With all the attention The Walking Dead AMC series and other zombie related movies and books, have you ever thought about how hard it would be to maintain that cool head and steady hand to put down a zombie during a “Zombie Apocalypse”.
Well maybe I have been too busy at my full time job & my part-time business teaching firearms classes and not enough time on the range shooting this summer. After watching The Walking Dead Marathon on AMC over the 4th of July weekend I have been contemplating this.
What I came up with is pretty simple. When teaching Personal Protection Classes we talk about & practice failure to stop drills. Most folks know them by the names like the Mozambique Drill or a Body Armor Drill where the shooter would fire two quick rounds to the body and one well aimed shot to the head after the first two shots have failed to stop the threat.
If we were to apply this drill to a “Zombie” like we find in ” The Walking Dead” the first two shots would have no effect. Head shots themselves may be difficult at best even for those survivors who have spent hours at the range practicing for such an event or received training as members of law enforcement and the military. The sight and smell of an attacking zombie may cause defenders accuracy to become greatly diminished as they face a life ending event.
The brain is encased in a group of thick bone plates to protect it from impacts. There have been cases in the past where people have received gun shots to the head and survived due to the bullet glancing off the skull. The head of a Zombie is even more unpredictable as they may be jerking around as they move along towards their intended prey.
Head shots are the windows to a “Zombie’s Soulless Brain.” By targeting the eyes, nose, and mouth area a bullet would have more chance of penetrating through to the brain. In the event only a side profile was available to target the survivor should target just behind the ear.
So what options does this leave us with? Zombies for all their fear inducing qualities still have the same human flaws we do. If remembering any thing from Biology Classes in high school this leaves us with the spine and pelvic bowl as alternate targets.
If faced with a frontal shot at a charging zombie it may be difficult to hit as your bullet will have to pass through the chest or abdomen to hit the spine. This may slow down your bullet enough it may not produce the desired effects to slow down or stop the zombie.
Alternatively the shooter may fire two quick shots into the zombies “Pelvic Bowl” with the intent of breaking the hip bone structures. Thus breaking these bones would render a “Zombie” immobilize it long enough to escape to safety or follow up with a precision shot to the head.
Please refer to our handy picture for easy identification on these areas to target on a zombie.
