarter away. Bullet hit kidney and took out the bottom of the spine.

Wouldn't recommend anyone take that shot.

Also saw a guy kill a buck w/ a bow he hit in the pelvis, deer didn't go far and bled out. Terrible shot that had a lucky outcome as well.

Reloader

It's a graceless way to dispatch an animal. Doing it intentionally in less than exceptional circumstances seems unnecessary.

I agree with everyone else...no freakin way. Do the right thing....show some respect for the animal...put(or attempt to)the shot where it belongs..heart/lung/shoulder ...boiler room.

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:
There was a thread on a N.Z hunting forum on shot placement and the Kidney shot came up.

I have no plans to ever try this shot,but has anyone here ever tried this shot??

Have you ever heard of someone taking this shot?? does it work??

Sounds like a nice way of calling an ASS SHOT something a little more politically correct.

MG

If a fella is good enough to hit the kidneys on purpose there are at least a half dozen better places he should aim for.

It would definately be a bad place to put a shot, but as far as the question of killing the animal goes, maybe the high level of blood supply to the kidneys would make an animal succumb faster than just an intestinal shot.
I"d hate to have to find out!
good shooting

Not by intent, but at one time or another I've done just about all shots; leg, ass, too low neck, paunch, brisket, and probably one of these so called kidney shots. I think anybody who has shot 50+ critters that says he hasn't muffed some shots is either A) a bullshitter B) hasn't shot 10 critters or C) absolutely incredibly exceptional.

I go for the pancreas myself.

You fellas need to brush up on your anatomy and practice more....

from now on, I'm going for lymph nodes.

the kidneys are highly vascular. if you hit the kidneys, the animal will die from exsanguination within minutes.

How far can they run in those minutes, and what kind of blood trail will they leave? Too risky for me. Most any "hole" in a deer will kill it, but I want it dead upon bullet impact where it dies in less than a few seconds, or instantly.

Took in two of my bucks to the taxidermist last season and he was caping out a buck that had been shot that morn. He said the guy had to throw the meat away. I asked why and he proceeded to tell me the buck was sick and had magots coming out of a hole in front of his hams just below the kidneys where someone had wounded him a few days prior to this guy taking him.

We owe it to the game to put em' down as quickly as possible. A good expander to the heart/lungs will do it every time.

Reloader

Yes, a shot to the kidneys will kill an animal rather quickly because the kidneys receive ~25% of the blood each time the heart beats.

It is a bad shot to take because you risk ruining the backstraps or gut-shooting the beast and ruining alot more than backstraps.

Archers probably know this shot better than rifle hunters. But if you're within 25 yards of something, the kidney area is easier to hit and a broadhead doesn't make as big of a mess if your arrow goes low.

Maybe it could be likened to shooting cape buff with an '06...it will kill him, but is it the best way? Only your 45-70 knows for sure!

I hit an antelope too far back one time and drilled it through the liver. The antelope only took one step and laid down and died but I don't recommend it.

In archery, a flubbed shot is said to be "a little far back" If it's in the liver or kidneys the animal will die for sure. That doesn't mean there should be a "kidney shot" on the books. Call it what it is-poor shooting.

the chef

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
In archery, a flubbed shot is said to be "a little far back" If it's in the liver or kidneys the animal will die for sure. That doesn't mean there should be a "kidney shot" on the books. Call it what it is-poor shooting.

the chef

No argument here!