Learn to shoot fast and straight! Knowing where to aim is just one piece of the puzzle. Check out these two free mini-courses on practical marksmanship for hunters: Pt. 1 - SET UP: Critical go/no-go checks for any shot courses.redkettle.co/pages/blog?p=free-intro-to-practical-marksmanship-for-hunters-pt-1 Pt. 2 - SHOOT: Step-by-step instructions to help you nail every shot courses.redkettle.co/pages/blog?p=free-intro-to-practical-marksmanship-for-hunters-pt-2

There ins't a single deer in my whole continent, but your content is so well explained I'm becoming addicted.

As a bow hunter, we also have to consider the movement of the animal. Deer almost always drop. Basically sound is faster then an arrow. Often I will aim for the heart anticipating the impact to be higher on the animal. There are a bunch of other factors to consider as well of course.

Thank you for this video and the ebook. I think the concept of the triangle greatly helps new hunters understand where to place their shots. I prefer high shoulder shots because the animal drops more often and more quickly than with lung shots. But a lot of variables go into the decision where to put the shot aside from angle, like distance, cartridge, surroundings. I look forward to your advanced shot placement video.

Excellent. I am a rifle and bow hunter of 45+ years. i am always searching for new wisdom. I could not refute or add to any of your lesson. I highly recommend this for any hunter, especially for those that are new to the sport.

Great video! It is nice to see all the different scenarios that you do encounter when hunting. I was off center but on correct angle with a quartering away arrow shot on a doe last year. It was a fatal shot but hit all the chewed up grass...making it a bugger to clean. Thanks for sharing!

Great video, watched all the way through, and clean, professional and kid friendly

Wauw, finally someone who explains it using the right amount of words. Very instructive. Learned a lot! Thanks

Exceptional video and content! Pacing was fantastic, pdf is wonderful, and you are sharing vital knowledge. Thank you!!

Great video and vital information that I will share. Keep up the outstanding work!

Great information. The diagrams are fantastic

Outstanding video. First one I've seen in your series. Looking forward to the rest. I dont have the bow experience yet, but you've helped me further my competence and confidence. Thank you for your efforts!

Thank you for the tips, I’m 16 and kinda poor so this is only my 2nd year hunting. Thanks for the tips on placement

What great information. I bow hunt and try to emphasize shot placement always. I personally have a knack for it myself it seems. Just never had the right answers for others. Im not a trained rifle hunter or military. Sharing this video for sure.

Excellent, efficient video. Well done.

Good stuff, tips that every Hunter needs to know. Because if you hunt long enough you will encounter several of these shots

Iam a first time hunter and by watching your videos you have answered alot of my questions. Thank you for all the good information.

Good detail, and you are obviously speaking from a lot of experience. This is one of the better videos I've seen on shot placement. I bowhunt exclusively however, and the margin of error with a bow is smaller than with a rifle because the arrow travels slower than any bullet and you're killing by hemorrhaging, rather than by shock, and the arrow just doesn't have the bone-jarring/bone-breaking effect of bullets. The quartering to shots are especially problematic for archers, in that most archers are not shooting arrows with enough weight/mass to break the shoulder bone. Reloading a bow also takes longer than chambering a round (unless one is shooting a muzzle-loaded rifle), so getting second shots while the animal is still stunned are rare.

Great information! All my years I have been aiming about 3 “ to far back .

Nice Video Sir. Thanks for the explanation. I like your rules as much as the thoughts of Mr. Robertson

Thank you Christian, this is verry informative, also extremly thanks for your free PDF, I have seen other youtubers asking money or some kind of payment for such info, agin, big THX

Just became subscriber #1000. Woo Hoo. More importantly, I appreciate the info and the way it was presented.

Dude! You understood the assignment, and did the work! This is the video I have been meaning to make for years, even though I don't have a channel. I wanted to get some veterinary CT scans and use that to demonstrate where organs actually lie.

I've always been a heart and lung shooter but I've known people that always shoot the neck and they drop on their tracks....some are head shooters....but for some reason I just stick with what works for me.

I think this was a fantastic video for beginners. This is my first year and I appreciate it very much. I don't mind the short time on the Q cards, because even though I'm a beginner hunter, I'm advanced at using KZfaq So I utilized a tool to help me with your video, Apparently it's an advanced tool that only a few know about, It's called the "pause button" 😂. Hope that gave you a good laugh and I hope to fill my freezer for my family this year. Thank you very much and Have a fantastic day sir.

Outstanding.Thank you!

Great video!

Great video. Had to pass on a front shot this year... still trying to get him before the end of season.

