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vic now that is a blood trail!

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Originally Posted by gunner500
Originally Posted by Vic_in_Va
I prefer for them to drop right where I shot them, but plenty of sign is nice, too.

[Linked Image]


Damn, Compound Bow?


.308, 165 grain at about 15 yards. The deer that owns the blood trail, along with another, were coming towards me. About 15 seconds after it started, it was over.

Second one was a DRT, neck shot. I stopped him with a "mrrrp", he had his rear pointed at me, head up.

Down he went.....


[Linked Image]

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I wouldn’t say it’s overrated but I’m not disappointed if it doesn’t happen. For a long time it was what happened every time I shot a deer. Things have evened out to about 50/50 over the years.


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Dang, 10-4 Vic, I see that buck laying in the leaves at the end of that blood trail, good shooting and Congrats! smile


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Originally Posted by gunner500
I prefer it, i'll gladly donate a couple handfuls of fajita meat, I punch shoulders.



Amen brother.


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If it's not drt in my part of the country, it can mean a lost deer. I smash shoulders too....


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I admit that I’ve not killed as many deer as most of you and have taken way more elk than deer. What I can say is that I have had exactly one deer run and not recovered until the next day. Most have dropped DRT as have most all the elk I have taken. I guess if you use enough gun, the right bullet, and good shot placement; tracking is not an issue. DRT is not overrated when you are nearly 70!


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Originally Posted by gunner500
Dang, 10-4 Vic, I see that buck laying in the leaves at the end of that blood trail, good shooting and Congrats! smile


Thank you, Sir!

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I have been hunting whitetails for 57 yrs. and have only had three DRT, a doe and two bucks. Two were taken with 12ga. shotgun slugs, the third with a .44 Magnum 240gr.. One of the slug kills was hit just below the spine as was the .44 Mag. buck, the other buck took a 12ga. slug to the chest in a frontal shot. All the other deer were taken with high power rifles and were lung shot while standing broadside, they ran 30-60yds. some left good blood trails and others not so much. This past season's buck was a 100yd. raking shot that entered just ahead of the last two ribs and traversed the chest stopping just under the hide on the opposite side. He ran 40yds, the recovered bullet a Hornady 200gr. RN out of my .35 Whelen retained 66% of its original weight and was perfectly mushroomed. The lungs looked as though they had been put in a blender, adrenaline was all that enabled that buck to run cause his heart and lungs had been destroyed. While the hydrostaic shock was so devastating it had blown a portion of lung out the entry wound there was little blood trail.

Last edited by gunswizard; 03/26/19.
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It appears people have different definitions or interpretations of what the meaning of DRT is. To quote the OP...….

"One of the most spectacular DRT's was with the 150 gn from a 30-30, broadside, tight to the shoulder @ 30 yards. The deer jumped almost straight up, landed on its side, made another 30 foot leap and crashed to the ground closer to me than when I shot".

I wouldn't consider the OP's example as a DRT as much as it's an example of dying in sight. A DRT in my mind is the animal drops instantly, legs and body are "frozen", it doesn't take a step or get up and run or try to run and is dead almost immediately. In my 48 years of hunting big game a CNS shot most often causes a DRT. I personally do not think it's over rated at all. My tracking and long dragging days are long past.

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Originally Posted by RIO7
Killed more than my share of deer,and I'm big fan of dead right there, not dead right over there, deer are not hard to kill if you don't have a kill shot don't shoot. Rio7


Overrated may not have been the best word to use here and many good points were made by all. RIO7 does as well but should we define DRT as a "kill shot"? It is up to all of us to define what is and isn't an ethical kill shot. If you are able to hit the CNS every time and choose to pass on any other shot then I am all for it. How & where you hunt as pointed out here is also a factor. Still hunting thick cedar swamp etc. usually only provides one shot opportunity and the behind the shoulder aiming point allows the most room for error. Are there any bow hunters that only take DRT certain shots?

I would not tell a first time young hunter that they should only take a DRT shot, I have taught & shown them where and how to aim to produce "dead right over there" every time & how to find their deer. The (heart/lung shot) provides the biggest target while still making a quick clean kill. Vic's photo shows that, DROT & DRT are both very much acceptable.

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I think the DRT is something we should strive for every time we pull the trigger on an animal and limit ourselves to the shot that will achieve that. I know it doesn't always happen, but in a perfect world...


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I go for the heart and lung shot. I prefer the animal to do some bleeding out as they
run 50 yards or so. It is my conjecture that this allows for less blood in the muscles and
better eating. If I can't find an animal thus shot, I should not be hunting.
I do not like blown up shoulders or necks, but blown up ribs are fine.
Use reliable bullets at proper velocities.

Last edited by michiganroadkill; 03/26/19.

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Im in the depends where you hunt camp. Also the weather.


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Originally Posted by DeanAnderson
I think the DRT is something we should strive for every time we pull the trigger on an animal and limit ourselves to the shot that will achieve that. I know it doesn't always happen, but in a perfect world...


I just don't get all that worked up if it doesn't happen. There have been enough deviations and variations in my experience, that I know that the whole thing is too complex for it to be predictable.

