Following on from previous discussion I assume shot placement on Chamois is pretty much same as most other ungultes - 1/3 to 1/2 way up the body on the back edge of the front legs. Ie the same as a Roe deer etc.

The shot placement you describe will certainly do the job, as will a shot squarely through the shoulder. They are lightly built animals and not difficult to kill well. One suggestion is to ensure the head is not tucked to the side when you fire. With a 30.06 and 165 gn. bullet I once shot a buck facing acutely uphill, standing broadside and slightly angled away with his head tucked against his off shoulder. My shot went just behind the near shoulder exited front of the off shoulder and continued through his left eye socket. The cape was ruined but I was able to salvage a very nice trophy for a Euro mount.
Hope you have a great hunt.

Shot placement is the same, be prepared for some extreme angles tho - up or/and downhill, so your aiming point might differ under those circumstances.

There are circumstances under which Chamois can take quite some punishment and still going esp. in rut time...

Remember my first one - shot behind the shoulder with 7x64 it fell straigh away, however after 10 min when I reached it, it got back on its feet and jumped behind the ridge - It was pretty shaky but I had to shoot it again. It was one off and it didn't happen again since but got some respect in my book.

Old Alpine hunters sayig goes - "Shoot Chamois as long as it trembles!"

Been fortunate to shoot more than a few chamois. They are not heavily built animals but need to be mindful that like their larger alpine cousin the Himalayan tahr, they are extremely sure footed and agile animals and if not anchored with the first shot they can travel good distances before finally expiring, which over the rough alpine country where they are mostly found, can making them hard or impossible to recover in some circumstances.

For me shot placement as always with any animal where I can make a perfect shot, is high through the shoulders. Animals cannot run off with busted shoulders and if shot high the major blood vessels are blown and the spine shocked which helps to get a DRT shot. Of course these alpine animals don't always oblige for the perfect shot so you have to take them any way but which. Most of mine of both species have been taken with the Sierra 7mm 160gr SPBT bullet at a MV of 3000fps.
Have had many running shots where you cannot always get perfect bullet placement especially at longer ranges so relying on the heavy fast and perfect performing Sierra bullet to do its job.

Don't under estimate what is needed to get your chamois.

I'm big on breaking shoulders on any mountain animal.

Ditto on shoulder shots - even better if animal is quarterinfg slightly so shot goes in behind the shoulder and exits between the neck and opposite shoulder or vice versa.

Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

It isn’t. Same as a deer or anything else.

Many years ago, they used to tell us to wait until the animal gives you a good angle for the shot.

Now after having hunted for so many years, and realizing that getting a good angle is not always possible, I have reached my own decision.

First make sure the rifle you are using has enough penetration.

Then all one has to do is aim at an imaginary object centered between the animal's shoulders, and shoot it.

Works every time, even on large animals like cape buffalo.

True Saeed - it comes with experience, knowing animal anatomy and a good 3D immagination.

But there are times when clients are used to flat terrains + bad 3D immagination...once they are facing steep upward or downward angles - and you are rarely level with your quarry in mountains. Esp when shooting uphill it is hard to convince a client to aim low on the target - many, many shots go over.

Here are a couple of scenarios that might occur - those are close range (and without safe backgraound dangerous) but once you are facing a 300m+ shot where angle becomes deciding factor (aim point and bullet drop considered) things happen

The most common mistake I see with Chamois, is people shooting over the top of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

There is no difference but as I posted earlier there is a difference where these mountain animals (for us in NZ, tahr and chamois) live and when deciding to take a shot it is not just placement you need to consider but in most cases you should also consider can you get to the animal and retrieve it.

Because these animals are so adept in their alpine environment, if not anchored on the spot where you have likely considered you can get to, they can get away into an area you can't get to.

A wounded animal that moves 15m to 20m in our alps can be lost.
While some of our chamois and tahr shooting can look idyllic, you cannot always order in good weather, In the photo below we were shooting tahr right up on top of the rock moraine under the mountain tops just left of centre in the photo. Some shots were taken at long range from the river at the bottom with a dialled up 300 Win Mag and then crampons and ice axe to get to the animals. Can't afford to have them wander off wounded from the spot where you've chosen to drop them and judged can get to.


In this second photo you can't see the country around my youngest son where he got this bull tahr but real horrible stuff. By the time him and his mate got back to our tent camp each night they were pretty much blown out, young and fit as they are.



Good rifles and good ammo is needed for these mountain animals with shot placement up through the shoulders so they cannot run.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Many years ago, they used to tell us to wait until the animal gives you a good angle for the shot.

Now after having hunted for so many years, and realizing that getting a good angle is not always possible, I have reached my own decision.

First make sure the rifle you are using has enough penetration.

Then all one has to do is aim at an imaginary object centered between the animal's shoulders, and shoot it.

Works every time, even on large animals like cape buffalo.

Agreed....

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

It isn't. Chamois are little. Hit them just about anywhere and they go down. Shoulder shots are preferred but these little guys are not much bigger than a bush duiker.

No thats not right. Like any animal you need to take appropriate care to shoot them in the right place, and use an appropriate caliber.
They also inhabit some tricky terrain and I have seen them make it to unrecoverable positions or simply disappear into scrub not to be found from poor shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

It isn't. Chamois are little. Hit them just about anywhere and they go down. Shoulder shots are preferred but these little guys are not much bigger than a bush duiker.

Chamois are 3 times the size of bush duiker. About the rest - well said shankspony.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why would a shot placement on a chamois be any different than any other animal??

Actually it might be a bit different. On a deer the size of a chamois, I (personally) would not do a shoulder shot, because it wouldn't be necessary and waste meat.
On a chamois i would most likely shot on the shoulder to make sure it doesn't move much.

They are not big animals and they are not hard to kill. BUT they tend to fall off rocks and the horns break fairly easy.