Excellent video! Thank you

Great video. Very good information!

That's why I use a 45-70. I just shoot them in the hoof and that's all she wrote! But seriously, thank you. That was a great info graphic.

Excellent video. I live in Texas, having moved here as a kid in 1974. It was odd to hear the Texas Heart Shot moniker from others. The hunters I know would not do that. Great advice here. There are some shots you should not take. I liked Elmer Keith's book on big game hunting but it always seemed like he was making what I call rump shots, barely making one minute of elk. And this was using slow and large cartridges, like the .35 Whelen, .333 OKH, etcetera. Another series of videos I watched was from Rogee Productions in New Zealand. Hunting on public land that is all hills, you can't get very close. So, he shoots a .300 WSM with a Zero Trace scope on it, with great success. Before people say it is unethical to shoot over 100 yards, there are two guys carrying rifles and both are aimed at the beast to make sure that it does not suffer. The vital V is great. I have known some people, with the skills, will take head shots if not making a trophy, such as harvesting a doe. This saves all the meat. Some will take a shot at the brachial axis, or high shoulder shot. This disables the animal structurally and they cannot run off. As opposed to a heart and lung shot, where the deer can still run. So, don't hunt next to property to which you do not have permission. Someone I know personally hunted for Aoudad Sheep in south Texas (there is a ranch where they care for herds of big horn sheep and exotics, such as onyx) and he was shooting a .300 Win Mag. I think at least a 180 grain, perhaps 200. Split the difference between broadside and quartering to and that was the angle. That ram took the hit and turned directly to him from 200 yards(ish) away and started charging as the guy cycled another round. By the time the round was in battery, the ram dropped. It ran about 30 yards on its last heart beat and breath. So, that is a good reason for the double lung shot. I have also learned that you have to wait. Don't pressure the animal, let the ram or buck expire in peace. If they are pursued, they may try to run farther.

Went mule deer hunting with my father last weekend. We split up and were glassing 300 yards apart, looking at either side of a ridge. He got a textbook front shot from 100 yards away! 6 pointer just stood there for him. Perfect heart shot, dead center of his heart, then the round blew out of his left lung. 270 winchester short magnum. dropped him. I wasn't there to see the shot, but I heard it. I will never forget. Hunting memory that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

1) I like the info provided - Thank you! 2) wish the flash cards occupied more screentime as some went by real fast and hard to find/pause them, 3) really want info on headshots/ranges/types of ammo for that job to just flat out drop the good meat without suffering and chasing (I understand is harder and "showstoppers", but I also know Alaskan subsistence type people frequently use headshots. 4) see #1 again! haha

Excellent. Thank you

awesome detail, ty

When I was learning to hunt at 15 I shot a deer with your Texas Heart Shot and dropped it cold. I was using a 30-30 open sight with soft point bullets. The bullet expanded to about a 45 caliber and hit the stomach. I still remember the smell when we cleaned it. It penetrated about 18 to 24 inches straight in.

Have you hunted the rugged hills and mountains of Southern Arizona for Coues Whitetail Deer? Rugged country and challenging quarry, one of the best adventures.

Two thumbs up! Thank you

Grew up in the rocky mountains hunted for most of my life, dad and brothers and friends. I've never had this kind of discussion, not to this exact. Thank you. It was very much informative and interesting. For reasons outside of my control I went hunting for the first time in 20 yrs harvesting a big body 3 point mule deer . Now I have an elk for this year. Curious what you think. Decided to go with a 6.5 cm 140 interlock sp could turn out to be much over a 100yrd shot so the old 30-30 160 gr sp. Will not do

In my life as a hunter I have had great success aiming high on the upper arm on the other side.

The heart shot. Forty years ago, a friend told me about a white tail buck he shot. He went for a heart shot, the deer ran and stopped. He fired again and once more the deer ran (I can't remember the distance maybe 50 to100yrds). He did recover the buck, and was shocked to discover upon dressing it, nothing much remained of the heart. He struck it twice in the heart with 303 British hunting rounds. We thought wrongly, a heart shot was an instant kill.

Great information!

Excellent. Many thanks for taking the time to share. Liked and sub’d

Excellent information, sir. New subscriber.

I find the e book very good thankyou

Nice video! Thanks!

Great video, detailed information and well explained. I would, if I may, suggest a great piece of advise given, a few years back now, by the late US hunter and writer John Wooters: "Try to shoot at an imaginary grapefrout held by the animal between the prolongation upwards of the front legs". It works at ANY ANGLE, is simple enough, fast, and fool-proof. For bigger animals, the grapefout could be "replaced" by a melon, vertically held, or something bigger. With a little imagination, you have got the aiming point easily, fast, and precise.

