VITAL KNOWLEDGE Know where to aim

Vital Knowledge

by GREGOR WOODS

T he ne xt b es t t h i ng to x -r ay ey es

SPINAL CORD LUNGS

SCAPULA BRAIN

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Fig 1 shows the locality of the vital organs and the major bones. HEART VERTEBRAE

HUMERUS

MAIN ARTERIES

SHOT placement is the single most important factor in hunting. Even the most powerful cartridge will wound if the bullet does not hit a vital organ. Far too many hunters, in their excitement, simply aim for the centre of the animal. I have asked various accomplices, while watching an animal run off after their shot, where they aimed, and they couldn’t tell me – they had simply aimed ‘at the animal’. Some aim at whatever patch of hide they can see through the bush. This is inexcusable. Hunters have a moral obligation to kill the quarry as surely, quickly and cleanly as possible with the first shot.

Most shot-placement literature shows photos of animals superimposed with red dots indicating the aiming points. In many cases these show the animal in only two positions: fully broadside and directly frontal. In the hunting field, however, the animal may be standing at various other angles, requiring very different aiming points if the bullet is to hit the vital organs. Instead of memorising red dots on the outer surface of the animal, you should be mentally visualising the position of the vital organs inside the animal, and aiming

This was a perfectly placed broadside heart shot on a big kudu bull, but at the high velocity of a .300 Win Mag, the fragile 180gr Winchester Silvertip bullet completely disintegrated, failing to reach the vitals.

accordingly, which could mean anywhere on its body forward of the hind legs, depending on the angle at which it is standing.

Shots to the brain and spinal cord (ahead of the shoulders) bring instantaneous death, but are the riskiest, as we shall discuss presently. Heart-lung shots are safer. Without oxygen (derived from blood) the brain immediately dies. The heart pumps blood straight into the lungs where it picks up oxygen, which is then carried directly to the brain via the carotid arteries. Destroying the heart and/or lungs, or opening a main heart artery, cuts off the supply of oxygenated blood to the brain, bringing death within seconds. Heart-lung shots are therefore quick, sure and humane. Shots which fail to hit the vital organs bring varying degrees of prolonged suffering prior to death, and must be avoided.

To achieve successful heart-lung shots requires a cartridge powerful enough to reach these organs, and a bullet with sufficient momentum (read ‘sufficiently heavy and strongly constructed’) to reach and destroy these organs, irrespective of the tissue or bone it may encounter on the way.

This article deals only with expanding bullets, not full metal jacket or ‘monolithic’ solids intended for pachyderms. The ‘premium grade’ expanding bullets available today – the various all-copper, partitioned and/or bonded-core designs – render bullet failure less likely, but are costly; the average hunter still settles for ‘conventional’ grade bullets (no special reinforcing features). It is wise, therefore to learn something about terminal bullet performance and wound ballistics.

A bullet passing through tissue creates two forms of cavitation: temporary and permanent. The permanent cavity or ‘wound channel’ is caused by the expanding frontal surface of the bullet as it crushes tissue in its path. The temporary cavity is caused by bullet energy radially forcing tissue away from

The massive rumen with its stodgy contents forms only part of the intestines which a bullet must penetrate to reach the vitals if fired at an angle from behind.

TEMPORARY CAVITATION

PERMANENT CAVITATION

Fig 2: Lightweight bullets with thin jackets travelling at extremely high velocity can disintegrate on impact, leaving large surface wounds only.

TEMPORARY CAVITATION

PERMANENT CAVITATION

Fig 3: Conventionally designed bullets travelling at high velocity expand too rapidly causing severe immediate damage but lacking penetration, and the over-expanded bullet jacket often separates from the lead core.

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its path, forming a much larger cavity around and behind the bullet. The temporary cavity instantly closes up again, leaving only the permanent cavity. The size and progression of the temporary cavity are mainly determined by the velocity of the bullet, thus diminish as the bullet slows down in the tissue. Violent temporary cavitation can be rapidly fatal if it takes place within the heartlung chamber, collapsing the lungs. It is also responsible for much wasted meat due to bruising (bloodshot tissue). But temporary cavitation cannot be relied upon to kill.

Fragile high-velocity bullets can cause cavernous entrance wounds without penetrating any further. They either disintegrate on impact or expand so rapidly that their large frontal surface immediately impedes their progress; they can fail to reach the vital organs. Ideally, bullet expansion should be design-controlled (as with ‘premiumgrade’ bullets) so that the projectile holds together, retaining enough weight (for momentum) to reach the vitals, with its diameter at its largest as it penetrates those organs. ‘Conventional grade’ bullets can also achieve this provided they are heavy and strike at modest velocities.

Obviously, the same bullet will not perform ideally in all situations: it will expand more rapidly if it has to smash though heavy shoulder bone, than if a rib or a few centimetres of soft tissue form the only obstruction it encounters en route to the vitals. Terminal bullet performance also depends on range (velocity slows exponentially with distance) and on the size and weight of the animal. Your load and bullet must be appropriate to the situation.

Study basic animal anatomy to learn how shot placement is determined by the angle at which the quarry is standing. Most novices are advised to aim “just behind the shoulder”. This is sound meat-saving advice, but is applicable only if the animal is standing broadside or at a slight angle away from the shooter. If it is standing at an angle towards the hunter, a bullet placed behind the shoulder will miss the lungs and pass through the abdomen. A surer broadside shot is to hold the vertical crosshair directly on the animal’s front leg (if upright) with the junction (reticle) centrally in the ‘vital triangle’ formed by the shoulder bones (usually visible externally as a ‘V’ on its side). This shot avoids the shoulder bones to hit the top of the heart or the main arteries above it, and also penetrates the lungs. It wastes some shoulder meat, but it provides a margin for error and the certainty of a quick kill.

