Front Shot Placement

[Carter123]

Could anyone help with some diagrams or pictures or Just info on frontal shots with these animals ; Blesbok , Impala , Bushpig and Bushbuck . I don’t have much experience taking frontal shots and am confused with shot placement regarding chest , I understand for most headshots front on it should be between the eyes and ears in the centre . Can anyone help with some diagrams or pictures showing shot placement on these animals ?

 

[spike.t]

Are you talking front body or head shots?....you won't take a head shot unless culling for meat.....

 

[Carter123]

Are you talking front body or head shots?....you won't take a head shot unless culling for meat.....

Front body , I would rather avoid head shots Im just confused about placement on front body

 

[spike.t]

Buy yourself this book...also on here in the search engine you can find most of info you need...as said no head shots unless culling and you know what you are doing....or potentially going to have some horribly wounded animals...

kevin robertson books perfect shot - Google Search

 

[BRICKBURN]

Where did you shoot Your Blesbok?
The position of the heart lung area does not change.
Which animals are you wondering about?

 

[Carter123]

Where did you shoot Your Blesbok?
The position of the heart lung area does not change.
Which animals are you wondering about?

My only frontal shot ended up being in the middle of the chest near to where it joins the neck , it ended up running and I thought I had missed , found no blood , then we spotted the animal walking funny about 120 m away and then it dropped

I’m wondering mostly about blesbok and impala

 

[Nyati]

If you want to hit the heart, you should aim lower.

 

[Qc_BearHunter]

The problem with frontal shot is you have a margin or error vertically but not much horizontally.

Aim to pass the bullet in the center of the chest, a third up. The best shot is the one that severe the arteries over the heart.

If the animal is slightly quartering, you'll have to aim a little left or right, to pass this bullet in the center of the chest, right over the heart.

 

[WyoBull]

Place your bullet on a frontal shot at the same vertical position you would for a broadside shot, a third of the way up from the bottom of the body.
If they are very slightly quartering to you one way or the other adjust according right or left by picturing in your mind where the heart/lungs would be sitting.

 

[Carter123]

thanks , big help

 

[fourfive8]

You can do kind of a 3D mental excecise every time you look at an animal from a frontal angle. Study a good anatomical drawing of the vitals of an animal broadside, then mentally rotate the animal around slowly until the view is front on. Not very complicated really. The hard part and tricky part is getting the bullet there- ideally at the junction of the heart-lung area... specifically the top edge of the heart from those variable frontal angles.

Think about how and why most animals we hunt are built the way they are... for some kind of frontal protection... from broken limbs and staubs they run through to getting jabbed by others with horns and antlers. Cape buffalo for example have a very tough, overlapping design built into the arrangement of their ribs that is protective from frontal assault. Add to that overlapping design, heavy neck muscles and heavy shoulders and leg bones and the barrier to that best vital zone is substantial. To reliably get a bullet into that heart-lung area from the front, calls on more precision in bullet placement and better bullet construction and the larger the animal the more massive the bullet needs to be for momentum for the needed penetration. Bullets are getting better but the lack of supply of the best premium bullets, especially during this worldwide supply crunch of components, requires diligence and sometimes more $ in getting and using the best available. Frontal shots are inherently tricky because of the increase in the potential for superficial wounding and bullet deflection.

 

[Nhoro]

I think you have been given good direction above, 1/3 from the bottom. Just remember that a dead centre heart shot may not hit either lung, so the animal bleeds less and can move further. Side on heart shot will usually hit both lungs and exit. So more bleeding and an exit would gives more blood trail. Nothing wrong with a frontal shot, just know the animal will probably go further and need a bit more finding.

 

[Jaegger]

@Carter123 … frontal shots can be seen as a low % shot, that said a heavier caliber/round can make-up for poor placement but I feel the key takeaway - no need to ‘force a shot.’

Hunting is Situational Base, you could be in open savannah & can keep eyes on the PG for 2nd F/U shot, as needed. Center your vertical line middle neck, aim 1/3 up from tip of the brisket.

In Cape Buff, hunters face ^ % of frontal shots because of the Beasts natural instincts to stand their ground & stare down danger.

Most PG, if your position is spied - hold tight/still & wait … they tend to lose interest & in that moment a better shot placement can develop. I’ve taken 41/PG & ‘zero’ head shots - I will not consider a head shot.

To expand on @spike.t comment: … tracking a wounded trophy because of a forced low % shot is preventable & a horrible outcome: ethically unfair to the Trophy, can be $$ if lost, & honestly a waste of value hunting hours.

Best Decision: Trophy 1. Hunter 0. & move onto the next stalk.

Happy Trails.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I recently took a full frontal shot on a Roan at an estimated 200 yards. Shooting a 7mm RM with a 160 grain Swift A Frame I shot him at the base of the neck through the throat. He was slightly uphill and the bullet passed between the shoulders and hit the spine. He dropped immediately. DRT.

 

[mark-hunter]

The position of the heart lung area does not change.
Which animals are you wondering about?

He mentioned: Blesbok , Impala , Bushpig and Bushbuck