All these TV shows show the hunter approaching the downed animal at the head, holding the rifle in one hand and pokes it in the face with the rifle barrel. If that animal would jerk it's head up it could very likely knock the rifle out of the hunters hand and/or break fingers or the wrist. Wouldn't it make more sense to approach from the rear, above the back enough to avoid rearward kicks, holding the rifle in both hands and shake the animal with your foot and be ready for another shot if needed?
I always get a kick out of those genius's that have to poke everything in the butt with a rifle barrel. My boys always howl with laughter when they do it. Just once, I would like to see a deer jump up when they do it. That would be a hoot! If you can't tell if something is dead,maybe you should go fishing instead.
I always have my trusty partner Huntsman22 circle upwind, while I cautiously approach from downwind, checking carefully for any signs that the animal might still be alive. Just as I approach within earshot, I hear this:
I always get a kick out of those genius's that have to poke everything in the butt with a rifle barrel. My boys always howl with laughter when they do it. Just once, I would like to see a deer jump up when they do it. That would be a hoot! If you can't tell if something is dead,maybe you should go fishing instead.
Being smug can get you hurt eventually..... being smart, well its smart...
I have aformer student that to this day bears the scar on his face because reacherd for antlers before the deet was dead and it raised up and cut him to the point of needing stitches. I come in by the back I don't ever want to get kicked and I follow Tracks procedure.
I always get a kick out of those genius's that have to poke everything in the butt with a rifle barrel. My boys always howl with laughter when they do it. Just once, I would like to see a deer jump up when they do it. That would be a hoot! If you can't tell if something is dead,maybe you should go fishing instead.
Being smug can get you hurt eventually..... being smart, well its smart...
I will remember to poke the next deer that I shoot in the a$$ with my rifle barrel. I will also make sure I have my bicycle helmet on when I do it.
More dramatic camera angle when they walk up on an animal they already know is dead. TV is all about hype, thrill, and drama. Seldom will they show real mistakes.
In real life, not stepping up where you can get gored or bitten is smarter. Touching the eye is the true test because a blink is a reflex and a truly dead animal has no reflexes. A blink means it is still alive. Poking it in the butt with a barrel is not definitive. Animals that have been spined high on the vertebral processes (not a severed spine) or otherwise knocked down/out and/or temporarily paralyzed can suddenly come to life when you cause them to get an injection of adrenaline by touching them. That is when you want to be out of range of feet and horns, antlers, or teeth.
It is smarter to approach from the rear, and along the line of the back so you are out of reach. On something the size of an elk, mind the length of the antlers. Even a spined animal shot behind the shoulders can still swing its head around and may be able to nail you with a front hoof.
You don't want to start field dressing an animal that is not dead. You could be badly injured.
Especially with a .270 I come from the upper back side and shoot it 3-4 times between the shoulder blades through the spine into the chest. If I'm using my 7x57 I throw it in the truck right off the bat. However I have had em' jump up REAL close w/an '06!-Muddy
I'll poke an animal in the butt (ha!) or face (weird) with the barrel. Whichever way I approach it from or is easiest if it fell near a tree or big ass rock or whatever.
I always entirely circle the animal regardless, poking it a few times from various angles. Its just habit I guess. One "dead" mountain lion has made me nervous and very cautions when first touching a dead animal.
I usually put my rifle on safe and sling it on my left shoulder. I then approach silently from downwind. Then I run towards the downed animal and leap onto it's back. If it jumps up or bites me or otherwise shows signs of being alive, I will wish I just poked it in the eye like I normally do!
With bears I will approach from behind, but insist anybody with me is behind me. Having someone wandering off to the side can turn into a super CF if the bear decides it is not done yet.
Had a truly big bear several years ago come at me though it was spined and only swung its head. Because I had nowhere to go it was a bit tense...
I always get a kick out of those genius's that have to poke everything in the butt with a rifle barrel. My boys always howl with laughter when they do it. Just once, I would like to see a deer jump up when they do it. That would be a hoot! If you can't tell if something is dead,maybe you should go fishing instead.
I've always made it a point to approach a downed animal at the opposite end from the teeth and horns. When I approached a mountain goat that I had shot, he slowly started to raise his head. There was instantly a powder burn on his chest.
Oh, and I didn't go fishing that day because at -15* F that morning I thought it was too cold to fish, so I climbed 2,000 feet up a mountain in crotch deep snow, by myself, and shot a goat.
