Can you hit roe deer at 100, 200, 300 meters?
Roe deer and fallow deer: 139/68/76
– practical shooting accuracy, hit points, hit effects and ethics.
Figure 1: Probable hit areas at different shooting distances – for “High blade shot”.
This is for normal rifle hunters who do not practice shooting regularly, and with ordinary hunting rifles and ordinary, legal ammunition for the species in question – and who have corrected correctly for bullet drop and crosswind – and shoot completely perpendicular and horizontally at the deer.
– Never hit the animal to the left of the red, vertical line (a few cm behind the animal’s elbow), because the liver/stomach and thin lung lobes start here.
You aim in the center of the black dotted circle – with a diameter of approx. 16 cm, which is the defined “Vital hit circle” in deer, in what is often called the “High blade shot”, if you want to avoid hitting thin parts of the lungs and liver/stomach.
The dark red dotted line is the primary, vital part of the central nervous system’s Medulla spinalis (spinal cord), which is the “main road” for all signals between the brain and organs, and which controls vital functions such as the heart, lungs, liver, kidney, etc. – Hitting in or near this will cause the deer to fall unconscious in the shot. – Avoid the central nervous system of the neck (except for a second killing shot).
Green “hunting” hit circle: Shooting distance 100 meters – diameter approx. 11 cm.
Yellow “hunting” hit circle: Shooting distance 200 meters – diameter approx. 24 cm.
Pink “hunting” target circle: Shooting distance 300 meters – diameter approx. 38 cm.
Purple “hunting” target circle: Shooting distance 400 meters – diameter min. approx. 51 cm.
The scale of the circles in Figure 1 (and in other Figures) is in relation to the deer’s shoulder height of approx. 73 cm, of which body height approx. 32-34 cm. – In this I allow myself to consider roe deer and fallow deer as one, as there does not need to be a large size difference between a large buck and a small doe.
This Fig. 1, and the rest of this article, is based on a given target accuracy determined on the shooting range, with “hunting” allowances added to compensate for the fact, that shooting while hunting is more uncertain than shooting on a shooting range. – See this at the end of this article, in Figure 6, where you actively use your result from the shooting range to find your “hunting” hit circle at the different shooting distances.
– See also the final summary conclusion.
It starts (and continues) with cold data and hot statements about 2 known, traditional hit areas, and about an apparently non-traditional or perhaps quite unknown hit area:
High blade shot (mainly the Lung bullet):
* The maximum shooting distance to roe deer and fallow deer, which is safe and ethical, can be immediately concluded from Fig. 1 to be somewhere under 150 meters (between yellow and green circles in Figure 1) – which is later shown to be approx. 139 meters – and this only with a so-called “High blade shot”, if one is likely to hit within an effective “Vital hit circle” with a diameter of approx. 16 cm (the black dotted circle shown in Figure 1).
Here, both short and long escape distances can often be expected. – Animals often faint over time, and die from blood loss (hemorrhagic shock), and therefore with a certain: “Time from hit to unconsciousness”.
See later Fig. 2 and 5, where the above is explained.
Heart bullet (Low blade shot):
* Max. The shooting distance for a fairly reliable “Heart bullet” (“Low blade shot”) for roe deer and fallow deer is shown later in this article to be approximately 68 meters, if one is to hit within a “Vital hit circle” of approximately 7-8 cm in the heart with only a fair probability.
There is virtually no “vital safety margin” on 2 sides of the heart and also not below the heart, and stray shots in the heart are very likely, and these are not effective. (See Fig. 3).
– Here both short and long escape distances can often be expected (up to 150 meters have been seen), even after pure heart hits. – Animals most often faint over time and die from the types of shock: heart pump failure (cardiogenic shock) and insufficient circulating blood volume (hypovolemic shock) – and therefore with a certain: “Time from hit to unconsciousness”.
See later Fig. 3, where the above is explained.
The CNS- bullet:
The hit involving the CNS: the central nervous system (the primary one in the thoracic region):
* The maximum shooting distance for the “CNS- bullet” for roe deer and fallow deer is shown later in this letter to be approximately 76 meters, with simultaneous reference to “Close to the CNS and heart”, where a “Vital CNS hit circle” of 8.4 cm is illustrated and measured.
There is a huge horizontal “lethal safety area” (error margin area) around the “vital” CNS hit circle with a diameter of approximately 8.4 cm, which is also extremely useful when shooting at animals that are standing at an angle. (See Photo 3).
There will be no escape distances here, as the animals fall in the shot and are almost always unconscious.
– Animals die of cerebral shock (where the brain is involved) after a very short time.
See later Fig. 4 and Photo 3, where the above is explained.
Common to the above:
Applies in the very best situation for shooting: perpendicular and horizontal to the animal, and when you correct 100% correctly for crosswind and bullet drop.
Already here there must be someone who says: “Where did he get this from?” – and “This can’t be right!” – And then there is only reading further, as the illustrations do not lie, just as the here measured, different “vital impact areas” in diameters are adapted to the animal’s anatomy and aligned with the effect and effect that appears from medical material and statements as well as reports from universities – and this is supported by many years of practical experience – also among big game hunters.
All based on a given precision in shooting, which I think is probably close to the average for rifle shooters who do not have extensive shooting training and/or perhaps do not go hunting that much. – So I am not commenting on your or my shooting precision, but on a given shooting precision: a “hunting” hit circle with a diameter of 11 cm at a distance of 100 meters (found on the shooting range), which you see found in Fig. 6, at the end of this article.
Now I know that some will say: “I shoot better on the shooting range than shown here”, and this is fine, if true – but this will probably only have minor significance for many even at a distance of 100 meters, because skewed shooting angles, wind drift, poor lighting conditions and other difficult conditions on the hunt add sources of error that better shooting on the shooting range as such does not compensate for.
And even a lot better shooting (than seen in Fig. 6) will not help much at a distance of 200 meters and 300 meters, where significant bullet drop and significant projectile drift from crosswinds must also be taken into account, as will be seen later.
At 200-300 meters it also becomes much more difficult to assess how crooked the animal is in relation to the projectile trajectory/path – and this very important factor does not help with better shooting either. – Here it is about knowing the anatomy of the animal, and you must correctly assess where your aiming point should be on the animal, which depends on how well you assess how much the animal is crooked and/or low/high.
I myself have often been amazed when I turn the shot animal.
And finally, one can point out that results from the Schweisshunderet registry may indicate that not all shooters may shoot as well as they thought when they released the bullet – of course in combination with other unfortunate things, and probably all rifle hunters will at some point experience this inevitable.
Max. shooting distances, ethics and wounded animals:
This article is about Max. shooting distances for roe deer and fallow deer and The fastest killing hit area for roe deer and fallow deer – and this should also be seen as a follow-up to a fine, relevant debate post: Netnatur.dk/hjortevildt-og-riffeljagt-boer-hjertekuglen-afskaffes.
There seems to be a need for a thorough, detailed and verifiable evaluation of traditional shooting for deer/fallen deer, both in terms of shooting distances, hit areas and ethics.
* It is impossible to assess and state the longest ethical shooting distances and the best hit areas, without including all the factors that are inextricably linked to this: the effect of hit locations on the animal, the size of the effective vital hit area on the animal, skewed shooting angles, the rifle hunter’s shooting skills, ethics, “The rules of hunting ethics”, bullet drop, wind drift and internal, external and terminal ballistics. – If you do not include all these many factors, all of which are important and decisive – you will not reach the most correct conclusions and claims that can withstand critical scrutiny and can be checked.
As something quite new, you will see here a description of the effect and result of the individual shot hits, by bullet dispersion at different distances – which is necessary when calculating what percentage chances your (yours or mine) shots in the different shooting distances likely have of leading to a successful hunt and humane death for the shot animal.
