# Hunting > The Magazine >  The Hilar Shot

## Flyblown

I recently got asked about the word hilar as in hilar zone and where to shoot deer. The guy had tried to find stuff on the interweb and come up a bit short, probably because he looked for about 30 seconds. Nothing much more than Nathan Fosters article and the pictures from Lentle & Sextons book Red Deer in New Zealand. 


Over the years Ive looked into this a bit. Way back when I was a young fella, my grandpa schooled me in where to shoot deer, and he was onto this hilar business then, though to be honest I dont remember him ever calling it that. What he was focussed on was the junction box as he called it. The term hilar zone as it relates to deer hunting seems to have originated in NZ, and whenever Ive discussed it as a preferred point of aim, in England or the US or South Africa, I get blank looks. 


So I thought heres a spare minute or three, write it down. 


The term hilar is a medical term that relates to the word hilum. The hilum is the structure that encapsulates the pulmonary arteries, veins and nerves as they enter the soft and squishy lung. Its like 240v power cable insulation, or the shrink wrap that you use on your electrical cable ends where theyre crimped onto the terminal. Each individual wire is something important, and the hilum is what keeps them all bunched together in the right place.





The hilum is found in the hilar region of the lung, so in hunting terms, were talking about the area of the lungs in which the various important pipes and wires enter the lung, the fabled hilar zone. Its easier to identify this in a picture using human anatomy (see below), because the principle is exactly the same for all mammals. 


So why is this hilar zone supposedly the magic spot? 


Back up a moment, and consider the classic heart and lung shot. Many of us have shot deer and felt at the time that it was a really good hit, only for the deer to take off into the scrub or jungle like a missile. When we finally find the animal and cut it open, we see that the heart has taken a full on direct hit! How the fuck did it manage that, you say. Whilst the heart is the pump, the muscle itself doesnt contain much blood at all, and the control systems for the heart (more on that in a moment) are not actually part of the main heart organ. So whilst the heart is destroyed, and a major bleed has started, the deers muscles and brain are still oxygenated and its a bit of a lottery as to how long it will take for the deer to run out of steam and go down. 


In that unknown period of dead run, the animals brain and locomotion systems are still fully functioning. Its only when the leg muscles start to run out of oxygenated blood that the animal slows and gets unsteady, and as the blood pressure drops below critical levels the brain functions start to fail. It will lose vision, then it will often start to go round in an arc or full circle, finally the back legs give up and the animal topples over. Unfortunately, sometimes, that might be a couple of hundred yards from where you shot it! But more likely within say 30-70yd, depends. 


In our kind of country, that however many yards could be fatal in terms of a successful recovery. And thats really annoying. 


The control system that governs the heart is called the autonomic nervous system. This part of the central nervous system also controls all functions relating to the lungs, digestion, urination, the sexual organs, i.e. everything you remove when you gut out your animals. And more besides. Its a long nerve pathway that runs from the brain, down the neck and into the vitals in very close proximity to the aorta (the bodys main artery), trachea (windpipe) and oesophagus (food pipe). 


A term some might be familiar with is vegus nerve, this is a key nerve pathway in the autonomic system. There a numerous nerve linkages back to the spine, thus completing the circuit. Its very hard to find details pics of how this all works in a deer, so a bloke will have to do, but the principle is exactly the same. 





And this is what the hilar shot is all about  hitting and destroying the autonomic nervous system. 


The standard heart shot will not hit the nerves if the animal is positioned broadside. If you put the bullet in the crease youll likely miss the nerve pathway. The autonomic nerves run between the lungs in front of the heart, then up and over the top of the heart and into the rumen. The best way to target the hilar zone is to bring the point of aim forward in line with the front line of the forleg, two thirds of the way down from the neck line to the brisket. This is the classic Lentle and Sexton picture.





When a bullet hits the junction box, two things happen. First and most obvious is that the main pulmonary arteries between the heart and the lungs are destroyed, and a good portion of the lungs where the lung veins, or bronchi, are at their widest. This causes a catastrophic bleed. 


The second thing that happens is that the central nervous system is short-circuited big time. All the nerves in the CNS are suddenly scrambled, the electrical impulses from brain to organs, and brain to locomotion are unable to send the correct message, and the animals body simply doesnt know what to do any more. This results in a very characteristic collapse. 


When you hit an animal in the spine, e.g. the high shoulder shot, the animals back legs collapse and it goes down arse first. A good solid hilar shot usually has a different effect, instead the animal will wobble, it might even take a step or two, but then it will simply topple over in a heap, usually sideways. The difference between a heart shot and a hilar shot isnt much in terms of inches, maybe 3-4, but a good hilar shot rarely hits much in the way of heart (though certain angles will). 


Talking of angles A really good way to target the hilar zone is shooting the animal across the chest cavity from the front to the back, or vice versa. I prefer front to back, and have had some of my best bang-flops by shooting the animal in the front of the brisket, either straight on or at a slight angle. In through the first rib is a good place to start, with the animal turned at a slight angle so the exit (if any) is around the 7th or 8th ribs. Youve gotta be using a soft bullet for this, if youre a hard bonded bullet man youll find you puncture the rumen.


