Question for the vile CNS shooters?

[CJW]

Guys,

With a CNS neck shot, what happens if you miss the spinal cord?

For instance , if the bullet passes 3 inches above or 3 inches below the spinal cord, does it still break the spinal cord?

My instincts always move my rifle to the heart lung area........

Is the CNS a better shot on swine????

As always, I consult the Vile Horde for the many puzzling questions about life.

Live Big,
Chuck

[kmon]

CNS shots are deadly when done right and can be very bad if a little off.

Something I have heard from a lot of people that love neck shots "dead or a miss" that is false. I have killed 6 deer that I remember having bullet holes in the neck, that were not fatal, those were mostly just muscular hit on the back side of the neck or along the sides. Sometimes from those shots the deer will have enough shock to the CNS to drop but later after the shock wears off get up and leave.

Some neck shots that miss the bone/spine are still fatal but may take a while, like if a blood vessel is hit an the animal bleeds out. Others are much less kind like one skinny doe on a MLD property killed in late season, had a hole through the neck, somehow it missed the arteries enough but wind pipe and esopogus were damaged to the point iiked like sh could not swallow.

I use neck shots some if the animal is close and I am very sure i can hit the bone, otherwise it is vitals or high shoulder shot which done right is very effective, but know the animak drops on the spot it might take a bit to be fatal from the damage and a broken back, but they are not going anywhere. Low on a high shoulder shot is generally a vitals hit abd high can result in a stunned animal that gets u and runs off, if you miss the back bone with it "miss low".

That is just my observations, from almost 50 years of hunting.

[Double Naught Spy]

I agree with kmon ^^^ and will just add my observations.

On a hog, if you go high on a CNS neck shot, you hit nothing but muscle and skin. There is nothing vital there. I have killed two hogs that previously have been shot by what I call "behind the ear" shots, but behind the ear on a hog means being behind the head in the upper portion of the neck where there is nothing vital.

Go to ~2:48 Here...

I have killed hogs with near misses to the cervical vertebrae where there the tunnel bored through the flesh but no physical harm discerned on the cervical vertebrae themselves. I have also had to shoot hogs a 2nd time when I discovered that they were still very much alive and just stunned by the wound (hydraulic shock to the spinal cord). By 'very much alive,' I mean that you can see that they are tracking you with their eyes as you move around them.

I generally prefer "neck" shots on animals that are quartered whereby you have multiple chances for the bullet to do hard. If quartered away, I want the bullet to be on a trajectory through the neck and into the skull, possible. That gives me 2 chances for CNS damage. If quartered toward, then I want the bullet going into the chest, if possible. That give me a chance for a CNS neck shot and/or a vitals shot.

Below the spine, close, may take out some blood vessels, trachea, or esophagus. These are much less optimal results and depending on what is hit, potentially survivable for an extended period of time. Lower below the spine and you are into muscle and skin and that is about it.

If I am shooting a neck shot, I would prefer a bullet that comes apart, that way getting the benefit of a pseudo shotgun blast through the neck, increasing the chances for directly impacting the spine. Nice, clean boring hole rounds like a Federal Fusion are less apt to produce good results from a shot that is slightly off.

You may get lucky with a neck shot that fails to impact the spine and still kill the hog by the benefit of hydrostatic shock that shuts down the brain despite the skull not being struck. I have discussed this with a couple of folks here and elsewhere and I am now in agreement that there is much less likelihood for this to happen if the animal is quartered away and the shockwave directed mostly toward the rear of the body. I don't think I have recovered any hogs shot like that where the bullet didn't also go into the chest cavity. I have, IIRC, recovered two bad neck shots that had the hog quartered away and the bullet went low, under the spine, exit before impacting the skull.

Hydrostatic shock is real, but is also really iffy to occur when you need it to compensate for a poor shot...just my opinion.

[CJW]

Very interesting

[1Shot]

I know that you are talking about pigs and it is very true that in my experience with deer no matter the caliber or bullet used a miss high like has been said will usually not kill unless it dies of infection much later. A miss low most of the time will end in death but it will be days to weeks later and usually by dehydration or starving to death because they can't swallow. The reason that I know this in my experience is the results of a fellow that was in a hunting club I belonged to that for the three years he was in the club made many neck shots and missed the CNS and we would find the deer latter when the buzzards started working it.

The straw the broke the back of the camel for this fellow after he had been warned and talked to many times to not try any more neck shots was when he tried to make a neck shot on a 12 point buck that a number of people were trying to get. He missed the neck and blew it's lower jaw off which was found at the spot where he shot at it. He was kicked out of the club.

Oh, by the way he was using a 300 Win mag. We never found this buck. There was a big swamp across the highway from our property where this buck lived but during the rut he came over to our land in search of doe. He no doubt went back to that swamp and died there.

I have killed hundreds of deer and the only time I ever tried a neck shot was when the deer was facing me and put it's head down while eating etc. and I shot them where the neck and the shoulders meet. I was shooting from a elevated box type stand using sand bags for a perfectly steady shot. If the spine was to be missed the bullet would go on to take out the lungs and heart. The only time I have ever used this type of shot has been inside 100 yards. It was done while experimenting with the Sierra single shot pistol bullet 80 gr. out of a T/C Contender pistol 14" barrel 6mm-225 Win. The shots were on deer over a bate pile. This bullet was too soft for my liking for broadside vitals shots. It would not exit and deer ran off a ways and left little to no blood trail. Muzzle velocity was 2800 fps. I killed 4 or 5 deer with the mentioned shot placement and it was bang flop because I never missed the spine. This was in east NC when I was helping my buddy do crop damage control on a big farm.

[CJW]

1 shot, I feel the same way you do...,
My crosshairs just automatically go to the heart lung area.

That is a shot that I have 100% confidence in.

[FLshooter]

I hunt Florida hogs. I aim under/behind the ear. If you drew a line from the ear hole to the top of the shoulder blade. right in between.Drops them dead.

[81police]

Take Double Naughts commentary with authority...he's killed more pigs than anyone in this forum. I can add little to what he's already stated.

I've killed approx 100 pigs using a variety of shots. If I'm shooting 100+ yards I take a shoulder shot. Never behind the shoulder unless it's quartering away, rather aiming for the opposite shoulder. I've got approx 50-65% of pigs immediately drop on this shot or run very little.

For shots inside 100 yards I prefer a CNS/neck shot. Results are consistent with posts above. I have had 1 neck shot that resulted in a downed, paralyzed pig, then it got up and ran 200+ yards flat out. However, this was due to a bullet that did not expand (Barnes TTSX). Never had an issue shooting Hornady SST's.

[rickt300]

I take neck/head shots every time they are offered. I know where the spine is and with a fast expanding bullet the results are always good. I will take high shoulder shots because often that is all I can see above the grass or shinnery. My favorite bullet for hogs is the Nosler Partition, either the 140 gr. 7MM or the 150 gr. .308 versions. But there are so many bullets out there that will provide good results with hits to that part of a hog that really the Partitions are not absolutely necessary but I do like them. When hunting at night I like what I shoot at to be right there not off into the greenery.