Taking the Shot
Knowledge of deer and deer behavior are essential to locating big deer, but it takes good shooting to realize success.
Story and photography Bob Zaiglin
When it comes to successfully taking a trophy whitetail deer, it all boils down to shot placement. A well-placed bullet can make the entire hunting experience a memorable event while an errant shot can end up being something an individual finds hard to forget, but for all the wrong reasons. One’s shooting ability is as important as where, when, or how they hunt. Thus hunters must be deft with their favorite firearm in order to realize its optimal performance.
Modern day custom rifles are unquestionably superior to guns of the past. Some of these specialized rifles outfitted with quality optics not only produce consistent one-inch, three-shot groups at 100 yards, but remain effective up to 800 yards if not further. But after pursuing whitetails over the last 50 years, I have learned several hard-core facts about hunting rifles and shot placement.