I once had a pheasant come back to life in the back of a Chevy Blazer. A friend and I laid several across the top of a dog kennel and headed for home. The dogs started raising hell and we looked back to see a rooster perched on the top of the kennel looking back at us. I was tasked with crawling back there and trying to finish him off but it was touch and go for a minute what with the feathers and spurs. I came out of it seriously injured with several scratches that may have required Band-Aids for a lesser man.
Since that day I carry a pocket full of turkey loads and all pheasants get a finisher on the ground no matter how dead they look. A man can't be too careful with dangerous game.
About 20 years ago I was on my way to go cut some firewood. On the way, I shot a coyote with a .22 LR. I hit it in the face. I retrieved said coyote, threw it over my shoulder and carried it to my pickup where I tossed it in the back. I drove about 5 miles farther up the mountain to my wood cutting spot. At my wood cutting spot, I went to turn around. When I looked in the rear view mirror I could see the coyote sitting up shaking his head.
It was very much not dead. I pushed it out of the back of the pickup and preceded to make it very dead.
Especially with a .270 I come from the upper back side and shoot it 3-4 times between the shoulder blades through the spine into the chest. If I'm using my 7x57 I throw it in the truck right off the bat. However I have had em' jump up REAL close w/an '06!-Muddy
Muddy - you are under gunned. Once with me was with an '06. 180 gr. The other was with a .338WM (210 NP - never used it again!). Both times were front approaches. I quit doing that!
Then (third) there was the time with a "yearling" bull moose, whacked .338WM, 250 gr. running, thru the spine ( pulverizing about 6 inches), exit thru base of neck, entrance high shoulder at 150 yards. Momentum carried him into 16 inches of water/mud. Put another into base of skull (just for luck) from behind before parking gun on handy willow 10 feet up bank, then wading out to turn him around and drag him up on shore for dressing out. That created a bit of a sore back about 2 days later, tho.
On my grabbing his antlers he blinked. Only time I have ever achieved levitation directly to firearm- or anywhere else.
Moose ain't hard to kill, tho often stubborn about it.
When I was in High School, a buddy and I were pheasant hunting. A rooster got up, and we both obviously hit it, nearly simultaneously. Threw it in the back of the pickup, only, driving a short time later, it was sitting up on the tailgate, kinda woobely. We jumped out, with guns, and it flew. Larry busted it again. When it came off the ground again, I busted it.
The coyote story reminds me of another one from just a few years ago. I was with my dad and a close friend working on the friend's property in a machine shed. The friend lets another guy do some trapping and he drove up to show us a nice coyote he had snared. It was in the back of a pickup with a topper. He opened the back of the truck and we leaned in to look. As the trapper reached in to drag the coyote out (which was laying on its side)for a split second I remember thinking its eyes looked awfully bright for a dead animal... He grabbed the coyote by the scruff of the neck and the back and swung it out of the truck to drop it on the ground. The coyote hit the ground, popped up and glared at us, then jogged away. Nobody said a word for a minute and then the trapper said "Well that's never happened before". We had a good laugh over that one. The trapper had snared this guy, pulled him out of the snare limp and threw him over his shoulder and walked a hundred yards across the field with the 'dead' coyote over his shoulder. That could have gotten interesting...
Been walking up to them with one in the chamber , safety off, finger on the trigger and poke them in the eye for years now. Then I stick a wad of ferns in their mouth.
I throw a stick at them from a distance if there is any doubt. I had a black bear jump up and take off once when I did that. It was nice to be 20 feet away when that happened! I have had two mule deer Sumo me to the ground when I grabbed their antlers knowing they were alive but thinking I was stronger. Bad program is all I can say.
I had a coyote in the back of my truck one time that I thought was dead. I went to a drive through on my way home. When I got up to the window the gal went to take my money and shied away. She came back with another lady- manager I presumed, who called me an a$$hole and slammed the window. I looked behind me and the coyote was standing up on my toolbox-all bloody. My dog woke up and saw him about the same time and shook it like a ragdoll getting blood all over the drive-through window. I never did get my cheeseburger!
I throw a stick at them from a distance if there is any doubt. I had a black bear jump up and take off once when I did that. It was nice to be 20 feet away when that happened! I have had two mule deer Sumo me to the ground when I grabbed their antlers knowing they were alive but thinking I was stronger. Bad program is all I can say.
I had a coyote in the back of my truck one time that I thought was dead. I went to a drive through on my way home. When I got up to the window the gal went to take my money and shied away. She came back with another lady- manager I presumed, who called me an a$$hole and slammed the window. I looked behind me and the coyote was standing up on my toolbox-all bloody. My dog woke up and saw him about the same time and shook it like a ragdoll getting blood all over the drive-through window. I never did get my cheeseburger!
