Here's a couple more reasons not to shoot for the head or neck if you have other options. It's not that they aren't killing shots, but they are high risk because you don't have much room for error. Even a good shot makes a bad shot on occasion, so why not aim for the biggest target.
If you ever plan on getting an animal mounted, don't shoot it in the neck or head if you have other shot options, & whatever you do don't cut it's throat to finish it off. It's amazing the amount of people that will come in with an animal they want to have mounted that has a softball size hole in it's neck, or has had it's throat cut, & say "you can fix that so that nobody can tell can't you?"
I also run a blood dog tracking service, & would advise against head & neck shots. The animals that are wounded in the head or neck are extremely difficult to recover even with a dog, & are often times never found. The ones that are recovered usually take hours of running, baying, breaking, & baying again before they will allow the hunter to get in close enough to finish it off. On the other hand an animal that is hit bad in the body cavity is much easier to find & bay. For example a gut shot animal is as good as got if you have a tracking dog, & leg shots where an artery is severed is usually a long tracking job & will probably result in a second shot to the bayed animal, but at least you'll get him. I said all that to say, that from my experience in the blood tracking business, you have a much better chance of getting your game even if hit bad, if you shoot for the heart/lung area!
Torry
If you ever plan on getting an animal mounted, don't shoot it in the neck or head if you have other shot options, & whatever you do don't cut it's throat to finish it off. It's amazing the amount of people that will come in with an animal they want to have mounted that has a softball size hole in it's neck, or has had it's throat cut, & say "you can fix that so that nobody can tell can't you?"
I also run a blood dog tracking service, & would advise against head & neck shots. The animals that are wounded in the head or neck are extremely difficult to recover even with a dog, & are often times never found. The ones that are recovered usually take hours of running, baying, breaking, & baying again before they will allow the hunter to get in close enough to finish it off. On the other hand an animal that is hit bad in the body cavity is much easier to find & bay. For example a gut shot animal is as good as got if you have a tracking dog, & leg shots where an artery is severed is usually a long tracking job & will probably result in a second shot to the bayed animal, but at least you'll get him. I said all that to say, that from my experience in the blood tracking business, you have a much better chance of getting your game even if hit bad, if you shoot for the heart/lung area!
Torry