Dan Perez advocates for 'centerpunch' over traditional lung/heart shot

There, I edited it as I originally intended it to read.

 

No, most likely no one is going to penetrate through the joints (knuckle) or the thicker bone. I assumed people could differentiate between "leg" (bone and joints) and a "shoulder" (shoulder blade). From a treestand, a person is going to be fairly hard pressed to hit the leg bones/joints and if they do it is a poorly placed non-kill shot in the first place. Even with the facing leg placed back you'd be shooting towards the front portion of the vitals. As Perez himself said in his rebuttal a double lung is the best shot. Which the shoulder blade can easily intrude upon.

 

This is how I shoot my deer. This is the exit wound and the shot was on the deer quartering away.

 

He wanted attention and he got it. Congrats Dan!

I have seen him hunt and put some great shots on whitetail. I have no idea why he would advocate to shoot a deer in the liver unless he feels that with big mechanical broadheads the shoulder area is a no go.

Still, I'll just keep shooting my deer in the lungs.

 

I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think what I heard him say is what he actually meant. He was much more clear in his follow-up video stating clearly that the best shot is a double lung. He also clearly said that If he had to choose between a shoulder shot and a liver shot, he would take the liver shot. I can't disagree with what he said. Not sure what the intended message of the first video was, but I disagree with the message that was conveyed.

 

My argument is that if those are your only two shot choices, you have NO shot.

Wait for a good shot, or let it walk.

 

Hey now, give me a little credit anyways. I was shooting a compound not a crossbow. And yes, shooting a deer in the "knuckle" of the shoulder blade is a no win situation. That deer actually lived for about 2 more months until Mike shot him after X-mas. There was only a small scar and some missing hair to indicate anything ever happened. Had someone else shot that deer they most likely wouldn't have ever noticed it.

 

Yes, if a person is shooting expandables and maybe hunting from the ground, I'd agree.

 

"Shoulder" shots are debatable with a fixed blade head.

But to say, "I'll just shoot him in the liver" is ridiculous.

 

Yes, they are and have been here on the forums time and again.

 

Are we arguing or agreeing? I can't tell. :p

 

I don't think anyone is advocating a scenario where those are the only possible outcomes of a shot... just that if you had to miss your mark too far forward or too far backward, He would choose backward (as would I). I also strongly believe you can mitigate this risk of hitting the front shoulder by aiming a touch back to begin with. No where near center mass, but towards the back region of the lungs. Miss forward still get lungs, miss back and get liver/paunch... either way it's a dead recoverable deer if you play it right after the shot. I think too many hug that dangerous lower shoulder region too frequently to say they got that perfect heart shot, when it's a risk you don't have to take. again IMO.

I agree that 15 yards and in from a stand and it's hard to grab that lower knuckle with anything but a very poor shot... but back a deer out to 35-45 yards and aim for the heart on a broadside deer, you are now flirting dangerously close to that impenetrable bone. It all boils down to shot angles.

 

I see Dan's point here in not crowding the shoulder. As many have pointed out that is risky to say the least. I think his intentions were good but his delivery was bad. I don't care if you are shooting a 6 inch cut at 600 fps with 200 lbs of KE the goal is always take out both lungs. Advocating a liver shot is bad and encourages sloppy shot placement. We owe it to the animals we hunt to make quick clean ethical kills which equals both lungs with a sharp broad head.

Also we have all said stuff we wished we had not at one time. Dan is in the public eye and probably regrets that message as responsible hunters we should correct him but not crucify the man. That statement was probably written by an editor anyhow. Just ny opinion.

 

I would say a lot more deer are lost due to not crowding the shoulder than crowding it. I would rather lose a deer to a shoulder knuckle than a gut shot anyday.

 

I'm in agreement. At least the shoulder shot deer will probably live. I just feel that based on where the shoulder bone actually is on a deer, you should be fine hugging the crease above the leg with a broadside or quartering away shot.

 

I hunted with an outfitter in the Midwest, not throwing any names because he doesn't deserve a bit of negative attention, but he swears by center punching. Over his years of experience, 15+ years guiding 30+ bow hunters a year and being a hunter himself, his words were " if you center punch it, I will find it" my grandfather thought this was ridiculous to the point where he called him out. I put an arrow in a deer that year, shot impact was high and slightly forward of shoulder as I was aiming where we've been told to our whole lives... Another one of his hunters killed the deer the following year and pulled my 100g Thunderhead out of the inside of the far shoulder blade. With that said, I'm still going to aim for that far shoulder blade every chance I get.

 

First of all we all try to take high percentage kill shots on any animal we intend on killing as quickly as possible. Basically the most ideal place to put your arrow is through the heart,one or both lungs, because there is a little wiggle room in there if you happen to be off your intended exact spot of aiming by a few inches. And this is the largest target of vital organs that no critter could survive for very long with a hole punched into any of these. When we start trying to target other vital organs other than this high kill rate percentage area our target area will decrease and so will our odds at recovery and a quick kill. You could aim at a deers spine and paralyze them, no question about that. Sever a spine and they aren't going anywhere , but can you hit that spine every time? That's what the real question is i think, could you take a head shot on a deer at let's just say for example 20 yards with a firearm of your choice? Probably, but the risk of maiming and wounding and losing the deer is way to high for me to consider taking that kind of a shot. I'll stick to the high percentage vital organs up front every time. Even when I pull out my 30-06, 44mag, or my bow.

 

I shoot for the front 1/3. There's more vitals above and in front of the leg than behind. Scapula is easy to shoot thru. Knuckle is a no no though I did kill one thru it but it was a small doe and broadhead made it to the other side but didn't poke thru. That's a bad shot from a stand anyway as the entrance is to low. Prefer not to gutshoot one not only cause of the slow death and lack of blood but cause of all the bears. They find em before the yotes usually

 

I rarely "argue" on internet forums, if I disagree I will discuss and debate but arguing would mean I'm upset or angry and it takes quite a lot to get me upset on internet forums.

I agree it's a "debatable" subject because it's controversial and as I said, has been debated and discussed time and again here on the forum. A definitive conclusion can't be reached in the debate when people like me have never lost a deer to a shoulder shot and others have. That's why it's debatable.

As long as I keep putting down deer when I execute a shoulder shot, I'll keep debating that it can be a good shot to take, that's all. What's the difference between why I don't lose deer to shoulders when others do...luck? Experience? Shot placement? Equipment? Shot angle? I'd say all the above when I have three bucks on the wall in front of me that range from 145 to 168 that were all shoulder shot with archery equipment and no lost deer to shoulder shots. Guys lose deer to gut and liver shots ALL THE TIME with both archery and rifle.

 

You Shot a Deer. Here's How to Find It. | Deer Hunting | Realtree i learned after 30 years of bowhunting to stay away the shoulder i aim for center of the lungs you can be off 3/1/2 or 4/1/2 inches in any direction and still hit the lung liver or heart what happens if you shoot at the shoulder and miss 2 or 3 inches to the left