This is done based on knowledge of the animals’ anatomy, knowledge of physiology, tissue effects and internal/external and terminal projectile ballistics, forensic medicine and many years of practical hunting experience with deer – and this is shown on the basis of one’s own accuracy (spread of hits on the shooting range) – and all in order to be able to reliably clarify the ethical shooting distances in a simple logical way, based on one’s own practical shooting talent, ascertained on the shooting range (see Figure 6 at the end of this article).
Regarding internal/external ballistics, see: Netnatur.dk/riffelkuglen-fra-riflen-til-maalet/ and Netnatur.dk/ballistiktabellernes-volapyk-for-viderekomne-nr2/ – and more.
Regarding Terminal ballistics, see: Netnatur.dk/riffelkuglens-effekt-og-virkemaade/ and Netnatur.dk/hvad-sker-der-ved-kugletraef-og-piletraef/.
The purpose of this article is thus to show the ethically acceptable shooting distances and the best hitting range on roe deer and fallow deer, for the vast majority of rifle hunters with an assumed shooting skill – of course to avoid misses and injured animals, which also provides a better hunting experience for the hunter.
In the following, a hit is defined as a shot that hits game, but not with a killing effect within a short time (not hit with an immediate killing effect).
– A shot animal that flees must be considered shot until it is found and dead. – An animal that is alive after a shot when it is found is shot. – A shot animal that is not found may be shot. – A shot animal with the slightest sign of a hit (either blood, hair, stomach contents or bone fragments) that is not found (or is found) is wounded.
The Danish Hunters’ Association (DJ) has done a lot, and is doing a lot to minimize wounded animals – and not wrongly in any way recommends “The Rules of Hunting Ethics”: “to keep your rifle shots at shooting distances within 100 meters, and advises against shooting at unfavorable angles – until you have extensive hunting-relevant training and routine in this”.
And practical routine often takes several to many years to build up, depending on how much you hunt, how good your hunting areas have been and are, your hunting companions, etc.
– This learning process can certainly be shortened, and perhaps many annoyances and maybe wounded deer can be avoided, by reading a little more. – And in fact I believe that you can save years, annoyances and backfires by spending much less time reading up on many things than it would take to discover and learn these things in practice yourself. – There will be plenty of other things that you have to learn, through often time-consuming, years of practical experience, and where we must constantly remember that the animals take all the risks while we hunters gain the necessary knowledge, experience and routine.
In this connection: I have known many and still know more older, experienced deer hunters who never shot, and still do not shoot at deer from over 100 meters – and this, as far as possible, always in as clean side shots as possible. – These hunters have often let a buck pass that someone else would have shot at, and one of these hunters had even shot 100 bucks. – These older, experienced hunters have probably experienced many things, and act on that.
* This article should make it clear, that your probable bullet spread (shot group) on the shooting range, shooting distances, impact points, shot angles, bullet drop and crosswind are very important things for both the game and yourself.
– These things determine the outcome of the hunt for the game and for yourself, and also determine the hunting ethics, in terms of “Consideration for the animal – which is the object of the hunt” – and whether you yourself feel that you comply with the ethics in this. And I personally think this is just as important as the hunt itself – and all hunters are representatives of the hunt.
The hunter and psychology.
Shooting distances affect accuracy and therefore have a great impact on the animals being shot and our perception of ethics – and can also play a major role in how a rifle hunter experiences his shot and his hunting day. – For most rifle hunters, the joy of hunting can be completely ruined by a bad shot, which can cause anguish and a lot of trouble. – Most rifle hunters remember such a hunting day for a long time, often for years.
Many probably recognize the feeling, the thoughts and speculations it gives, when a shot animal leaves the shooting site out of sight. – Thoughts fly: Has the animal been shot? – will this become a search? – will the animal be found? – did the animal reach the neighboring property? Etc.
When it comes to calling a Schweissdog, most people probably feel quite bad about it, and on the next hunt you will probably (quite naturally) be more or less affected by this. – The psychological significance and effect of this should certainly not be underestimated.
Probably all rifle hunters will at some point become familiar with this. – For example, I managed to shoot 36 bucks and an unknown number of does and fawn, before I had to call in my only Schweiss sniffer dog handler so far. – I felt really bad about this, and this actually affected me for a long time in the form of a certain uncertainty, even though it turned out that the projectile (in a slightly oblique point shot at short range) did not expand at all before it reached the femur bone in a backleg, and thus did not create a Temporary cavity (as it should), but only a Stationary wound channel from the bullet – see:
Netnatur.dk/riffelkuglens-effekt-og-virkemaade/.
On the other hand, when an animal falls in the shot, this gives you confidence, where you feel: “it couldn’t have gone better” – and this contributes to a great extent to providing calm and security in the next shot.
The longest defensible ethical shooting distances.
The longest ethical and safe shooting distance will vary somewhat from one deer species to another, due to differences in size – and the maximum shooting distance also depends on whether you choose “High blade hit” or “Low blade hit” (the Heart bullet) or the “CNS- bullet”, and also depends on the individual hunter’s knowledge, experience, routine and shooting skill.
The “High blade hit” at 100 meters – roe deer and fallow deer:
The “High blade shot” will look like this on a roe deer, at the expected shot group found on the shooting range (Figure 6), on practical hunting (11 cm at 100 meters) – in relation to the animal’s anatomy:
– in Figures 2, 3 and 5 a photo from the Schweisshunderegisteret is used, with the new purpose of illustrating the max. spread and its effect on a roe deer, at different shooting distances.
Fallow deer are included here, as the difference between a large roe deer and a small fallow deer is not that great. – The fallow deer has more space between the heart and the spine, which actually means that a “High blade shot” on the fallow deer will have fewer hits in the upper, most vital part of the heart, than is seen in Figure 2 below:
High blade shot for roe deer – 100 meters:
Figure 2: At 100 meters distance – roe deer – in the “Vital hit circle” at “High blade shot”: The black circle (approx. 16 cm in diameter) is the “Vital hit circle” in roe deer (in a completely clean, horizontal side shot).
– And as seen above, it cannot be larger if it is to keep the stomach region, “stab shot area” (the purple area) and not the vital lung area towards the animal’s chest free – and if a distance is to be kept from too low hits at the bottom of the animal’s body, where hits in the thin lung part, sternum, elbow and leg are also slow killing hits – or rather: wounded animal.
The shown sizes and measured diameters of the circles are determined based on the roe deer: Shoulder height approx. 73 cm, of which body height approx. 32-34 cm (with some variation). – Fallow deer have a larger body height of approx. 47 cm, but this does not change much, here at the 100 meter distance.
Hitting behind (left) of the red vertical line should always be avoided, because the lung lobes become thinner and thinner backwards and downwards on the animal, and because the liver/stomach region begins here.
The black circle represents what is often called a “High blade shot”, and you aim at the center of this (the blue cross). – Your current spread found on the shooting range, in relation to the aiming point/center, (yellow circle in Figure 2) means that the 2 circles (yellow and black) are slightly offset from each other.
The yellow circle, with a diameter of 11 cm (at a distance of 100 meters), is your likely hit image in practical hunting (found on the shooting range, see at the end), if you aim in the center of the black circle – and this looks fine in relation to the animal’s anatomy (organs), and the animal is certainly fatally hit by all 8 hits, but escape distances can be expected with certain hits.
With a hit exactly in the center of the black circle, both lungs will be hit in their thick (vital) parts – and there can also be a hit just above the heart, where vital arteries (with high blood flow and high blood pressure) can with some probability be hit and perhaps opened.
Between the yellow circle and the black one, from 11 to 2 o’clock, is the primary CNS hit area, in which a hit will lead to a fall in the shot, and in an unconscious state – i.e. an optimally effective and an optimally ethical hit.
With a hit in the line of the black circle at approx. 5 and at about 9 o’clock, it starts to become critical with a quick killing hit – and oblique shooting angles will significantly enhance this, and a crosswind of a modest 5-6 m/s (which you overlook) can make this up to a few cm worse – i.e. lead to shooting, with up to long escape distances.
