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How many here have ever taken this shot? If so, can you give us some details on the occasion such as rifle used and the results? I'm curious.
Texas Heart Shot
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Did it once.
50 yard shot at a black bear weighing just shy of the 700 lb. mark. Shooting a .375 Weatherby and a SGK 250 grainer at 3060 fps.
Got approximately 5 1/2 feet of penetration. The bear was crushed on the spot.
50 yard shot at a black bear weighing just shy of the 700 lb. mark. Shooting a .375 Weatherby and a SGK 250 grainer at 3060 fps.
Got approximately 5 1/2 feet of penetration. The bear was crushed on the spot.
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271 Posts
My father shot a 130 lb. Whitetail buck with a 150gr. Herter's spire point years back. 30 yard shot, found the bullet up in the throat. Didn't ruin a bit of meat. 30.06 and 47gr. Of H4895.
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My son shot his record Axis just as it topped a ridge while running away from us right at sundown. I had just finished telling him to take the shot because the Axis would otherwise get away and we might never see him again.
I had taken the same shot on a whitetail in heavy brush many years prior, although with a .30 -.30 Winchester and at only 40 yards. The whitetail piled up about 20 yards further. After the shot, I sat down to listen for thirty minutes. Blood trail was excellent and I found him in short order.
My son had the Axis at the top of the hill with a steady rest, and shot him through the seat of the pants with his .338 Win Mag. Approximately 120 yards away, we saw the Axis clear the top of the hill and it was gone. But I felt that it slumped on the 225 gr bullet's impact, so we waited 45 minutes to let him bleed out. We later found it 30 yards past the top of the ridge.
This is not the preferred shot, but it is an acceptable shot if no other opportunity exists and the game must be taken. But responsibilty demands that this shot be taken with a quality big game bullet and a cartridge that should penetrate three feet of the animal. Unless dire circumstances exist, this is not the shot for your .243 Winchester.
I had taken the same shot on a whitetail in heavy brush many years prior, although with a .30 -.30 Winchester and at only 40 yards. The whitetail piled up about 20 yards further. After the shot, I sat down to listen for thirty minutes. Blood trail was excellent and I found him in short order.
My son had the Axis at the top of the hill with a steady rest, and shot him through the seat of the pants with his .338 Win Mag. Approximately 120 yards away, we saw the Axis clear the top of the hill and it was gone. But I felt that it slumped on the 225 gr bullet's impact, so we waited 45 minutes to let him bleed out. We later found it 30 yards past the top of the ridge.
This is not the preferred shot, but it is an acceptable shot if no other opportunity exists and the game must be taken. But responsibilty demands that this shot be taken with a quality big game bullet and a cartridge that should penetrate three feet of the animal. Unless dire circumstances exist, this is not the shot for your .243 Winchester.
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without more detailed description of the surrounding area i do have to say at first glance of your story i flinched a bit at reading it. i get a vision of an animal go over the top of a hill/ridge and a last minute shot at the south end of this north bound critter where if the bullet had not hit its mark it would have transversed the countryside until it found its resting spot way out in the distance. i assume there was more to it than that.My son shot his record Axis just as it topped a ridge while running away from us right at sundown. I had just finished telling him to take the shot because the Axis would otherwise get away and we might never see him again.
I had taken the same shot on a whitetail in heavy brush many years prior, although with a .30 -.30 Winchester and at only 40 yards. The whitetail piled up about 20 yards further. After the shot, I sat down to listen for thirty minutes. Blood trail was excellent and I found him in short order.
My son had the Axis at the top of the hill with a steady rest, and shot him through the seat of the pants with his .338 Win Mag. Approximately 120 yards away, we saw the Axis clear the top of the hill and it was gone. But I felt that it slumped on the 225 gr bullet's impact, so we waited 45 minutes to let him bleed out. We later found it 30 yards past the top of the ridge.
This is not the preferred shot, but it is an acceptable shot if no other opportunity exists and the game must be taken. But responsibilty demands that this shot be taken with a quality big game bullet and a cartridge that should penetrate three feet of the animal. Unless dire circumstances exist, this is not the shot for your .243 Winchester.
i only bring it up so if any young non experiance hunter reads this he doesn't get the wrong idea bout slinging lead. i'm assuming that things were not quite as sketchy as it first reads.
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gotta ask, how did the tenderloins taste? or where they ruined? if it is a wall hanger and it is the only shot i have, and a safe line of fire,yep i'll take it. but like others have said not the prefered shot, not at all if it is only for table fair.
I would never take that shot. I have, however taken the reverse shot. I placed a 140grain NBT from a 7mmRemMag in the chest of a 170lb white tail at a distance of about 20 yards. I had been watching the deer approach me for a while and kept waiting for it to turn. I finally got to a point where I couldn't wait any longer because the wind had shifted to directly behind me. I started to raise the gun and the deer saw the movement and froze. I had a perfect shot at the white spot in the deers chest so I took it. The bullet ran the length of the deer ending up in the hide left of the deers tail. The good news is that the bullet nearly cleaned the guts out of the deer for me. The bad news is the mess and smell near the rear of the deer. I field dressed the animal and quickly dragged the deer down to camp (only about 200 yards away downhill). I ran the deer up a tree and doused with water for about half an hour. I was luckily able to save most of the meat because of the situation. Had I had to drag that deer for a mile (in that forrest it happens sometimes) I would have probably lost a lot of meat. On the bright side the 8 point rack has made a nice rattle for the last 10 years.