Surely your input matters to me. I rely on your experience. Cheers

I had an 8 pt Buck come at me head on last year. I was hunting bow. It wasn't ideal, but I decided to take the shot. Went right through the neck. He ran maybe 5 yards and was done. I think neck shots are great, but margin for error is slim. A lot of luck on my side that day. Also, I served in the military, and shot placement was always taught. Would I take that same shot again? I think I would, but it's a really tough shot. You better be on. Just my 2 cents. Great video

Excellent!

Good video, great info. You should leave the flash card up while you are talking so people can study and see what you are talking about . You only had them up for a few seconds, I had to keep stopping them to really study them. Leave the shot placement up while talking in your next video. Thanks for the info.

I always line my crosshairs up so that the bottom of my vertical runs down the back of the front leg or parallel just barely off it for broadside shots. Obviously depending on the deer's stance this might not always work out perfect but it makes it easy find your target quicker and is pretty close to a consistent "perfect" vitals shot. I shoot 7 rem mag and this almost always gets the top of the heart (or blows the whole thing to bits) and one or both lungs. And even with a cannon like 7 rem mag it damages very little meat. It's kind of an aim small, miss small sort of rule and generally when in doubt it'll put your bullet where it needs to go.

Thanks verry help full .I don't have problems often .but tall gass heavy brush low light rain.shooting up hill or down hill

My only experience is with American Whitetail Deer and I mostly hunt in densely wooded areas and river swamps where loosing a poorly shot deer a distinct possibility. My most used shot is a high shoulder shot because in my experience it has always put deer down like a sack of potatoes and most of the time is an almost instant death. I have used mostly 150gr 308Win factory ammo...CoreLokts, Hornady Interlocks, Federal Fusion, and Hornady SST. It is not a meat saving shot, but to me it beats spending an hour in the dark trashing around indescribably dense vegetation (coastal Carolina) in the dark looking for a deer. PS....as stated, the above mentioned deer are medium size Whitetails.....I can appreciate the nuisances involved in dealing with small and larger species where my methods would not work well and also appreciate what a difference in terrain would make......my problem is if I don't put them down my terrain presents extremely difficult recovery issues.

I can tell you right now that sustained automatic, high-caliber fire will put a deer down, guaranteed. Great video, very informative. I've never had much luck finding deer, but the one I did get was a runner.

I watched you video and really took the advice seriously, and practiced (in my mind) these tips. I just got back from my first ever deer hunt, I used a scope for the first time in my life after 25 years of shooting guns iron sighted for target practice/fun. I sighted my scope in for 75 yards, since the land owner said it'd be a 75 yard shot from the blind to the feeder. The actual shot i was given (by the deer, whom had different plans) 142 yards away, down a small hill, and a rear quartering. Actually less than quartering, more like rear 15%'ing, since the deer turned its head just enough to barely expose it's left shoulder. I followed this guide/advice, and aimed high even though that was counter intuitive being downhill, and several inches behind it's shoulder. It nailed perfectly right behind it's shoulder and almost dead center, cut straight through the deer, and dropped it instantly after it spun almost 360 on the way down. I hit nothing but both lungs, and possibly it's heart I couldn't tell when cleaning it because it was starting to get dark. Thank you very much for such a comprehensive, and useful guide. The land owner, and guide were both amazed at my shot placement, and how clean the hit/kill was. I got to pretend I was just that good, lol.

Covered a lot of information concisely, and articulately. Good content mate.

Nice video very clear and to the point. Appreciate it. How did the bum shot get that name i wonder?

I find it kind of interesting that considering one of the gun safety laws(know your target, its foreground, and its background) aids in your shot placement. Your target isn't the outermost layer of skin, it's the vital internal organs that rest inside of all of that flesh. Using the heart and lungs as the pivot point changes the shot placement on the exterior of the animal accordingly.

Last deer I shot (nice 3x4 Blacktail buck)aimed my 243 where the neck meets the head, touched her off and he went straight down. (About 130 yards) Use the same rifle (different bullets of course) on 600 to 700 yard shots on Prairie dogs.

I've always focused on where the exit wound will occur, which makes it a 3-d comprehension. A top of the shoulder shot usually drops them where they stand.

Thamks

What are your thoughts on a broadside neck shot? I've taken a couple deer with that shot and they both dropped where they stood.

I’ve been wanting to go hunting for a long time but don’t own anything to hunter with. Hoping to be able to go deer hunting one day with a bow or gun.