In the following you will see your percentage chances of hitting well, less well or badly, within your (yellow hit circle), where not all hits will have the same effect – which makes this process necessary, in order to be able to compare High blade Bullet, Low blade Bullet and CNS- Bullet, and also at the different shooting distances, where the percentages will be completely different:
The effect of the hits and results according to Figure 2:
Statistically speaking, 2 hits no. 1 and 3 (25%) are quite close to the CNS (central nervous system) and can possibly lead to a fall in the blow and quite rapid unconsciousness. – 1 hit no. 8 (12.5%) will be a double lung hit, where a certain escape distance can be expected. – 2 hits no. 4 and 5 (25%) will be a grazing shot in the heart, simultaneously with a double lung shot, where the animal may fall in the blow, but rather flees a certain escape distance.
One hit no. 2 (12.5%) are probably (or maybe) hits in large arteries above the heart and double lung shots, where the animal can fall immediately, or have a certain escape distance – two hits 6 and 7 (25%) are pure heart hits in the upper end of this, where the effect is greatest, simultaneously with double lung hits in vital thick lung parts, and here the animal can fall in the shot, but can also have an escape distance of often up to 50-60 meters, and escape distances of (it is said) up to 150 meters have been seen. – The length of the lungs in roe deer is not much longer than a large hand, so you should not hit further back on the roe deer (and any deer) than a few cm behind the elbow (vertical red line).
– And this must also be considered when the animal is, for example, standing close to the neighbor.
You can expect that all your hits (100%) in the yellow circle are fatal, but the “Time from hit to unconsciousness” can vary greatly – as there may be “falling in the shot”, or up to long escape distances that cannot be avoided.
You will have a reasonably large safety margin all the way around the area between the yellow circle and the black circle, with a diameter of 16 cm, with your expected spread of 11 cm – and where the black circle even contains a certain proportion of the rapidly immobilizing and fatal CNS area between 11 and 2 o’clock.
* Conclusion: Ethics and animal welfare are therefore well respected by “High blade shots” for roe deer and fallow deer at a shooting distance of 100 meters, when the animal is standing in a purely horizontal side shot and you correct correctly for crosswind and shoot with a well-positioned rifle.
Finding the longest ethically acceptable shooting distance:
If you then want to find the “maximum shooting distance” for the “High blade hit” for roe deer, this is what it looks like: From 100 meters to 200 meters, your “hunting” hit circle (your spread) increases from 11 cm in diameter to 24 cm. That is, an increase of: 13 cm/100 meters = 0.13 cm per meter.
– If you have to hit within the “vital hit circle” of 16 cm (the black circle in Fig. 3), your hit circle becomes 5 cm larger than 11 cm, which in meters is: 5/0.13 = 38.5 meters, which added to the first 100 meters becomes: approx. 139 meters, which is the longest ethical shooting distance to roe deer, when you want to hit within the “vital hit circle” of 16 cm in diameter and only in the “High blade hit”, and when the animal is in the best position for the shot (perpendicular to the horizontal bullet trajectory/path), and when you correct 100% correctly for bullet drop and crosswind – and applies to an average shooting rifle hunter with bullet spread as shown in later Figure 6.
The “Heart Bullet” at 100 meters – roe deer and fallow deer:
This is what is often referred to as the “Low blade Shot” – and where the “Vital Hit Circle” is estimated at max. 11 cm (yellow circle in Fig. 3), but in reality should only be around 7-8 cm if the heart is to be hit with just a reasonable probability of an effective hit without a stray shot, as seen in Fig. 3.
If you aim at the middle of the roe deer’s or fallow deer’s heart (where you think this is, and which you can only guess, especially in oblique shooting situations), a hit in the lower half of the yellow circle with a diameter of 11 cm (the yellow circle in Fig. 3 below) could very easily result in: a stray shot in the heart, a hit in the sternum, elbow, leg or stomach/liver.
If the animal is standing in tall grass, it can be risky to attempt a heart hit. – Here it is often difficult to assess how crooked the animal is standing in relation to the projectile trajectory (bullet path), as the animal’s (revealing) leg position cannot be seen – just as the heart can also be more or less hidden by the grass.
* Conclusion: Here is the built-in probability of not pure heart hits and suffering for the animal at a distance of 100 meters, in your hunting Max. spread from Figure 6 (yellow circle with diameter 11 cm) – and if suffering can be avoided, it is unnecessary, which can be related to Hunting and Wildlife Management Section 22, that: “no one may hunt in a way that exposes the game to unnecessary suffering.”
Figure 3: At the 100 meter distance – roe deer in the heart area: – This Fig. 3 documents that a “Heart bullet” is far less certain than a “High blade shoot” (see Fig. 2). This can be seen from the fact, that the black 16 cm circle from the “High blade shoot” is inserted here in the “Low blade shoot” around the heart, and between the yellow circle and the black one, there are many opportunities for missed hits (wounded deers).
The black circle (approx. 16 cm in diameter) is the “Vital hit circle” in roe deer in the “High blade hit” from Fig. 2, which here in Fig. 3 has been moved down around the heart area. – As can be seen, within this black circle there will be plenty of opportunities for hits in the stomach/liver region, in the sternum and in the elbow/protrusion, i.e. giving both slow killing hits and wounded animals, in the large outer and non-vital areas from 4-11 o’clock. – Oblique shooting angles will further reinforce this, and an overlooked pure crosswind of 6-10 m/s contributes negatively with perhaps a few cm more.
You can see here, within the yellow 11 cm circle (your expected hit area when hunting at a distance of 100 meters, and with the aiming point in the middle of the heart (the blue crosshair) – that relatively many hits will not be pure heart hits – but will be able to hit the stomach and sternum. – This even without a negative effect from side winds, and even in the best situation: when the animal is standing with its side completely perpendicular to the projectile path which is horizontal (i.e. a pure, horizontal side shot).
The body height of roe deer is approx. 32-34 cm and fallow deer have a larger body height of approx. 47 cm – but the heart is still in the same “unsafe” place, which is why the two deer species, here at the “Low blade shot”, can be considered as one.
Your (yellow) hit circle with a diameter of approx. 11 cm also passes (transgresses) the vertical red line, which you should never hit behind (left). – Also at the bottom of this yellow hit circle includes target areas as elbow and sternum.
By choosing the “Low blade shot”, where you try to aim precisely in the middle of the heart, you lose a large and significant safety margin that the black circle provides, compared to the “Vital hit circle” at the “High blade hit” – because the area of the black circle is 201 cm2, and the area of the yellow circle in the heart hit (the “Low blade hit”) is approx. half that: 95 cm2. – And even the yellow hit circle is too large, as can be seen in Fig. 3, and should only have a diameter of max. 7-8 cm.
Conclusion: The heart bullet (the “Low blade shot”) is a much more uncertain hit area than the “High blade shot”.
Your chances of a good, less good or poor hit are as follows:
The effect and results of the hits according to Fig. 3: Statistically, your 5 out of 8 hits no. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 (approx. 63%) will be more or less pure heart hits (the rest, no. 4, 6 and 8) are stray shots to the heart, approx. 37%), and with these stray shots, escape distances can be significant. – Regarding the hit effect see: Netnatur.dk/hvad-sker-der-ved-kugletraef-og-piletraef/, also in english.
The top 3 pure heart hits no. 1, 2 and 3 are the most effective hits (approx. 37%), as they will also hit both lungs in fairly thick lung parts, and all 3 are fatal and can lead to a fall in the shot, but can also lead to the roe deer or fallow deer fleeing up to 50-60 meters, and where escape distances of 150 meters have also been seen.
