Lot of thoughts on this thread. Me, I have used shoulder shot effectively with an 06 when waiting for WT to come off the ridge right before quitting time. I wouldn't do it in mid day vs a good lung shot. Really liked seeing the deer go down quick without a whole lot of tracking. of course Dad cussed a lot at me every time when we were cutting them up. He still makes me bone out necks and ribs for grind (at 86!)
Probably would have rethought strategy if I was shooting lower than a .270.
only time I regretted the strategy was when I had a buck shot through shoulders plow into not just one but two trees and break off both antlers 30 years ago. Had enough left to make it legal. A bit disappointing at when your 21 to shoot a six and end up with a spike on one side. Still tasted good.
High shoulder shots for me. I really like shooting a highly volatile round such as Berger or Nosler BT as they dump more energy into the body cavity. The high shoulder often results in a severed spine plus several the dorsal aorta which leads to a very fast death right on the spot. You know you hit them in the sweet spot when their rear end drops out from underneath. But do not confuse this shot with a spine shot.
Watched whitetail television for the first time in forever a few weeks back. A couple shows in a row it seemed they were all going for this shot and a dramatic flop but 3 of 4 missed the mark. Left a bad taste in my mouth. I get it for certain circumstances but in these circumstances they had no reason to do it on deer standing in the middle of a 10 acre food plot. Couldn't help but thinking about how piss poor it was to go for this shot when there's no reason for it only to miss the mark inside 100 yards with a solid rest. Embarrassing.