I've seen:

1) A 60 lb doe take 3 rounds of 30-30 to the chest at 10 yards and walk away.
2) A 2.5 yr old buck take a round of 30-06 to the chest and go back to eating.
3) A 205 lb buck take 3 rounds of 35 Whelen to the chest and continue to stand
4) A 1.5 yr old buck take a round of 30-06 from a Garand and remain unfazed. The second round made him explode, emptying his innards on the ground. He ran 60 yards before he got tripped up with his intestines wrapped around his hind legs.

These were all good shots with reputable soft point hunting ammo, connecting with both lungs and the heart. DRT is great. It's just not something I can trust to happen. Early on in my career, I'd try and change something after every non-DRT event. I'd change bullet, change powder, even change rifle. I finally realized I was chasing a phantom. DRT is good, DRT can and does happen. It just doesn't HAVE to happen for it to be a successful hunt.

Mind you, this comes from a guy who has done everything conceivably possible to minimize deviations and produce a no-muss/no-fuss freezer filler. I usually fill my last tag every year from a ground blind, shooting off a bag at a doe that is standing within 10 yards of every other doe I've taken out of that field in the last decade. My goal is to drop the doe in the exact spot where it is easiest to roll up the truck. Most of the time it's DRT, but despite all the standardization, it just doesn't always happen.


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For DRT shots,I like to shoot tight against the shoulder,just a tad above the mid point of the body.I have found it will deliver shock to the spine and sometimes it will also rupture the large thoracic artery that lies just below the spine.This gives you a double whammy and will drop them on the spot with shock to the CNS and extreme loss of BP.One thing I also noticed,though it is not necessary because the deer is down on the spot,I get a large amount of blood and organ material spray from where the animal stood,to 20-30ft beyond the exit side of the deer.Don't know,maybe it's because it's right below the bony spine,the energy wants to rise and really cannot,so it really blows the damaged organ material out the exit hole. I've shot deer just a little lower and it kills too,but they will usually run.I think what happens is when the bullet enters the chest cavity,the shock not only spreads,but it also tends to want to rise. I think the lungs being spongy, absorb the shock and it doesn't really get to the spine.I've had them run a 100yds and not leave a noticeable blood sign and I don't like that.Shot position of the animal is important too.Broadside is good,but angle shots are the ones you need to think about.Not only do you aim for the entrance,but plan your exit too.For me,quartering away is much more preferred an quartering towards me. These pictures show where I like to shoot them.
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]

Last edited by baldhunter; 03/26/19.

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As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............
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Originally Posted by baldhunter
.....One thing I also noticed,though it is not necessary because the deer is down on the spot,I get a large amount of blood and organ material spray from where the animal stood,to 20-30ft beyond the exit side of the deer.


Yes I've seen that too but it doesn't always happen OR I just haven't noticed it all the time.
Here's an example. I had turned this buck 180* for the pic. but if you look close OR enlarge, you'll see a RED streak from the R hind leg.
That's where the bullet BLEW blood from the exit side.

[Linked Image]

Incidentally that shot was Hi behind the L shoulder and shattered the spine. DRT = Drop Right There.


Before 2012 I hunted deer leases mostly and had plenty of room IF deer ran and a lot of the time they did.
Since 2012 I have been hunting a small piece of property, 70 acres, and too often I'm not far from a fence/property line. I don't have permission to hunt the surrounding property so.......

D R T is very important to me.

Fellows, I don't mean to brag, since 2012 I have killed multiple deer each year on this property and I've taken pix of nearly all of them.
There are TOO many pix to post but you can see the deer laying and blood on the ground FROM the shot.
A few examples:

[Linked Image]
All I did for this pic was to PROP his head against the barrel. The blood -- under his head.



[Linked Image]
This pic is Self Explanatory. The neck is a BIG target.



[Linked Image]

This doe hit the ground the blood splattered or spattered. I took the pic before I touched the deer and the leaves are not disturbed.

I have one more pic, if it doesn't post I'll follow up in another post immediately.


[Linked Image]

Since 2012 this is the ONLY deer to take ANY steps. She was actually 1/4ing toward me. I shot the junction of shoulder/chest and she took 1 or 2 stumbling steps and turned BUTT over Head, 180* somersault. Notice the blood on the grass/weeds.

I like, PREFER, CNS ! DRT can be very important.

Jerry



Last edited by jwall; 03/26/19.

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I would like them to drop 'right where they were standing". but that is not the rule, it is the exception. When they run, I prefer that they run towards the truck! I prefer that to dropping where they stood! Just say'in!

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Nothing seems to work every time. I shot this buck dead center in the chest as he was facing me with a 300 WBY mag. He took off running toward me and over an irrigation ditch bank, across the ditch and into the timber before he fell. Both front shoulders were destroyed, I don't know how he did it, I only know that he did...

[Linked Image]


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A follow up to my earlier post.

If you learn the anatomy of the CNS, you won't lose MUCH meat. 2 examples.

[Linked Image]

A diff buck:

[Linked Image]


Originally Posted by Vic_in_Va

Second one was a DRT, neck shot. I stopped him with a "mrrrp", he had his rear pointed at me, head up.

Down he went.....


[Linked Image]



Yes neck shots work FROM the BACK of the neck.
This guy was walking straight away from me and he was @ 175 yds---- I use Shooting Sticks---- DRT
Bulged his eyeballs.


[Linked Image]


Jerry


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