One of these glancing shots to the heart (no. 4) will only hit both lungs in their thinnest posterior lung lobes and liver/stomach, and one glancing shot to the heart (no. 6) will hardly touch the lungs at all. These 25% could result in a very long time from “Hit to unconsciousness” – as both hits will be very close to, or rather a direct wounded animal – and with both hits escape distances can be long.
If the animal is standing quite crooked (obliquely) towards you, and you do not correct for this, hits no. 4 and 8 will be even safer miss, where only one lung will be hit in quite thin lung parts.
– These are certainly not good odds for the roe deer (and the fallow deer) – and where the odds become considerably worse at oblique shooting angles, and can be further worsened perhaps a few cm by crosswinds that are not corrected for. – The heart can also be significantly smaller on a roe deer than shown in Fig. 3, which reduces the 63% chance of a more or less clean heart hit, at a shooting distance of 100 meters.
* To summarize the effect at 100 meters of your accuracy with a “Heart bullet” in roe deer and fallow deer (- which many rifle hunters hold to, and therefore it is important to evaluate carefully) – and where you are a normal rifle hunter without regular shooting training, and all in the very best situation for shooting (perpendicular and horizontal to the animal), and without crosswind – this looks statistically like this – all based on what you performed on the shooting range, shown in later Fig. 6:
1. There is about 63% chance of a more or less clean heart hit (no. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7). – This is if the animal does not have a smaller heart than shown in Fig. 3 (- which will reduce the 63%).
2. There is only about 37% chance of hitting with an optimally effective heart/lung hit (in the upper vital half of the heart), where the lungs in their thicker parts are also hit. Hits no. 1, 2 and 3.
3. The 25% of your intended heart hits will be very close to, or direct wounded deer: stomach hits (no. 4) and hits in the sternum (no. 6) with long escape distances and possible long periods of suffering for the animal.
4. There is significantly less chance of the animal falling in the shot with an intended hit in the heart area (Fig. 3), compared to the “High blade hit” (Fig. 2), with its thick lung parts, and which also has a good share of the primary CNS hit area nearby, where the animal falls immediately upon hit, and in an unconscious state. – In the “High blade hit” there are also (above the heart) large vital arteries for e.g. kidneys, brain and lungs, which, if hit, can cause a significant, momentary loss of pressure in the blood flow – leading to rapid unconsciousness.
5. There is no safety margin outside the yellow heart circle from 4 to 11 o’clock, where all hits between this heart hit area (the yellow circle with a diameter of 11 cm = 95 cm2) and the “High blade Shoot” vital hit circle (the black circle with a diameter of 16 cm = 201 cm2) – will be hits in the stomach/liver and hits in the sternum and elbow, resulting in long escape distances and from longer to relatively long possible suffering time for the animal.
By using the “Heart Bullet”, you also lose the clear advantage you have in the “High Blade Hit” vital hit circle (the black circle with a diameter of 16 cm), which provides a good and reasonable safety margin around your (yellow) 11 cm hit circle in the “High Blade Hit” (Fig. 2) – but which is now completely missing here at the “Heart Bullet” (Fig. 3), from 4 to 11 o’clock, and which contains the worst possible hit areas.
* Conclusion: The ethics of the “Heart Bullet” at 100 meters are not respected.
The ethics and animal welfare are therefore not respected by the “Heart Bullet” for roe deer (and also fallow deer) at 100 meters, even when the animal is standing in a purely horizontal side shot and you correct for crosswind and shoot with a well-positioned hunting rifle.
Oblique shooting angles both sideways and up/down (and these are the ones that are delivered by far the most) will further reinforce this significantly. – I believe this is the cause of the vast majority of misses and and wounded animals, and a “Heart Bullet” (Fig. 3) must undoubtedly lead to more misses than a so-called “High blade shot” (Fig. 2).
The above means that a heart hit in roe deer and fallow deer, out at 100 meters, is an extremely uncertain hit that can give many possibilities for not a clean hit (stray shot/miss hit) and wounded animals, a long escape distance, and up to relatively very slow killing hits.
Finding the longest ethically defensible shooting distance:
The longest shooting distance with the “Heart Bullet” (and thus also the “Low Blade Hit”) can be calculated as follows: From 0 meters to 100 meters, your “hunting” hit circle (spread) increases to 11 cm. That is, it increases: 11 cm/100 m = 0.11 cm per meter. – If you are to hit the heart cleanly in the “vital” upper part of the heart, where thick lung parts and perhaps large arteries from the heart to the organs will be hit, your “hunting” hit circle should be (set high) approx. 7-8 cm = 7.5 cm – and this hit circle lies at the distance: 7.5 cm/0.11 cm = 68 meters, which is the maximum shooting distance (the longest ethical shooting distance) for a “Heart bullet” (- and also for the “Low blade shot”) for roe deer and fallow deer.
* Final conclusion: Choosing this “Low blade hit” (Figure 3) for roe deer and fallow deer is therefore much more uncertain than choosing the “High blade hit” (Figure 2) – and this “Low blade hit” (which the “Heart bullet” is) must therefore be declared less animal welfare-friendly and less ethical than the “High blade hit”.
– This certainly looks like a “final showdown” with the “Heart Bullet”, and also a showdown with the “Low blade Shot” for roe deer and fallow deer – at least at the 100 meter distance, and all the way down to about 68 meters – applicable to the vast majority of rifle hunters.
* What is the best target area for roe deer/fallow deer?
So far we have talked about “High blade shot” and “Low blade shot”, where there is only a certain (good or less good) chance that the animal will fall unconscious in the shot, and where escape distances can be up to relatively long.
– Is there a better bullet placement, where these negative things can probably be avoided?
– The answer can only be a Yes – namely a bullet placement in the animal’s central nervous system, where the animal falls unconscious in the shot – which is as follows:
The hit area where a hit will best comply with and fulfill: “That huntable game shot must be killed as quickly as possible and in the most humane way, causing the animal the least possible suffering and anxiety”?
There is no doubt, according to extensive material in medical science, forensic medicine, war experience and handling of terrorist and hostage situations, that the central (primary) CNS hit area is the fastest stopping and fastest fatal hit area – this also applies to game.
– And practical hunting experience with the CNS- bullet fully confirms this. Even for moose, the Swedes report the effectiveness of the CNS- bullet and also among well-known big game hunters the effect of the CNS- bullet is known and used. – See Netnatur.dk/cns-kuglen/ and Netnatur.dk/cns-kuglen-og-den-nye-alternative-hjerte-og-lungekugle/ and Netnatur.dk/kan-dyr-doe-i-knaldet/.
A real negative thing about the High and Low blade shoots, which lead to escape distances, is that no one knows the “Time from hit to unconsciousness”, because the animals are often out of sight, and because the animal usually sits down or fall, then faints and then bleeds out – and only after a certain time is the animal sought out and found by the hunter. With the CNS- bullet, there is much more control over this, as you can look to the place where the animal fell.
Figure 4. – The CNS- bullet: This figure documents the huge “safety area” of the CNS- bullet both laterally and at low hits. – If hit within more than 70% of the black and purple shaded area, the animal falls unconscious in the shot.
Try to imagine that this shaded hit area is moved down to the heart area, and see what kind of terrible impacts this can have.
The black shaded area is the hit circle plus the horizontal CNS safety area at the 50 meter distance. – The purple shaded area is the hit circle plus the horizontal CNS safety area at the 100 meter distance, which must be added to the black shaded area towards the neck. – All at a “hunting” spread/hit circle (found on the shooting range) of 8.4 cm in diameter at 100 meters (i.e. with a slightly better shooting than chosen in this article (11 cm).
These large safety areas are a huge advantage of the CNS- bullet, even when the animal is standing both diagonally away from you and diagonally towards you. – This is compared to the Heart bullet, where there is no correspondingly effective safety area to the left, to the right of the heart and below the heart, and with an effective heart hit, the “hunting” hit circle for the heart bullet must not be larger than 7-8 cm, if stray shots in the heart are to be avoided.
