Thread: The Hilar Shot

I should have posted this picture last night but the young fella had pinched my iPad and it was on there.

This is something I knocked up to show the point of aim broadside for the hilar zone. Reasonably accurate I think, works pretty well.

Originally Posted by stug

I think it was the Sharp Shooter by Matt Grant.

Correct, published in 1972

In another thread, (about shooting deer with subs) there was a question about where to place the bullet and I replied the Autonomic Plexus, so it is great that these diagrams have been posted. This shot will kill with a slow bullet, be that from long-range or a sub.
For a high velocity round ( 22 250,243, 2506, 270 etc) at moderate range a shot behind the front leg into the lungs causes instant collapse - better than a Hilar because less meat is damaged. The base of the neck where the hilar and neck shot overlap might be the best aiming point of all ?

Originally Posted by stug

Roger lentle definitely did not come up with the term. From memory the Sharp Shooter has a “clock” diagram of the Hilar zone when viewing an animal from all different directions.
There is possibly a copy of Sharp Shooter on trademe or possibly your local library might have one. It’s prob out of print now.

yip mentions hilar zone on page 128.....

errr edit button playing silly buggers...
the sharpshooter references the hilar zone...diagram of herd of animals with desired shot placement for each....not all hilar zone.... also diagram of stag from above showing best shot placements....
of all the deer Ive shot over the years,the ones who had leg bones stuck went the least distance......take out the front wheels and its game over.

The hilar (a contraction of highly vascular) as shown in both the books mentioned is preferred as the point of aim only because most shots will not hit there.

The reason of course is that the marksmanship of most hunters in NZ is mediocre. It probably doesn’t help that those same hunters try to make a box of ammo last 3-4 years. So when the shot doesn't go where it was intended, my take on it is that that particular spot is the cente of the largest circle of points-of-impact that will kill relatively humanely. Both books stress this and with good reason.

I've considered on many occasions changing my habitual point of aim to what might be faster or meat saving placements – but this always assumes that my shots too will end up where I want them to go. We all need some margin. I need as much as I can get.

A shot exiting through the base of the neck gave spectacular external blood loss for me yesterday and almost immediate loss of consciousness for the deer, so I can agree with Moa Hunter on that one, but if I had intentionally been aiming where the bullet ended up, then I might have had a deer get away injured.

Thanks Fly blown that was a great explanation, certainly learned something.

What a brilliant education -many, many thanks, for taking the time to compile and post it.
Your presentation of the topic is fantastic -cheers

In the past I would always aim to break the front shoulder with my 243, shot exactly where you were saying to smash bone
as you have said its very effective and bang flops were normal with 80gr win
Interesting to see more than i knew was going on in there

if you accidentally shoot too low it makes the front legs bend like back pack straps

The base of the neck - not mid neck but in the crease - is a very good shot. 10's of thousands of deer were shot by meat hunters in the base of the neck.
I started using it as a preferred aiming spot after reading Newton McConochie's book in which the boys were shooting big heavy Red Stags with 303's and Army surplus ball ammo all in the base of the neck and the stags all dropped where shot.

Great post Moa Hunter.

Originally Posted by Bill999

In the past I would always aim to break the front shoulder with my 243, shot exactly where you were saying to smash bone
as you have said its very effective and bang flops were normal with 80gr win
Interesting to see more than i knew was going on in there

if you accidentally shoot too low it makes the front legs bend like back pack straps

Totally agree, the 243 is awesome ! its widely known the 243 round works wonders if you hit bone. I always go for the shoulder if possible . had no animals escape ever and i shoot quite a few reds now. anywhere in the boiler room works great as well and room for error but if you take out the front wheels with a 243 softnose its never going anywhere

the likes of Tony Orman were saying that about .243 25 years ago....hit the shoulder bones using plain jane 100grn softpoints.......great advice that doesnt grow old.

Shot a deer yesterday with a perfect score hilar shot, only problem was the camera ran flat and missed the damn kill shot. But got lots of good stuff on the shot placement and terminals afterwards, so will edit it and post when I next get signal. It's a damn effective bang-flop when you've got the time to set up the shot.

Here's a practical example of the hilar shot... everything but the kill shot of course... another amateur technology fail. But hopefully it adds a bit of context to the theory.