I wished you provided printable version of your PDF/flashcards. Since the PDF you provided has full color backgrounds they aren't really printable. If I had a printable version of your 18 shot placement diagrams (flashcards) then I would print them out and memorize them.

The Texas Heart Shot is the go to shot placement for hogs here in Texas

I know this may not be the intended use but this is also very helpful for Hunter call of the wild. (Im 13 so i cant hunt)

I mainly shoot deer with a muzzleloader, if I'm not successful in muzzleloader season I'll hunt them with regular rifle. Muzzleloaders are similar to rifles but they're a bit different. Big heavy bullets that drop alot due to slow velocity and abysmal ballistic coefficient. Because muzzleloaders often aren't as accurate and have more arcing trajectories, I tend to stick with the low double lung. Usually aim at the lower third of the deer, right in that triangle. A muzzleloader bullet has plenty of power to blast through that shoulder should you hit it. I'm usually not as worried about destroying a bit more meat than I am about not finding my deer

"It's like adjusting for open sights, back in the day." You mean it's a different day? I still hunt with open sights. Never did know what day it was. 😉 Really well done, thanks.

The more you hunt the more you will learn and improve. My dad always says to aim for where you want the arrow (or bullet) to come out. That being said, in the excitement I can't always remember this and using a bow requires a bit more thinking than a gun does. Last year was a terrible year, not one chance (at deer anyway) during bow season but gun season, I shot 6 times and only hit (and recovered) the last 3. Last year's lessons were taught the hard way, use a shooting stick or miss and aim for the white patch on the deer's neck for front shots. This year was my best yet. Made a decent kill with a compound on a 7pt quartering away hard. Arrow went in high right by the diaphragm and came out at the opposite elbow, one lung and no guts, he went a ways but we found him fairly easily. Made a less than great quartering to shot with a crossbow on a 10pt that clipped the elbow, tore through one lung and guts then came out between the hind legs. Found the deer after a few hours wait no more than 60yrds from where I was sitting as it made almost a complete circle after I snuck out. I could of thought that shot out better. Lastly a doe that was quartering to me ~70-80yrds away, good old 50cal muzzleloader hit just in front of the shoulder and stayed under the hide on the opposite side a few inches away from the hind leg. I think the bullet ricocheted or she was quartered more than I thought, hit lung, heart and guts and she went about 40-50yrds before going down. This years lessons, don't shoot a bow at a swiftly moving deer (that one lived to be shot by someone else) and carry that stupid shooting stick as it WILL come in handy eventually.

I like to set up the broadside shot slightly further back on the animal, in line with the spot where the front leg meets the body. The reason why is because by going for the inside of the triangle, you’re minimizing your room for error, especially when using a bow. You have only a couple of inches of forgiveness and you’re into the heavy shoulder bone. I have seen more animals get away wounded with hits to the shoulder than anything else. By aiming back 4 to 6 inches and only 1/3 of the way up the body you still get double lung and often will hit the bottom of the heart and instead of a 4 inch target you have an 8 inch target. I took one earlier this season with that exact shot.

I have hunted with my dad many times but he never went thru shot placement before & this was PERFECT! You rock man... thanks soooo much!!

good

Inside 75 yards standing broadside to 45 degrees not moving I go for the head shot. They never run away. My Tikka 270 is the perfect tool for the shot and I practice all the time . Now this shot is only on does for the freezer. For any trophy buck I'd say this guy's video is spot on target.

The fact is deer generally don't give you the typical side shot on the lungs.Sometimes you have to take what's given you. For example if a deer is running straight away and see able a back of the head shot is the shot I would take.Looking straight on,between the eyes But at 300 to 400 yards a lung shot is very appropriate. It's kind of like a hockey forward figuring out how to make that perfect shot.Variable change is the reason.

Imagine a basketball in the center of the chest and between the front legs, works at almost any angle. From the rear, take the spine shot.

I have not guided in a few years but i encountered a lot of new hunters so i had one rule. Because American Football is pretty much known by all American hunters. ONE RULE: Split the goal posts! All new hunters normally will be shooting 100 yards, give or take a few yards. So I always promoted a 50/50 for the vertical cross hair. I guess you could refer to this as a 2nd rule. When dealing witha new hunter I like to minimize what they have to think about. So them thinking only about putting the shot through the goal posts! Of course, the goal posts are the front legs. If you put a bullet between the front legs, the quartering angle doesnt really have to be thought about. Bowhunters will only have to concern them selves with one other reference point, no shots from a frontal angle. K.I.S.S. is the best rule for a new hunter regardless of their age!