The CNS- bullet also has the advantage that the Heart bullet does not have: When hitting a strong bone structure such as the spine – bone splinters from here and possible bullet fragments will cause more wound channels, which lead to perforation of lung tissue and thus bleeding.
All rifle hunters who have hit the animal in the central part of the central nervous system, which is located in the spine above the lungs (and in the cervical vertebrae of the neck, which should however be avoided), can confirm that the animal falls in the shot (as if struck by lightning) – and always in an unconscious state.
Someone may then wonder that a Heart bullet can lead to a fall in shot. This can happen for 2 reasons: the aorta may be shot through, giving a sudden, stopping acute loss of blood pressure – or blood-filled heart chambers are hit, so that the hydraulic pressure wave effect via the bloodstream has given “remote effects”: pinpoint hemorrhages in centers of the brain, which is the “Head Office” for the CNS (central nervous system).
Just to substantiate the above and to substantiate that a statement made by the Danish Hunters’ Association (DJ) (this Link, page 5 (this Link, page 5) about CNS shots is incorrect and misleading – I will put percentages here on the effect of all my shots at deer (males of roe deer, fallow deer and red deer) over the last 12 years – and if I can achieve these results, so can everyone else:
Over the last 12 years I have shot 18 deer, of which 14 (approx. 78%) have fallen in the shot with a CNS- bullet, and 13 (approx. 93%) of these did not move after the fall (as far as I could see) – one of the 14 also fainted in the crash, but moved his head a little and had to have a final shot. – 100% of my CNS- bullets resulted in a fall in the shot, and none of the 4 that had escape distance were shot with the CNS- bullet, but with heart bullets and lung bullets. – See my previous statistics for shot bucks at the end of this article: Netnatur.dk/bukkes-aldre-bedoemt-paa-taender-og-opsatser/, also in english.
Rifle hunters (and bow hunters) who use the heart bullet or lung bullet can then compare this with their own statistics – or compare it with results from large studies which show that between 37 and 48% of larger deer shot with a rifle falls in the shot – and for bow hunting it is approx. 5% larger deer that fall in the shot. – See: Netnatur.dk/laeserbrev-om-buejagt-riffeljagt-og-dyreetik/, also in english.
Photo 3. – 06.06.2019. – Very small buck. – Here you can see a CNS- bullet (at the end of the blue funnel), out at 90 meters in a slightly oblique shot from behind, and I was standing quite high towering over the buck.
– That’s why I aimed high here (i.e. not like with a horizontal bullet path, about 1/3 down from the animal’s back edge), and I aimed further back (and not just over the first ¼ of the animal’s course, which would have been chosen if the buck had stood with its side perpendicular to the bullet path (in a pure side shot)).
The buck fell unconscious in the impact, and did not move afterwards – I could see from where I was sitting.
The back of the buck in Photo 3 was not touched by the bullet (which went under), but the forequarters on the back of the animal were missing a piece on the underside, just like with a “High blade bullet”.
The blue ice cream cone (funnel) was approx. angle of entry. The yellow dot is the aiming point for the CNS- bullet when shooting from a completely horizontal side shot, and here you can see how much correction must be made for oblique shooting angles sideways and up/down (depending on the animal’s position) – and this fact I believe is the cause of most misses and wounded animals.
Here I used the CNS- bullet’s very large, fairly horizontal “safety area” with huge advantage at oblique shooting angles – compared to the Heart bullet’s very small “safety area” and great sensitivity to oblique shooting angles. – Therefore, it is demonstrated and documented here that:
* Larger “safety area” cannot be achieved on roe deer and fallow deer, within the ethically defensible tree vital hit areas, with the greatest possibilities for falling in a shot and immediate unconsciousness.
Finding the longest ethically defensible shooting distance:
It can be documented that the CNS- bullet has an effective hit circle with a diameter of 8.4 cm. This means that with the “hunting” hit accuracy shown in later Fig. 6 (circle with a diameter of approx. 11 cm at 100 meters) – the max. shooting distance will be: 11 cm/100 meters = 0.11 cm per meter, and the hit circle of 8.4 cm is then at the distance: 8.4 cm/0.11 cm = approx. 76 meters, which is the maximum shooting distance (the longest ethical shooting distance) for a “CNS- bullet” – given shooting precision demonstrated on the shooting range, shown at the end in Fig. 6.
The “High blade Hit” at 200 meters – roe deer and fallow deer:
Above, the longest ethically acceptable shooting distance was found to be 139 meters for roe deer (and a little longer for fallow deer), under given conditions at the “High blade shot”, with a pure side shot in calm weather, but let’s just look at the shooting distance of 200 meters, since you hear and read about shooting roe deer at this distance (and even longer):
Please note that I am not saying that a shot at 200 meters at a roe deer is not possible for a really good shooter – but that this is about an accuracy shown on the shooting range as described in Figure 6 later, and which I personally believe is a representative average for the average rifle hunter.
Since you cannot shoot more accurately at 200 meters than at 100 meters (but probably less) – your shooting group at 200 meters will probably be min. twice as large, namely a circle with a diameter of: (2 x 8 cm + 50 %) = 24 cm, since here I choose a “hunting” allowance of 50% at 200 meters, instead of the 40% at 100 meters – and already here, statistically and probably, many hits can be scored in areas on the roe deer and fallow deer, which are slow-killing (giving a relatively long: “Time from hit to unconsciousness”), i.e. wounded animals by definition. – This is clearly evident in this Figure 5:
Figur 5: Figure 5: At 200 meters distance – roe deer: The black circle (approx. 16 cm in diameter) is the “Vital hit circle” in roe deer (in a completely clean, horizontal side shot), which leaves the stomach region, “tap shot area” (purple) free – and provides a safety margin against too low hits at the bottom of the animal’s body, where hits in the sternum, elbow and leg are slow-killing hits – and which are shots according to the common definition: “A shot that hits game, but not with a killing effect within a shorter time” (not with an immediate killing effect).
The black circle in Fig. 5 represents the 16 cm “Vital hit circle”, which is often called a “High blade shoot”, and you aim at the center of this (the blue cross).
Your “hunting max. spread” is 24 cm (yellow circle), and therefore 125% larger than the black “Vital hit circle” (black circle area: 201 cm2 / yellow circle area: 452 cm2).
The effect and results of the hits according to Fig. 5:
All hits seen are fatal. – Within your spread (the yellow circle of 24 cm) a lot of hits (- which can be anywhere, and not only where they are shown here) could be shots with long escape distances and long: “Time from hit to unconsciousness”.
Of all your hits, approx. 63% (no. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8) will be outside the “Vital hit circle” (the black circle with a diameter of 16 cm).
This means that only about 37% (hits no. 2, 5 and 7) of all your hits, statistically speaking, will be within the “Vital hit circle”, which cannot be larger without affecting the liver/stomach region.
When hitting between the yellow circle and the black one, from 4 to 6 o’clock, many hits could be unsafe and thus critical hits – and even more critical hits will occur in the area from 8 to 10 o’clock.
Hit no. 4 (12.5%) is a stomach/liver hit (a shot), and hit no. 6 (12.5%) is a critical hit, which will be a miss (i.e. a total of 25%), especially if the animal’s heart is smaller than shown here, or if hit no. 6 is 1 cm lower than shown.
Hit no. 8 (12.5%) can be close to a miss, especially if you overlook that the animal is standing quite obliquely towards you and you are standing higher than the animal, or if the hit was 1 cm lower (away from the CNS area of the spine). – But otherwise the animal will fall in the shot, as the spine is displaced upwards.
The yellow circle (with a diameter of 24 cm) will be your hit image (your spread) on the hunt, if you aim at the center of the black circle, when the rifle is correctly inserted at 100 meters, and when you have remembered to correct for the fact that your projectile may fall perhaps 10.8 cm out at 200 meters. – If you forget the bullet drop (for your current projectile), the 4 bottom hits (no. 4, 5, 6 and 7) and no. 3 will become side hits – whereby the chance of a quick killing shot will be approx. 37%.