That's freaking awesome Dennis.
I've had a 190"+ muley run off and had a couple of fox wake up in the truck bed while we were calling the next stand. That was a bit sporty....
Some great stories, especially the drive thru coyote!
I learned a valuable lesson myself about turkeys about 15 years ago. I had just bought a Mossberg 835 and had shot a nice gobbler with a 3 1/2" load of 6's. He dropped like a rock and never twitched. It was my second turkey ever and I thought the new shotgun was a death ray to have dropped the bird with no flopping.
I walked up to the turkey and grabbed it by a leg to pick it up, at which point it went berserk, flapping and flopping like you would imagine a 20 lb bird can do. I held on for dear life, not wanting my trophy gobbler to get away. Dust and leaf litter were flying around and getting in my eyes.
Nearly blind and pretty scared, I finally tackled the turkey and held it down until I could wring its neck.
The valuable lesson I learned that day is if the turkey's eyes are closed, he ain't dead! Same goes for furry critters too.
Story from many years ago: my grandfather was deer hunting, the other guy he was with shot a deer and it dropped. This guy was of the school of cutting the throat to bleed out the deer, so he sets his rifle down, gets out his knife, straddles back of deer. As he lifts the head the deer wakes and jumps up. Guy drops knife and wraps his arms around the deer's neck. As the deer starts to buck and run he's yelling "shoot! shoot!" at my grandfather, who is laughing way to hard to take that kind of shot. pretty sure deer got away. Should have poked it in the eye.
Like this. Stop a distance away when you can see the tongue. If the tongue is making any kind of motion that would suggest taunting, give him another. If the tongue is still, check to see if the eyes are Xs. If so, then you know he's dead.
A couple friends, brothers jacked a nice buck one night and it came alive in a large construction garage. No problem for these guys, they shot him again while he was running around inside. Quite proud of him, had him mounted and is on the wall in the same garage
sambo3006----- Turkey hunting I carry a tape recording of a Mexican Mariachi Band playing and while playing it I do The Mexican Hat Dance on it's head.
Like this. Stop a distance away when you can see the tongue. If the tongue is making any kind of motion that would suggest taunting, give him another. If the tongue is still, check to see if the eyes are Xs. If so, then you know he's dead.
I remember that pic and the story behind it, great to see it again!
My cousin and I had our wives in a small boat back in some swampy stuff up in Ontario. We were catchin frogs with red yarn and a small treble hook, swing im over into the boat, grab legs and whack their head against rhe side of the boat. One must have just been knocked out cuz it came to and started hoppin around. Both women jumped up and ran to opposite ends of the 12 foot boat, nearly dumped us all, including all the bullfrogs we nabbed.
Ever since then I carry my 12ga and give them a finishing shot! (The frogs, not the women.)
Caught a big snapping turtle fishing at night from a big freight canoe. My cousin was faking sleep in the bow and would not help me land the turtle. I finally got hold of the tail and hauled it over the side and dropped it in the canoe.
Leonard objected because the turtle was headed right at him. He ended up swamping the canoe and we lost a bunch of stuff.
My moose last September was really close and fighting with another bull when I shot. Willows deflected the bullet and the bull was trying to get up so I moved in close to clear the willows.
After I killed him I looked up to find the other bull still standing there at maybe 25 feet trying to figure out what just happened... Scared me badly when I realized he might have decided to come after me, not realizing I had just given him all the cows!
Nothing on those stupid hunting shows is real, same for the magazines. They have already found the animal, moved it for the best shot, and probably done a couple of practice runs. "Boy, I would have never shot this big ol' naturally raised 400 point bull elk without this Remmington 700 CDL and Premier Accutip bullets".
I shot a smallish 7 point whitetail last season and while the shot smashed both front shoulders the internal damage was less than anticipated. I knew he'd have to go down hill and once located him I could see he was flat out down but still breathing. Approaching from the tail end I thought he'd slip away and just kept my rifle pointed in his general direction when all of a sudden he's swapped ends and I had a seriously PO'd antlered animal at 10 yards. Fortunately, he could not rise but it was pretty plain he'd have loved to take a piece of me with him. A "quieter" ended things but then.... My son-in-law once grabbed a "dead" pronghorn I'd dropped only to have the goat jump up. We named that one Lazarus. It's so easy to get a bit casual especially with smaller or non-dangerous game.