If an animal is facing you at an angle (“three-quarters on”), your best shot is for the point of the shoulder (the junc-

TEMPORARY CAVITATION

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PERMANENT CAVITATION

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Fig 5 shows how figures 2,3 and 4 are interpreted.

Look closely at the (optically foreshortened) shoulder to observe a perfect top-of-the-heart shot (not the spot on the point of the shoulder, but the hole behind it, faintly oozing blood). Fig 6 shows the importance of visualising the vital organs within the animal, rather than simply aiming behind the shoulder. When the animal is standing at an angle towards you a shot placed behind the shoulder can miss the vitals.

tion of humerus and shoulder blade) which will angle the bullet’s path through the upper heart or arteries and on through the lungs. However, this shot requires a heavy, strongly constructed bullet to smash through the shoulder bone while retaining enough momentum to penetrate the vitals. Obviously, large animals require heavier and stronger bullets. Even on impala-sized game, lightweight high velocity .243 bullets can disintegrate on these bones. If the animal is at a more acute angle (facing you more directly) aim more toward the centre of the chest. Always picture the locality of the vitals within the animal.

Animals angling away from you are tricky, allowing very little margin for error. A shot placed too far to the outer side will hit the shoulder but miss the vitals. Too far the other way will require the bullet to penetrate too much abdominal area – it may not reach the vitals.

Frontal shots are safe if they hit centrally. You have a deep vertical margin for error – low shots will hit the heart; high shots the arteries or neck bone. However, frontal shots offer a very narrow target and if they stray to one side, can miss even the lungs. Also, an animal often seems to be facing you directly when it’s actually at a slight angle; such shots frequently miss the vitals, exiting behind the shoulder. This often occurs when blue wildebeest stand in deep shade, appearing as black silhouettes. An animal thus wounded can run all day with impunity. If you are well above the animal, shooting downwards, avoid frontal chest shots as the head and neck get in the way.

Never shoot at an animal facing directly away from you unless it is already wounded. The bullet must traverse too much muscle, bone, rumen and intestines to reach the vitals.

BRAIN SHOTS

Brain shots kill instantly, waste no meat, neither is the meat tainted by adrenaline and lactic acid resulting from a panic-stricken run.

For night culling, when the mesmerised animal stares motionlessly at the spotlight, brain shots are relatively safe. But the brain is a tiny target, and in the daytime, the head is the most likely body part to suddenly move as you press the trigger.

Under field conditions, brain shots risk a broken jaw or a wound through the muzzle. Also, you must know your bullet’s trajectory to the centimetre, and in the veld, accurate range estimation is difficult. Without a rangefinder, don’t risk a brain shot. If you take one, aim at eye or earhole level and up; from the side, aim well back on the skull.

NECK SHOTS

Well-placed neck shots have the same effect as brain shots, bar for minor meat damage. However, they are very tricky, especially if the animal is broadside with its neck extended laterally.

Your shot must damage the spinal cord – a thin, horizontal line which makes an even smaller target than the brain, thus trajectory becomes even more critical. Sometimes clipping the neck-bone

will sufficiently damage the spinal cord; other times not.

Too often, neck shots result in a perforated gullet or a spinal dorsal bone being hit – the felled animal regains consciousness and flees. If the animal is facing you, this offers some vertical margin for error but not lateral. I have taken such shots on kudu and heard the bullet strike bone, yet failed to kill.

Close to the head, the target is more locatable but, like the head, subject to sudden movements. Nearer the shoulders the spinal cord is difficult to locate precisely and the heavier surrounding bone requires a strong, heavy bullet. Never risk a neck shot on buffalo.

SPINE SHOTS

Again, the spinal cord is your target, and to smash through the spine requires a strong, heavy bullet. I have seen several ‘conventional’ grade bullets disintegrate on the spines of animals ranging from springbuck to kudu. The spinal cord is not easy to visualise within the broad mass of an animal in the field. Many novices assume the spine runs in a more-orless level line along the animal’s upper back. In fact it curves downward within the chest to the centre of the neck base.

Another drawback of spine shots is that they ruin much of the best meat –the rugstringe or ‘back-straps’ (tenderloin) which run the length of the spine on either side.

To ensure rapid death, spine shots should be aimed well forward, which also wastes shoulder meat. Like neck shots, if spine shots go slightly high, they often strike only a dorsal bone, felling the animal which, seconds or minutes later, is up and running again. However, spine shots are useful when it is essential that the animal drops in its tracks – as when close to a no-go boundary.

HEART SHOTS

The heart is a small target situated low in the brisket – lower than most people imagine. Heart shots kill quickly and usually leave a good blood trail to follow. You should aim slightly high to hit the top of the heart or its major arteries. With broadside shots this avoids heavy bone, and if your shot goes a bit low, it will still hit the heart; if high, you will still hit arteries and lungs.

LUNG SHOTS

The lungs offer the biggest target from any angle and are surrounded by other vital parts: heart, spinal cord, aorta, etc. Broadside lung shots are safest placed in the centre of the ‘vital triangle’ but if you want to save shoulder meat, aim just fractionally behind the shoulder – your bullet will encounter no more than a rib and probably exit the far side, leaving a double blood trail. Death is rapid.

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