Great video - except the rules on aiming uphill and downhill are old myths. It's the same adjustment for uphill AND downhill, which means a lesser distance and thus aiming lower is generally correct for both. The ballistically correct way for extreme angle shots to calculate the drop is to use the actual drop x cosine (angle) to give the true projectile drop. Most shooters will just use the "rifleman's rule" which is to calculate the true horizontal distance, using the point distance (e.g. from a rangefinder) x cosine (angle). And use that shorter distance as the aiming distance. But that rule tends to break down on higher angles.

Great, can't wait to use this in Call of the Wild 🤣

Should you ever aim for the spinal column?

.243 works well for throat and head shots.

Thank you for the update brother !

My little brother, aged 15, got an archery tag for a mule deer, so I took him hunting. He wasn't very confident in his archery skills, so he was a little nervous. We walked right up on a 3-point mule deer, and it was 40 yards away. He drew his bow and fired, and we heard the arrow make a very strange snap noise as it struck something. Then the deer didn't even flinch, it just fell over. The arrow had struck the spine at the base of the skull, severed the spinal cord, and lodged into the tree behind the deer. It was an instant death, and the cleanest kill I've ever seen. It was an accident too; he was aiming for the heart.

I’ve researched a lot about bullets after having some disappointing results and I have decided after a lot of research to stay with copper or bonded. I see a lot of research but really, there’s not much content out there Ryan spomer, vortex pod cast with Hornady, and a new video by meat eater.

I find shooting for the middle or the neck has worked best for me. I haven’t ever needed to trail a deer doing this

I took a rear quartering shot on a dear a couple years ago with a .270. Angle was greater than 45, pretty much disentegrated about 5 ribs and then ended up in the lungs.... No guts though. Not ideal but it worked. Deer didn't make it too far. Feel a little bad I had to take out half its rib cage, must have hurt.

Dude that is one good vid right there you words have the right tool for the job if in doubt dont take the shot a wounded animal is not the way to go ps this should be used as a training vid for all pepole who want to hunt ( dont be a c..t learn hunt before taking a shot )

Well done

I did a rear or Texas shot before on a buck. Last day of the season and I had a small buck come my way but he turned away and wouldn't turn broadside. Once he reached the tall grass he will be gone so I pointed my bead right above the bottom of the chest. This was with a 12 gauge slug. I shot, he jumped and ran off. No hair at the point of the shot, but I found shriveled flesh. Followed the path and 30 yards I found him dead in a water hole. When looking him over, it just looked like somebody surgically removed his genitals. Upon removing of the organs, the slug pass through everything, not rupturing anything until it hit the lung, broke apart and the fragment punctured the other lung, no exit holes. I have no idea how it worked out that way but it did and the family was glad to have some venison for the winter.

i always stop and think about which shots gonna ruin the least amount of meat , generally i try to wait for the animal to get facing broadside for a rear lung shot

I shot my first deer with my ruger no1 in 458 lott, it was a perfect situation, about 50 meters and a perfect broadside. Not much ruined meat and the animal dropped after a second. I didnt fint the bullet but it did its job.

if there right by my tree stand i do head or neck shots...antlers or not

Have a 1917 Enfield that wasn't accurate with Fac Ammo in the 1980's when I got it, 150 Grns Fed,Rem, Win in 30-06 3-4", bought 165 Grns Fed,Rem,Win same 3-4", reloading, Tried several Sierra,Hornady, Speer even a 168 Grns Match Sierra for comparison and they were very accurate, Finally IMR 4350 with Speer 165 Grns Grand Slams got the 1" I was looking for. Problem, though to expand on game bullets. If I could hit the eye of a Deer at 100 Yds, aiming point changed from Shoulder/lung/heart to behing the ear, neck/backbone or between the eyes. Problem solved

Shoot through is also a problem with home defense. Its why 44 magnum hard cast solid bullets should never be used for home defense. They can zip right through leaving a nice neat entry and exit holes without doing enough damage to stop the assailant.

If I am shooting hogs and they give me the ole Texas Heart Shot I'm taking it!

I smoked one yesterday. Just bring the shoulder blade. 25 yards. Ran 100 yards and piled up. Autopsy reveled I smashed one lung, the heart, and the liver. That'll work

I use a 308 just got it ,I'm used to a3006. So got. To. Get used to the change.

Not sure why, but European guys doing hunting videos are always 100 times better

I'm pro hunter chris cordell ..where to kill a buck . Number 1 up the ass. Not playing . Other shot spin him if your good always get ready for the other shot . Next wait until the buck stretched his leg way forward when it's out front shoot. You know the others the neck the hart the lungs .. happy hunting ..