That was my thought as well. I have seen ridgetop shots taken on TV as few times and with the aid of DVR use them as a teaching aid of what not to do for my son.
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Last year when i got my elk, my second shot to put it down for good, was a straight away shot. I put my crosshairs right on the base of his tail, and pulled the trigger, range was roughly 20 yards, i was shooting a .338 WM using 225 grain nosler partitions. The bullet travelled below the backstrap, and was to high for any vital organs, but it did exit the neck, blowing guts out. I lost just a little neck meat with that shot.
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even with ethics considered ..to me it would depend on how hungry me or those i was provideing for were..
I was presented with the option to take such a shot on a CA blacktail one year. The 3x3 buck was facing straight away from me, slightly uphill at less than 50 yards. I had always been told by my dad that if I gut shot a deer on purpose, he wasn't helping me dress it out because he'd done that one time and vowed never to do it again.
To me, the logic is fairly simple: You hit too high you risk ruining a good deal of the backstraps, which is main reason I hunt deer. Hit too low and you risk a wounded animal that might not be recovered and will stink to high heaven, if you do. I hunt to eat and don't see how a Texas Heart Shot figures into fine table fare.
Oh, the buck? When he turned to his right he was immediately behind some brush and when I tried to get in better position for a shot, he busted me and bounced off over the ridge. Good for him and I don't regret the decision.
To me, the logic is fairly simple: You hit too high you risk ruining a good deal of the backstraps, which is main reason I hunt deer.
Hit too low and you risk a wounded animal that might not be recovered and will stink to high heaven, if you do. I hunt to eat and don't see how a Texas Heart Shot figures into fine table fare.Oh, the buck? When he turned to his right he was immediately behind some brush and when I tried to get in better position for a shot, he busted me and bounced off over the ridge. Good for him and I don't regret the decision.
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With proper bullets, and proper bullet placement a tx heart shot will ruin little to no meat. The problem is making the perfect shot. There is a very small window to make that shot, and all angles have to be taken into consideration ( whether the animal is twisting its body at all). If you didnt think you could properly make the shot in that situation, good call. I would not say that the tx heart shot is hard on meat, not untill the shot is botched anyway. I myself have used the tx heart shot, with very little meat ruined.I was presented with the option to take such a shot on a CA blacktail one year. The 3x3 buck was facing straight away from me, slightly uphill at less than 50 yards. I had always been told by my dad that if I gut shot a deer on purpose, he wasn't helping me dress it out because he'd done that one time and vowed never to do it again.
To me, the logic is fairly simple: You hit too high you risk ruining a good deal of the backstraps, which is main reason I hunt deer.
Oh, the buck? When he turned to his right he was immediately behind some brush and when I tried to get in better position for a shot, he busted me and bounced off over the ridge. Good for him and I don't regret the decision.
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Thanx for the very **ahem** colorful replies
It was 8yrs ago opening day when a very nice 8pt was sniffing my tracks in to where my natural blind was. The blind was right near his rub and scrape line. We came eye to eye, steam blowing out his nostrils and fire in his eyes. He bolted to my 2 o'clock across the field and by time I got the rifle up all I can remember is tail. I didnt have a even a clean THS.....not my game. Anyway, I had to answer to several guys that said they would have at the least let the buck know he was there, at the most sighted down the tail for a butt shot.
I'm past being outsmarted by the buck now and beyond regretting not slinging lead. But I've always wondered what it would be like lighting up the tail end of a nice 8pt. All my deer were taken with calculated high percentage boiler room shots. Cant say I would never take the texas heart shot, especially if it was a monster buck.
It was 8yrs ago opening day when a very nice 8pt was sniffing my tracks in to where my natural blind was. The blind was right near his rub and scrape line. We came eye to eye, steam blowing out his nostrils and fire in his eyes. He bolted to my 2 o'clock across the field and by time I got the rifle up all I can remember is tail. I didnt have a even a clean THS.....not my game. Anyway, I had to answer to several guys that said they would have at the least let the buck know he was there, at the most sighted down the tail for a butt shot.
I'm past being outsmarted by the buck now and beyond regretting not slinging lead. But I've always wondered what it would be like lighting up the tail end of a nice 8pt. All my deer were taken with calculated high percentage boiler room shots. Cant say I would never take the texas heart shot, especially if it was a monster buck.
At the time, I didn't take the shot because I didn't want to risk a gut-shot deer that ran off and died, but wasn't located. Thinking back on it, the fact that he was slightly uphill would have made it that much tougher to place the shot without damaging backstraps. These days, I wouldn't even consider taking such a shot when experience has taught me a better one will usually present itself. As I've gotten older, I've decided that I'd rather eat my tag than risk a gut-shot animal or ruined meat.
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Well, I was aiming at the, uh, "exhaust pipe" but sometimes shot placement isn't perfect when you've just sprinted across a field to cut a pig off before it gets to a hole in the fence
I figured any shot at the south end of a northbound animal met the definition, but perhaps my understanding is incorrect? Is it necessary to hit the spine to formally meet the definition? That would make sense as a CNS shot should definitely take an animal down, now.
I've shot a deer lengthwise from the front, before. Not sure how that qualifies?
A mess, no matter what!
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