If you forget to correct for a crosswind from the right of 5-6 m/s – this could give the projectile approx. 8 cm in drift (to the left), and make 3 of the hits (far left, no. 4, 7 and 8) completely safe side hits, and hit no. 6 will become a stomach/liver hit (side hit) – whereby only hits 1, 2, 3 and 5 will be quite quickly fatal, i.e. 50%.
Hits (no. 1, 3 and 8) are in (or very close to) the primary part of the central nervous system, where the projectiles’ Temporary Cavity will damage the CNS, and lead to a fall in the impact – and with hits 1 and 3 the animal will lose consciousness in the impact, and probably also with hit no. 8. – But these 3 hits outside the black “Vital hit circle” are “random hit locations”, and are therefore not predictable, as the only predictable thing is: that all hits are located within the yellow circle somewhere or other, and where there are large areas of wounded animal.
Conclusion: The ethics of the 200 meter shot for roe deer and fallow deer – is not respected:
From the above, and from what you performed on the shooting range (Figure 6), which was that you could keep 8 shots at the 100 meter distance within a circle with a diameter of 8 cm and added an additional 3 cm as a “hunting” allowance – it can be deduced:
That when you tell someone that you, as a normally good rifle hunter, shot a roebuck at 200 meters, with a regular hunting rifle and “standard ammunition”, you are also telling:
* That you (on your own behalf and that of the animal) accepted to hit the animal within the “vital hit circle” with approx. 37% probability, and where a large number of hits within your expected spread (which was 125% larger than the “Vital hit circle”) risked being slow-killing, resulting in long escape distances, wounded animals with long “Time from hit to unconsciousness” and thus unnecessary suffering in the animal – and that you fortunately corrected 100% correctly for bullet drop and mean crosswind (which no device can measure), which otherwise could have resulted in you only having a probability of 2 relatively fast-killing hits (no. 1 and no. 2 out of 8), i.e. a 25% probable chance of a relatively fast-killing hit (if you forgot both bullet drop and mean crosswind). – You were also lucky that the animal was standing perpendicular and horizontal to your projectile path, and did not have to correct for this, which is very difficult and uncertain at 200 meters, and which could easily have made the whole thing much worse – than it actually is.
Most of us who have participated in competitive shooting know that the slightest tremor and/or the hunter’s reaction time can easily lead to a missed shot, out at a distance of 200-300 meters.
Some normal rifle bullets will also probably expand worse at 250 meters than at 100 meters – and this will reduce the effect of the energy transfer (kinetic energy, usually stated in Joules by the manufacturers) to the animal’s tissues and organs, and make the hit less stopping and slower killing than at shorter shooting distances.
A shooting distance of 200 meters requires a well-shooting rifle, and that the bullet has really good ballistic properties, including Ballistic Coefficient (BC). – Shooting distances of 200 meters are very close to long-range shooting, where this is said to require a BC of at least 0.430 lb/in2. – My own caliber .308, with my chosen cartridge, can give a max. BC of 0.318 lb/in2.
– Regarding BC: see Netnatur.dk/riffelkuglen-fra-riflen-til-maalet/ and Netnatur.dk/ballistiktabellernes-volapyk-for-viderekomne-nr2/ – and more, also in english.
At a shooting distance of 200 meters in a pure side shot (even without a crosswind), no average rifle hunter (without regular shooting training), with a normal rifle and normal ammunition and normal other equipment, statistically speaking and with sufficient probability, will be able to deliver a safe, quick-killing shot to roe deer and fallow deer sufficiently safely and sufficiently often.
At 300-500 meters shooting distance, or even further:
As stated above, shooting distances of over approx. 140 meters are not a safe (ethical) distance to shoot roe deer and fallow deer at, under the given conditions – not even with pure, horizontal side shots, corrected 100% correctly for bullet drop and crosswind. – In addition, there are the oblique shooting angles, which will always lead to even more difficult shots and give greater uncertainty.
These shooting distances of 300-500 meters are not at all relevant for roe deer and fallow deer – and in my opinion, regarding the probabilities of fatal hits, misses and wounded animals, these are, in terms of animal welfare and ethically unreasonable shooting distances for live game, at least when it comes to roe deer and fallow deer, and certainly also for other game species.
Your expected hit circle (spread) at 300 meters will be at least 38 cm, and at 400 meters at least 51 cm. – The “long” flight times of the projectiles, at these distances, also mean that the animal can move or turn before hitting, and this is fatal with these dispersions.
Even a good rifle’s own dispersion (and your own) will in this hunting situation be able to cause both missed shots and wounded animals. – Large E0 energies (number of Joules at the rifle muzzle) are required for there to be sufficient energy left in the projectile out to 300-500 meters and further. – Probably no normal rifle projectiles will expand correctly at 300-500 meters or further.
A shooting distance of 300-500 meters or longer therefore requires an extremely good-shooting rifle with a powerful caliber, extremely continuous training on the part of the rifle hunter, and that the projectile has extremely good ballistic properties, including a Ballistic Coefficient (BC), which may need to be able to approach 0.6-0.7 lb/in2 – i.e. certainly special ammunition, which must fit exactly to the rifle’s rifling rise.
Shooting distances of 300-500 meters and longer are probably not something that anyone can demonstrate responsibly, ethically and in terms of animal welfare, and humanely often enough – when hunting live game. This is even with special equipment (selected suitable calibers, ammunition, special optics and weapons and weather technical apps) and support staff who take care of measurements, calculations, observation, etc.
Conclusion: Ethics and animal welfare seem to be completely out of sight at these distances – and these shooting distances are not relevant for ordinary rifle hunters, especially when roe deer and fallow deer – and should not be for others, when talking about hunting game – in my opinion.
* Hunting pressure can be increased:
The use of longer shooting distances can in reality also to some extent affect other things, such as e.g. the population level, development and disturbance level of a game species. This is because more animals will be shot at, and shot (all other things being equal), the longer the shooting distances you generally shoot at.
– This is also covered by the big question of the ethical acceptability of long shooting distances.
For example, a rifle hunter’s action area will increase by 300% (be 4 times larger), by having a shooting range of 200 meters, compared to a shooting range of 100 meters – this gives far more shooting opportunities, and this could affect a population via increased population removal and disturbance level.
Increased shooting distances and ethics.
– and two methods for determining whether one complies with the ethics in this.
As stated above, shooting precision, shooting technique and ethics become more relevant and necessary to be interested in, as shooting distances increase.
See: Netnatur.dk/langdistanceskydning-under-jagt,, which points out many important aspects in this area – which one may at some point have to take a closer look at. – It seems that long-distance shooting is spreading from special forces and shooting ranges to hunting.
Slowly, someone is starting to talk about the fact that the many different apps, and that the entire sphere around long-distance shooting for game is compromising the hunting itself, and reducing hunting to target shooting. – See also: Netnatur.dk/riffelkuglen-fra-riflen-til-maalet/.
But is there anything to this talk?
First, it must be stated regarding ethics, that this is not only about long shooting distances, as a shot of only 20 meters can easily be an ethically unacceptable shooting distance, depending on the conditions – but long-distance shooting naturally creates progressively, and quite indisputably, increasing opportunities for misses, as the shooting distances increase.
At first glance, I do not think that long-distance shooting for game will become particularly widespread in Denmark, as the average Danish rifle hunter will most often be able to get closer to the game than, for example, 220 meters – and the average rifle hunter in many countries will probably not spend large parts of his or her scarce free time on continuous shooting training, or allocate a visible part of the family budget for long-distance rifles, shooting and weather technical apps, etc., as well as trips to mountainous areas – where all of this will probably necessarily come into use.