I often wonder what would happen, if more folks would give em the 30 minute break... WTF else is so important generally, that you have to haul over there quickly..
Uness the amimal is down in sight, wait 30 minutes on crowded public land and you'll possibly find only a gut pile. I make every effort to drop the critter within sight when I hunt public land, especially on opening weekend. I can only imagine what it is like to hunt public land in PA, NY, NJ etc.
in PA if you're on public land, you shoot until you can't see your target safely anymore (see another hunter or the animal disappears) then you follow up right away or someone else will have it.
my dad got a nice 8 point my first year sitting in the woods with him (I was probably 10) heard the shots coming up the hollow and he was the one that finished so he got to keep it
Was on a deer drive - Yes we could legally use dogs. Still, had to have big time safety rules: We (hunters) were dropped strategically off along an old logging road. Such that each hunter was at/in a low point along the road. This way there was a hill between each hunter so we could not accidently shoot one another. The absolute safety rule was that you DID NOT move from your drop-off spot until you were picked back up after the hunt.
I shot a 6pt. "Died" right in front of me on the road. Since it would be awhile before I was to be picked-up, I put my gun down and stepped over the back of the deer to cut its throat and let it bleed while I waited. Deer got up - Me on its back and ran down the road. I was holding on with both hands even with my knife in one. The ride was so ruff I couldn't let go to even to stab it must less cut the throat. All I could do was holler hopeing the hunter on the other side would hear me and not shoot us at the hill top. Luckily he did and I saw laughing about the time I fell off the deer. He was laughing so hard he did not even get off a shot when the deer and I had separated!
Was so embarrassed, all I could think of was to throw my knife down and holler that "I've had to get me a gun next time"! Latter that day he even offered to let me use one his.
Yep, I hunted a tract of 28 thousand acres state (public) land in the southern Adirondacks for years and saw a total of four other hunters in there. Can go for miles and not see another track.
Best not dead animal I every experience was not " Big" game. We used to hunt a goose blind that was a box about 8 x6 by four feet tall. One morning there was 4 of us in there plus two retrievers when one of the dogs started growling . I turned to be eyeball to eyeball with Two perfectly alive and less then happy greater canada ganders... ended poorly with dogs and fists a flying .
I was squirrel hunting when I was a teenager and saw a large raccoon asleep in the top of a dead tree. It awoke and raised its head up, I was using a 22 magnum and put the cross hairs on his head and fired. He crashed to the ground and I walked up to him and flipped him over with my boot. He immediately came back to life and tried to bite my boot, I grabbed a large stick and whacked him good, killing him this time. I skinned him right there and the bullet had only grazed his head. Im glad I didnt grab him by the tail and pick him up, probably would have got bitten pretty bad.
Several years ago in ND I was hunting with my dad and my nephew in an overgrown pasture. My nephew shot a nice buck we jumped up at about 150 yds away. We knew the general area where he went down but the grass and brush was thick and 2.5-3 ft high all over. We got to the general area where we thought he went down and started looking for him. All of a sudden the buck lunged at my nephew with his antlers pointed at his legs. It was a quick and violent effort from an adrenalized deer and luckily it came up maybe two inches short due to Trevor reacting with a quick rearward hop. The buck turned out to have been spined about 1/2 way between the neck and the tail. I can assure you there was nothing wrong with his will to live or his front legs as they propelled him a good 7-8 ft. in a single, violent & rapid lunge. He got a quick finishing shot before he could reload for another attempt at goring my nephew. It was an exciting end to a cool hunt with a kid from AL shooting his first deer with his grandpa and uncle present and it all taking place on his late great grandfathers land.
I know there have been some funny accounts of pheasants turning out to not be dead but sometimes the situation can actually get serious. I was hunting another time in ND with my dad and my cousin and we had limited on some nice big late-season pheasants. We were grabbing them out of the back of the pickup to pose for a limit picture with our 9 beautiful birds. Well it turns out that a rooster that my dad grabbed was camera shy. As my dad grabbed the bird by the neck/breast area this big rooster proceeded to spur the $hit out of him on the underside of his wrist. It quickly become apparent why this is the go to spot for people trying to off themselves because the amount of bleeding that commenced was damned scary. The situation was amplified by the fact that dad is on prescription blood thinner. We didn't have a first aid kit handy so we kept packing snow onto his wrist and compressing the area in an effort the get the bleeding slowed down. We always try to keep a first aid kit in the hunting rigs now as you never know what might happen and it's usually quite a ways to medical help.
