Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How many deer have you

We hunt canyons with adjacent crop land out here so high shoulder shots always stops a bag drag...

I would guess 6-7 out of maybe 40-something. Two were head shot does that gave me perfect 300BO shots, lying down, not moving, at under 30 yards, so around 10% of "conventional" shots at best.

I try to not destroy the front shoulders though, so there's that.

About 40% since I started using a 257 Weatherby.

It's all about knockdown power bullet expansion and shot placement.

Seen plenty of mortally wounded deer cover some ground if the bullet passes through the body.

Only a few have dropped in their tracks when shot in the chest cavity. Most run close to 40yds before they die.
I read an article years ago on a study of that very question or mainly “heart shots “. The conclusion was that if the heart was pumping blood into the veins when the bullet hit, the shock exploded the system and the animal dropped instantly. If the heart was constricting, the animal had enough oxygenated blood in their system to run x amount of yds no matter what damage had be done to the heart. Both were “kill shot” just with different instantaneous results.
Sounds logical to me.

Head or spine shots drop them quick!

I quit counting at around a 100. I'd say at least half of those were killed with a 270 and a 130 grain soft point. Most of them were one shot, dropped in their tracks kills. But, back in the day when I was doing all that, I was hunting out of stands where most of my shots were going to be in the 100 yard range. I was shooting a very accurate rifle, and could put a bullet in the exact spot I wanted, usually the neck.

As a matter of fact, I'd have been shocked if one did run. I also experienced the same thing with the 35 Remington......one shot, dead in their tracks. My last 3 deer have been taken with a 6.5 Creedmoor. All one shot kills, with two of them going maybe 20-30 yards after the shot, and the other dropped in his tracks.

I've had probably a dozen bang flops, my most memorable was with a muzzleloader. I was walking out of the woods into a clearing when I saw a doe standing in the tall grass, I pulled the trigger and when the smoke cleared she was still standing there. I reloaded and fired again, when the smoke cleared this time I could see her limping away. I went to look for blood and when I got to where she was standing there was a dead doe in the grass the other doe must have been bedded there and stood when I shot. I tracked the other one about a hundred yards and put the finishing shot in her. Usually if the shot presents itself I will go for a neck shot to save myself from having to track

Knockdown power? Stick to your Xbox

I could only guesstimate that I've shot between 85-100 deer in my life. I'd be hard pressed to remember more than a single handful or so that didn't fall in their own shadow or after just a couple of stagger steps. I really like the high shoulder or neck shots.

The vast majority were killed with Ole Reliable, a 30-06. Last 8 years or so, been using a 7-08 out of either a Featherweight M70, or lately, a Montana. Pepper in a few with 35 Rem, 257 Roberts, 250 Sav and 300 Sav.

I’ll say that 95% of my shooting on deer are “bang flops”.
I’m not bragging, but I learned early in my career that on whitetails, neck shots are best.
I love to hunt squirrel with a good .22 as well, so I’ve learned to be pretty picky about where and when I shoot.
Having one run, and occasionally losing one that’s been hit, are unavoidable sometimes. But I’ve trained myself not to take low percentage shots, and all of my rifles are accurate. If they’re not, I don’t keep them.
7mm

I've never shot a whiletail, only mulies. I've had MANY of them drop within a few steps, the large majority in fact.

I've killed quite a few and most have run at least a few yards. Even with a 12 gauge slug in the boiler room. Same results with my .308 Marlin Express. Most don't go far at all though.

I used to shoot behind the shoulder an inch or two below the mid point of the body.I was amazed at how such a well placed shot often resulted in a deer making a long mad dash before dying.Many of those were a 100yds or so.I think the lungs are super shock absorbers.Being spongy and flexible,a low lung shot,even though it is a lethal shot,it seems to protect the spine from the bullet shock as it travels through the chest cavity.I started shooting tight up against the shoulder,an inch or two above the mid point of the body.You still get the lungs but most of the lungs are below the wound channel and it doesn't affect the shock of the bullet like the lower shot does.The result is you get a lot of shock to the underside of the spine and also ruptures the large arteries that are just below the spine.I get consistent DRT kills with that shot.Another thing to notice is the diaphragm is angled.A low shot a little too far behind the shoulder and you will either hit or rupture the stomach.Shooting a little higher,you can still hit back a ways and still be in the lungs and avoiding a gut shot.

Out of 45 or so deer, maybe 5 dropped at the shot with a behind the shoulder shot. One each with.30-30, .308 and .300 Savage, 2 with 00 buck.

Old70

Maybe 4 or 5 fell on the spot out of 25 deer, a couple of those needed follow up mercy shots. I’m pretty much a behind the shoulder shooter, and most shots have been 100-200 yards. I’ve taken my daughter, niece and nephew to shoot their first deer in the last couple years and 2 out of three dropped flat. Those were about 60 yard shots.

Not a huge sample, but I've killed about a dozen whitetail deer, have used .308 with 150 gr corelokts, .308 with 165 gr federal premium/sierra game kings, .308 with 165 gr fusions, and 30/30 with 170 gr blue box federals. All shots within 10 to 100 yards. Rifles were 30/30 Savage 99, .308 Savage 99F, and .308 Kimber Montana.

When the deer were standing they were one shot dropped in place with heart/lung shots, except two that were high shoulder/spine shots - deer down in place, but used a second kill shot (30/30 with both of those deer). Never had a standing deer run after being hit.

Running/walking deer have been one or two shots, some just piled up in a few yds, farthest any traveled has been about 30 or 40 yds. Have shot more than twice at some fast moving deer, but only hit them with two of the shots. Shooting at a moving deer tends to accelerate them!

Almost forgot, one deer killed with a 350 RemMag, 200 gr factory corelokt, 30 yds - very emphatic heart-shot boom-flop. I've added a 300 SAV to my deer rifles, but haven't connected with it yet.

With the cartridges I use and the ranges involved almost always get bullet pass thru, except a couple of times when I used to use factory Rem 150 gr corelokt ammo on large deer. That's why I went to 165 gr stuff. I also spend enough time at the range before hunting season to be competent with my rifles.

I hunt mostly with a 45/70. Exit hole is same size as entry wound. Heart shots ran a bit, neck shots dropped.

My .308 and 06 make a devastating exit wounds. Run or push maybe 10 yards.

I witnessed 2 interesting shots this year. My 14 year old daughter shot a buck, broadside at 100 yards with a 6.5 Creedmore. Deer barely flinched and strolled off into the woods. We waited about 20 minutes then came down out of the stand. Zero blood. I told her, at least it was a clean miss and better luck next time. We walked into the woods and there was a dead deer 5 yards inside the wood line. My first thought was, Who shot That deer!? It was hers! A bit if a gut shot but only went 15 yards total. Bullet was lodged under the skin on the far side.

Her twin brother shot a big 8 point, 21" spread with his buddies 300 wsm. 30 yard shot. Thing dropped and we recovered the bullet under the skin on the far side. Great transfer of energy!

I quit counting at 100 deer & 20 hogs, with 13 cal from 250 Savage to 45-70 but mostly with a 257 Roberts maybe 10 have dropped there. I head shoot hogs so the usually drop right there

Maybe 6, but all of those were either neck, spine or shoulder shots. Never with a true heart lung only shot. I’ve had their lung tissue strain through my fingers, so I don’t know how much more destructive a bullet I could be using than that? I do think that with the advent of the lighter, faster, softer bonded core bullets that we are seeing now specifically for deer hunting that drt results will be more frequent.

That sounds like a good day in the woods.