But conversely, it is not particularly pleasant to think that longer shooting distances, by their very nature and for a certain number of animals, could lead to far more shots, longer escape distances, longer trail lengths, animals being able to sit for many times longer in the wound bed while fully conscious, and even longer when searching, etc. – all in comparison to shorter shooting distances.
* Thus, long-distance shooting for game today constitutes an unexplained and questionable gray area, where it is up to each individual hunter to decide the ethics of their long shot, as there are no established rules or legislation for this.
– However, the executive order of the Hunting and Wildlife Management Act, Section 22, states that “no one may hunt in a way that exposes game to unnecessary suffering.” – And long-distance shooting does not live up to this, as the risk and probability of a miss is greater at, for example, 240 meters than at, for example, 110 meters, just as a shooting distance of 240 meters cannot be called necessary (is unnecessary).
– Something similar is seen in Section 21 of the Animal Welfare Act: “Anyone who wants to kill an animal must ensure that the animal is killed as quickly and as painlessly as possible” – which probably also applies when the animals are shot.
One could say that all huntable game should be able to expect, and have equal demands: That if they are to be shot, this should be done in such a way that they die quickly and suffer as little as possible – and there are no special, flexible or adapted ethical rules for long-distance shooting at game.
* This article is therefore also about how one can see whether both the ordinary and also the increased shooting distances on roe deer and fallow deer can be practiced in a safe and ethical way by the ordinary rifle hunter, with ordinary rifles and ordinary ammunition – and who perhaps once or twice a year fires his rifle at a shooting range.
* And how do you do this?
This can be done quite simply and directly measurable by looking at your own statistics on shot game (same game species shot with the same rifle and ammunition):
If more of your shot animals fall within, for example, 100 meters than fall within your shooting distances from 100 m to, for example, 200 meters – then the ethics in the shooting distance interval of 100 to 200 meters are challenged, compared to, and in any case less acceptable, than the ethics at shooting distances within 100 meters. – And what can justify this, when ethics can best be measured in how quickly the animal loses consciousness (or loses the possibility of escape by immobilization) and can thus also be found and killed as quickly as possible after the shot.
The same applies to escape distances, number of searches, track distances (the distance the tracking dog covers during the search) and shots leading to wounded animals – where it goes without saying that these will increase and increase as a result of longer shooting distances, where there are more applicable sources of error, variables, conditions and influences, where things can go wrong – all in relation to shorter shooting distances, where fewer sources of error, variables, conditions and influences are also in smaller sizes (with smaller fluctuations), and are therefore less significant.
Longer shooting distances must therefore, in relation to shorter shooting distances, necessarily result in relatively fewer “falls in the impact”, more Schweissdogs searches, longer escape distances for animals that leave the shooting spot, longer track distances, more wounded animals and more lost animals, as well as animals that sit in the wound bed for a longer time, i.e. have a longer: “Time from hit to unconsciousness”, which is an excellent and absolutely correct barometer of ethics.
But there is a safer method, with more information:
– which can also show Max. shooting distances for “High blade shot”, “Low blade shot” and the “CNS- bullet”, and which further shows your percentage chances of successful hits with “falling in the shot”, fatal hits with escape distances and chances of shots – at the different shooting distances.
This is done by finding your statistically probable practical hit accuracy – in theory, on the shooting range – and translating this into your probable “hunting” hit circle:
Increased shooting distances and ethics.
buskOn the shooting range you will find your shot group when shooting horizontally, and where you are aware that this shot group can be completely different during practical hunting.
– If you shoot for example from a shooting bench, you cannot count on this shot group on practical hunting, where shooting positions will be different and awkward, time pressure may be present, you may be hungry, thirsty, tired, wet, cold, or have 39.8 in buck- fever – or the long pürch made you out of breath.
The following is a bit rough and simplified, compared to what the real professionals otherwise show about this – but I assume that this is fully sufficient as a guideline for the ordinary rifle hunter (like myself), with an ordinary rifle, e.g. caliber .308 and ordinary ammunition, legal for the various animal species – and when you are not in sharp shooting training:
At the 100 meter shooting distance – on the shooting range:
Your shot group on the shooting range can be e.g. look like this at 100 meters: For example, you shoot 8 shots, where the circle you can draw around the shot group has a diameter of 8 cm (the red circle in Fig. 6 below).
Figure 6: Your spread in your shot group of 8 shots, on a 100 meter shooting range, for example, could be as follows. – The rough max. spread is 8 cm, which is the diameter of the red circle.- This way of viewing the spread shown is deliberately chosen (somewhat simplified), as for example shot no. 4 could also happen in a hunting situation, and to all sides of the circle.
– A good, well-trained shooter on the shooting range can probably hit within a corresponding spread (circle) of 6 cm at 100 meters every time. – On a 50 meter range, the spread shown in Illustration 6 will probably (in relation to the 8 cm) be about half that (about 4 cm).
The above spread (the red circle) is when shooting under well-ordered conditions, with uniform fixed contact, etc. on the shooting range – but this spread cannot be expected in a hunting situation where shooting is more difficult. – Therefore, I add an additional 40% to the diameter of the red circle of 8 cm at 100 meters, as an extra (“hunting”) allowance (additional safety margin) to account for larger expected fluctuations in hits in practical hunting.
– The yellow circle (with red dotted line) with a diameter of 11 cm, you can therefore expect to have in max. spread, at a shooting distance of 100 meters in practical hunting of deer species – with the shooting precision shown on the shooting range in Figure 6.
These 8 cm (the red circle in Figure 6) represent the projectile’s own spread plus my spread (shooting precision), and where the projectile’s own spread is marginal. – The 8 cm is thus “The maximum spread”, i.e. where the worst bullet placement determines the size of the circle (diameter), and I recommend using this spread, since the worst bullet placement is not reserved for the shooting range, but can also be delivered in practical hunting.
In the above, I also do not deduct, for example, the 2 worst-placed shots (as seen in more advanced and nuanced considerations of shot groups), because all shots count in practical hunting, and the 2 worst shot placements could also occur in practical hunting (where the number of bad shot placements could perhaps also be 3 out of 8).
In this, the effect of crosswinds drift on the projectile, and humidity and air pressure are completely ignored.
This thus gives an expected shot group in practical hunting of 8 cm + 40% = approx. 11 cm in diameter (“max spread”) at 100 meters, and this is sufficiently accurate shooting for a “High blade shot” on a roe deer, if we determine that the “Vital hit area” in the “High blade shot” (black circle in Fig. 2) on a roe deer is a circle with a diameter of approximately 16 cm in the lung area of the chest (the black, dotted circle in Figure 6), and you aim right at the center of this black circle (which represents the “High blade hit” in Fig. 2), with your well-positioned rifle.
* The joyful thing is perhaps – or perhaps not:
That Danish roe deer hunters apparently shoot at reasonable shooting distances, which according to previous studies for roe deer, on average, is around 60 meters, and a great many rifle-shot roe deer (approx. 23% according to Netnatur.dk/mere-end-hver-femte-rabuk-skydes-pa-klos-hold/) are apparently shot at less than 20 meters. – However, this does not tell us how long shooting distances are shot at, so this is still a gray area.
A hint of the possible extent of longer shooting distances for roe deer is however seen in the above-mentioned study, where it was stated (with note of the above-mentioned debate post’s emphasized reservation): regarding the hunter’s last shot buck: “Only 7.1% in the study – conducted on Netnatur.dk – answered that the last buck they shot was more than 150 meters away”. – If this is representative (and only the bucks are looked at), and e.g. 20,000 bucks annually with a rifle, this is 1,420 shots fired at bucks at more than 150 meters – but how much longer shooting distances than 150 meters are actually shot at?
* It also emerged: that approx. 76% of bucks were shot within 100 meters, and thus approx. 24% of bucks were shot at shot lengths over 100 meters, i.e. 4,800 bucks – and if just 50% of these were shot with the Heart- bullet, this is 2,400 bucks that are shot with the Heart- bullet at shooting distances over 100 meters, on an annual basis (and how far over 100 meters?).
