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

How many deer have you shot with a rifle, or muzzleloader that dropped in their tracks. As for myself the vast majority ran a ways no matter how good they were hit. Not talking about gut shot, but a good heart & lung shot. Anything from .243 to a 30.06. I've had a few fall where they stood, but most ran. I watched my dad shoot a buck at 60 yards, and it ran downhill in front of us & fell. When he gutted said deer he pulled the heart out. It was shredded by a 30.06 180gr factory load. I'm still amazed at what deer are capable of just by sheer adrenalin. Feel free to share any stories.

Out of 100+, probably 4 or 5 with a heart or double lung shot. Some only go a few yards, but most run a little. I’d say average is 20-40 yards. That’s from 6mm Rem, .270, .338 fed, .300 wm, .300 wsm, .308, 30-06, 350 rem, and probably some others. No appreciable difference between rifles.

my experience in the 50 or so deer i've shot is that if i didn't bust the front shoulder or spine, the deer would run. sometimes not far though. best DRT shot for me is neck and shoulder joint.

A few.

Was loading a 165 grain btsp Sierra when I was a kid for 30-06.

It blew a hell of a hole in em. DRT.

I've never tried a neck shot, but been told it will drop em fast.

Same here. The only difference I've seen in calibers is that bigger holes usually let more blood out (assuming complete penetration.)

I have killed over 90 whitetail, most with a 30-06. Small Georgia deer. On average, with a lung shot, they ran 100 yards. I have had 'em run 80 yards with the heart blown to bits.

I started shooting a muzzleloader with a .50 round ball, on a lung shot those deer only went about 45 yards. The round ball is more effective than the 30-06.

Two, a doe I shot with my Knight muzzleloader and a small buck shot with the same gun. The doe spun in a complete circle, the buck fell when he stood.

I believe he's referring to the high shoulder, where the neck and body join. Definitely the best "anchoring" shot on a whitetail. The neck itself is a small target and more "dead" deer run off from poor neck shots than any other.

First one I was 11 or 12. Using a .243 which is very capable. I ended up shooting spike multiple times, because of poor hits & excitement due to my adrenalin. When it was all over there wasn't hardly a useful piece of meat left on him

A hundred deer or so...all but about ten have dropped on the spot. Most shot with 30-06 and 7mms.

I used a .257 Roberts for about 10-15 years with a 100 gr Hornady spire point in front of 46 gr of IMR4350.
I've also used .270's, .257 Ackleys, 6.5x47, etc. over the years but that old Roberts was the one that had a relatively high % of dropping them where they stood. Especially in the 60-100 yard range. In fact, I don't ever remember one of the other calibers doing that with a clean chest shot (not shoulder, head, neck, etc.) for me. YMMV. On those shot in the chest at minor angles, I would usually find the bullet under or near the skin on the far side with the Roberts.

Now, it's not a load that you want to depend on for deep penetration, but I've always been pretty picky on my shots as I don't like a mess or big meat loss as I process them myself.

It makes me wonder why I ever got away from it...

I’ve killed probably 30 deer. I’d say 90 percent are bang flops. Mostly with a 25-06..

No tally to go by,

But I’d say a fair % have dropped where shot.

Very high percentage when using 35 whelen with ttsx.
Though most those shoots are <100 yds.

I shoot the crease behind the shoulder.

I have an old knight. It's a fine gun with a better trigger than any of my rifles.

2 with a bow

None with a muzzleloader (flintlock)

Probably 8 or 10 with a rifle..............no neck shots........all front shoulder. All of those but one were with a .308 Win and the old, original 180 grain Silvertip factory load, The other was a .30/40 Krag 180 grain reload. Interestingly............ I never, EVER saw a deer NOT go down in its tracks until I started shooting them with a .300 Win Mag.

I can only think of one that basically dropped where it stood and it was shot with a 32 WS at 60 yards in the chest (from standing, it did a complete backwards flip in the air). A few have gone to their front knees at the shot and got up but most just walk or run a ways; a few have acted completely unaffected. I always aim for the best double lung shot i can get. Over the years, my samples span 243s, 270s, 308s, 30-40s, 06s, 300 WM, 32 WS, 45-75, 50 and 54 muzzles and have watched almost as many as i have harvested.

Well I remember more than a few but 1 year I had 2 very definitive bang flops
A mule deer doe at 68 steps right thru the ribs and out, dropped in her tracks. A whitetail doe at 105 yds about the same shot but just catching the edge of the shoulder blade on exit. Dropped in her tracks. 7 mm Remington mag 120 gr Nosler ballistic tips full throttle RL-19 loads at 3500 fps. Some doubt the velocity of that load and as that powder is long gone in my inventory I can't verify those load velocities but non the less I've never seen 2 better bang flops with non cns placement. Mb

Head shots for me, no running

About a dozen, most were high shoulder shots, no brain pan shots.