I had a buddy see a deer hit along the Interstate, cut a back flip and keel over dead on the side of the road. Pulled over and put her in the trunk. Got home, opened the trunk and got jumped by one pee'd off doe!!!!
I've had critters come back to life. Mostly birds, but my wife once shot a deer with a slug in a river bottom. I went to check when I heard the shot and found her gloating over a small buck. It was in a bushy swale, laying back in the bottom with legs slightly elevated. There was a little blood in the snow by its head and no visible wound. Taking my knife, I went to the task but felt something was off. I put the knife in my left hand just as the buck's eye popped open. We made eye contact and he went nuts. I was behind him but only about a foot away. I used the occasion to practice my quick-draw. When I rolled the dead deer over, I found that my wife had shot off one antler right at the base of the skull, where there was some slight bleeding. Otherwise, the deer was entirely uninjured. I saved the shot-off antler and still have a lot of fun ribbing her over the event.
My moose last September was really close and fighting with another bull when I shot. Willows deflected the bullet and the bull was trying to get up so I moved in close to clear the willows.
After I killed him I looked up to find the other bull still standing there at maybe 25 feet trying to figure out what just happened... Scared me badly when I realized he might have decided to come after me, not realizing I had just given him all the cows!
I had the same thing happen here in WY when I shot a bull moose with my bow, I knew there was another bull there and they were approaching each other but not sparring when I shot the bull. The bad news was it was getting dark when my wife and I got to the downed bull and the other bull just kept circling and huffing. It was a little nerve racking until he finally left.
I'm usually pretty careful and have never had a rodeo like some of the guys here, but I did finish an all-but-finished black bear with a knife to the base of the skull a couple of years ago. No earplugs in my pack and I was tired of my ears ringing after a couple of shots..but as I've said before, I should probably quit [bleep] with black bears.
And it can get interesting anyway. A couple of weeks ago I approached a down lynx, very dead apparently, so put my rifle down and used both hands to position it better for a photo. It woke up, looked at me, bared its teeth and started to stand. For information purpose only, photos of its teeth and a claw below...
With turkey, I make sure my boot is firmly planted on the neck before trying to grab the legs. I usually do a bit of a grind on it if the gobbler is still active. After that, it's just a matter of "lift and separate." I put it back down while I pick up my stuff.
With deer, the first thing I do is check the legs. If the legs are drawn up under the deer, it's still alive and it gets a round to the chest. If the legs are all out to one side, chances are it's expired. Either way, I stay loaded. I approach from the back of the animal, and I make sure I'm not blocking the path for escape. I used to touch the eye with the barrel of the rifle. Recently, I've switched to kicking the top of the head. If I am delivering a finisher, I get back at least 10 feet, and more if practical.
If memory serves, my last one that required a finisher was a decade ago. A big 6 point buck fell took one a little too far back, and bedded less than 50 yards from where I hit him. I was just approaching to touch the eyeball when he reared up and tried to trot off. He got another round of .308 at less than 10 yards that took out his heart, lungs, and guts. Yuck. Lesson learned.
Squirrels? We've had a few re-animate. I kick 'em around a little bit, before attempting to pick them up. Then they usually go into a plastic grocery bag before going in the game bag.
Lotsa good tips on how to make sure it is dead and to get your mind ready if it is not. Adapt as necessary.
Re approaching: one size does not fit all terrain, vegetation, nor the offensive tools of the critter. Many of us have seen elk, deer, bear etc. on ground so steep that any twitch of the critter or touch of it by hunter will send it sliding, rolling downhill. A black bear almost rolled over my son as he dived out of its way, and I dodged a buck caroming down past me.
Quick steps in a swamp aren't.
Heavy brush can restrict approach, restrict my movement and particularly the free swing of my rifle.
Hey, approaching a down animal is a GOOD problem! I've posted about my rodeo with a wounded 4x5 mule deer buck. My advice is to make sure that you rassle a buck with antlers wide enough to pass on each side of your body when you grab the bases. I dropped my knife, bull dogged him down, jumped away to my rifle and shot him again. Retold only in the interest of being a good example of what not to do!
I usually put my rifle on safe and sling it on my left shoulder. I then approach silently from downwind. Then I run towards the downed animal and leap onto it's back. If it jumps up or bites me or otherwise shows signs of being alive, I will wish I just poked it in the eye like I normally do!
LOL! Reminds me of a friend that ended up riding a bull Nilgai through the brush. Shredded the shirt off his back and cut him up pretty good.
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