* If the choice of bullet placements High and low blade bullet is only half of each – there will be (with an annual stock removal with a rifle of e.g. 50,000 roe deer) approx. 50,000 x 50% = 25,000 roe deer with the Heart bullet, and if 24% of these are shot at distances over 100 meters, this is still approximately 6,000 animals annually that are shot with the uncertain Heart bullet at a distance of over 100 meters – and it is still not known how much further than 100 meters.
This can be seen in relation to the fact that the Heart bullet is an almost optimal uncertain so-called “vital” bullet placement, and where a likely effective heart hit (within a fairly effective hit circle with a diameter of approximately 7-8 cm) occurs at a shooting distance of a maximum of approximately 68 meters, all according to the example shown in this letter to the editor at a given shooting precision, which was a “hunting” hit circle with a diameter of approximately 11 cm at a distance of 100 meters.
* Summary conclusion:
– all based on the assumptions described in the letter to the editor, which include: That you can place all your shots (since all shots count on hunting) within a circle of 8 cm at 100 meters on the shooting range, which with a “hunting” allowance of 40% becomes: 11 cm – and where the “hunting” allowance takes into account that shooting on hunting is often under much more difficult conditions and terms than shooting on the shooting range.
Better shooting on the shooting range, as such, does not help much on hunting regarding bullet drop, crosswind, poor lighting conditions and skewed shooting angles, and where I consider the latter to be the cause of many (perhaps most) shots – and where “The Rules of Hunting Ethics” very sensibly say: “do not shoot at unfavorable angles”.
The whole point of this here is that one cannot comment on either the max. shooting distances, or about which hit area is most effective and humane, and thus most ethical – without determining the effectiveness of the probable single hits in each of the considered vital hit circles: High blade bullet, Low blade bullet and the CNS- bullet. – And this cannot be done without including anatomy, forensics, terminal ballistics, the hunter’s expected shooting skills and error-causing factors (e.g. wind, bullet drop, unsafe settings and skewed shooting angles) during shooting for hunting – and all of this is related both in theory and in practical hunting – and must therefore be seen as one, and cannot be separated.
– Many misjudgments have occurred, and many wrong decisions have been made, as a result of misjudged or overlooked variables and conditions.
And the intention of considering the ordinary rifle hunter with ordinary rifles, projectiles with ordinary BCére and ordinary Another thing is that this should not only apply to the few rifle hunters who shoot with super rifles and projectiles with extreme BCs, and other necessary equipment, and spend a lot of time on training – and where it can still be questioned whether this leads to safe humane (ethical) hits often enough, at long shooting distances.
Since there are no laws and regulations on long-range shooting, it is the rifle hunters themselves who must be aware of whether long-range shooting compromises the hunt. – In this connection, the “Hunting Ethics Rules” are not particularly helpful with this under the position: “Consideration for the animal that is the subject of the hunt” – and where it does not even appear: “That huntable game shot must be killed as quickly as possible and in the most humane way that causes the animal the least possible suffering and anxiety” – where did this go?
It is important to note that not all hits within the so-called “vital hit circles” (the black ones) will be equally effective, which also applies to your current hit circles (the yellow ones). – Therefore, you need to assess the effect of the different hits, in both High and Low leaf shoot and in the CNS hit area – in order to be able to identify the most effective and humane hit area:
1. With a “High blade shot”, the maximum shooting distance for roe deer is: 139 meters, if you are to hit within a “vital” hit circle of 16 cm. – There is far from a guarantee of “falling in the shot”. – Relatively long escape distances can often be expected, and a certain, and not insignificant: “Time from hit to unconsciousness” can also often be expected. – I and my hunting companions have seen escape distances of 150 meters with a medially placed double lung bullet, and also relatively rarely seen escape distances of 0 meters. – For these reasons, regarding efficiency, ethics and humanity, the “High blade shot” is in 2nd place.
2. With a “Low blade shot”, which is the Heart bullet for deer, the maximum shooting distance is: 68 meters, if you are to hit within a “vital/lethal” hit circle of 7-8 cm. – The heart bullet is very sensitive to oblique shooting angles. – The heart bullet is the most uncertain bullet placement available on a roe deer and fallow deer, and the risk (within the 3 “vital” hit areas) of misses and shots is optimal with the heart bullet.
– No guarantee of “falling in the shot”. – Long escape distances can often be expected (up to 150 meters with a close shot to the heart, and some even say 200 meters with an almost completely broken heart), and a certain, and not insignificant: “Time from hit to unconsciousness” can therefore often be expected. – For these reasons, the heart bullet is in absolute last place regarding efficiency, ethics and humanity – but in first place regarding the hassle and the problems and suffering that a heart bullet can cause.
3. With the CNS- bullet, the max. shooting distance for roe deer is: 76 meters, if you are to hit within a “vital” hit circle of 8.4 cm, where a full 77% of the area will be hit in the primary CNS area with a probable 100% guarantee of “falling in the shot” and immediate unconsciousness (without pain and anxiety), i.e. 0 meters in escape distance. – The remaining 23% of the hit circle are the most lethal double lung hits. – The CNS- bullet has a huge advantage in terms of a large “safety area/error margin area” laterally to both sides, and there is also a very large margin of error when shooting too low.
– The CNS- bullet thus has a huge advantage in terms of oblique shooting angles when animals are facing the hunter or away from the hunter (i.e. in non-pure side shots). – The CNS- bullet is the only hit area where a hit (in the central CNS area) leads to a fall in the shot, and into an unconscious state, and therefore has the shortest possible “Time from hit to unconsciousness”. – For these reasons, the CNS- bullet is in absolute 1st place regarding efficiency, ethics and humanity, as well as in 1st place regarding the probability of problem-free hunting, which is almost always based on escape distances.
– It is regrettable that the Danish Hunters’ Association in this link, page 5, has completely misunderstood what a hit in an animal’s CNS area is and entails.
4. The CNS bullet is demonstrably more humane, more effective, safer and more ethical, as well as much easier and far more problem-free in practice – than both the Heart bullet and the Lung bullet – but the “High blade hit” lung bullet can never be avoided (as it cannot be avoided). – And here it is important to hit the upper, front parts of the lungs and correct correctly for oblique shooting angles, bullet drop and crosswind, so that all hits become double lung bullets, in the thickest possible parts of the lungs – which is the area just below the CNS bullet’s aiming point.
5. Long-distance shooting at game, for the ordinary, normally shooting rifle hunter, who is in general shooting training and with standard equipment – cannot be called ethical in relation to Section 22 of the Hunting and Wildlife Management Act, which states that “no one may hunt in a way that exposes game to unnecessary suffering.” – This is because the risk and probability of a miss is much greater at, for example, 250 meters than at, for example, 139 meters (which can cause unnecessary suffering much more easily and much more often), just as a shooting distance of 250 meters cannot be called necessary.
– Regarding long-distance shooting (also in mountainous areas), one can probably say that all huntable game should be able to expect, and have equal demands: That if they are to be shot, this must be done in such a way that they die quickly and suffer as little as possible – and there are no special, flexible or adapted ethical and humane rules for long-distance shooting at game.
6. The Danish Hunters’ Association recommends the right thing when they recommend in their “Hunting Ethical Rules”: “to keep your rifle shots at shooting distances within 100 meters, and advise against shooting at unfavorable angles – until you have extensive hunting-relevant training and routine in this.” – When I myself started as a rifle hunter, for several years I did not dare to shoot roe deer at distances longer than 60-70 meters, and you have to remember that the animals are taking all the risks, while we hunters acquire the necessary knowledge, experience, routine and shooting skills – and we hunters carry around memories of bad hunting experiences as a result of a missed shot for many, many years.