Heres a couple of recent photos of a hilar shot that dropped a large red hind at 321yd. The animal was well above me, looking down after the first shot had dropped her mate nearby. The bullet hit low in to the left of the brisket and on #1 rib, and destroyed the hilar zone before exiting around #6-7 rib from memory. Note how the heart is untouched. The animal went down in the characteristic manner and conveniently rolled down hill towards the track. 






Note how the heart is untouched. Which is ideal cos now you can eat it, it's excellent!




Ive found over the years that the hilar shot is far more effective than the heart shot with my .243 Win. Its as close to a guaranteed dead bang-flop as the small 6mm could hope for, outside of a neck or head shot. Ive shot a few in the high shoulder with the .243 but oftentimes that wont actually kill the animal outright, just disable it. I find that at a couple of hundred yards, the hilar presents the biggest and best target, as once you get used to putting the shot forward of the classic H&L shot, it becomes second nature. This is particularly true when the animal is quartering towards, its real easy to put a shot too far back in these circumstances, as aiming in front on the foreleg can feel wrong for some. 


Lastly, the what if. If youre high, youll take out the upper front lung, and enter into high shoulder territory. If youre too far back, youll hit the rear lungs and probably the top of the heart. If youre too low youll hit the bottom of the lungs where they are very dense in vein terms. If youre too far forward, which when broadside is your biggest risk, youll either miss altogether or put a hole in the front of the lungs. 


My preference is to use a partially fragmenting hunting bullet on our deer, for maximum damage in the important bits. Over the years Ive seen the hilar shot kill deer very cleanly with everything from a .223 to a .44 Magnum, with all sorts of bullets, but in the kind of country I mostly hunt these days where a bit of distance is the norm, a good balance of penetration and fragmentation is preferable. ELD-X, Speer BTSP, GameKing, ProHunter, all the usual suspects will work well. I avoid hard bullets because sometimes they dont give the peripheral damage Im after. 


Anyway if youre new to this stuff, hope this helps get your head around that mysterious hilar zone that gets bandied around.

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## 257weatherby

You've had too much coffee! good read.

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## Micky Duck

yip and added bonus you take out one or both front wheels at same time...cant go far with out them. good discription of the how and why.

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## Mooseman

Hell Dave you should be a Doctor, well written and explained should help with those desirable Bang Flop shots.

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## 2post

I’m always happy to learn something new. :Thumbsup:  well explained thank you.

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## Sideshow

And here was me thinking this is what happens when you slam the brakes on to hard in the car......all your shit flys out the front of ya body :O O: 
Either that or you have just eaten a really hot chilli  :XD:

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## mawzer308

Good write up Dave

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## Flyblown

> You've had too much coffee! good read.


LOL how did you know... its was actually two cans of Monster, all that was in the fridge. Probably not a wise beverage.

BTW the sentence "...and a good portion of the lungs where the lung veins, or bronchi, are at their widest" is actually supposed to say "andbronchi". Bronchi are the wind pipes, that deliver the oxygen.

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## stagstalker

Great write up

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## stug

I think the Hilar zone/shot was first coined by a Kiwi author. Can’t remember the name off the top of my mind.

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## stug

I think it was the Sharp Shooter by Matt Grant.

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## Flyblown

@stug or anyone else, i'd love to know if that's the case because I've often wondered where the term came from. Roger Lentle is a biomechanics professor and a hunter and I had wondered if it was something to do with him considering his medical background.

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## 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.

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## WillB

Thanks for this what a great post. I read Lentle and Saxton when i was getting started and found it hugely useful. This is an excellent recap with some personal real world experience thrown in. Bravo.

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## Gibo

> 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.


That same diagram is in the lentle saxton book

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## Flyblown

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.

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## Dama dama

> I think it was the Sharp Shooter by Matt Grant.


Correct, published in 1972

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## Moa Hunter

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 ?

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## Micky Duck

> 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.....

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## Micky Duck

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.

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## Puffin

The hilar (a contraction of _hi_ghly vascu_lar_) 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.

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## Ted6. 5

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

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## footsore

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

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## 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

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## Moa Hunter

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.

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## veitnamcam

Great post Moa Hunter.

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## deer243

> 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

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## Micky Duck

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.

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## Flyblown

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.

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## Flyblown

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.

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## Cordite

@Flyblown, great post.

Matt Grant in his Sharpshooter book explains that if you shoot the heart, you cause blood everywhere to stop flowing -- yet this stagnant blood still contains much oxygen etc. and the animal can run quite far on this alone (150m in your diagram) before it drops somewhere inaccessible.

Shoot the lung/hilum however, and the pumping heart aids bleeding out.  It quickly pumps the circulation free of blood, which is lost into airways and chest cavity through the wound channel, and unconsciousness then death follows quickly.

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## turtle

> 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.


subscribed, you did an awesome job of the vids

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