I agree Seafire,n shock has allowed many to live another day. Many years ago I walked in one afternoon dragging a rag soaked in Tinks, got to my tree and climbed up to my stand. Left the rag laying under the tree. Blackpowder opener, and as it was getting dark I hear steps behind my tree. I was like 15 feet up, and he was on my right approaching the base of my tree. I had stood up and had my muzzle loader pointed straight down, and he was a nice 8 pt just standing there smelling the rag laying on the ground. I put the cross hairs on the center of his neck, right behind his head. BOOM....he hit the ground and never moved. It was getting real dark and I lowered my gun to the ground and it hit him as I lowered it. All of a sudden, he was getting up and all could do was hear him thrashing around under me.....was so dark I could not see him. Got down and blood all over the ground an brush....heard him running off and crossing a creek just below me. Trailed him for hours and went back the next day looking...never found him.
I had one "come back to life." I shot a buck with an 8x57 with a 195 gr. Hornady SP at 2500 fps. The buck dropped to the shot. I racked in another cartridge and watched. I smoked a cigarette and watched. All seemed well. I gathered myself up and turned around to get out of my makeshift blind. When I stepped out of the blind the buck was up and moving about 40 yds. from where he fell. Another shot dropped him for the last time. It turned out the first shot was a bad one. It hit him in the neck above the spine. The last one was through the should quartering towards. No more neck shots for me. I want to see the glaze in their eyes before I start to handle down game.
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I have a had few deer drop to shot and try to get up later but I’ve been fortunate to have heeded my lessons and had a round in the chamber and the cross hairs on the deer waiting for such an occurrence. If I can see the deer I’ll give them a good number of minutes watching if I can’t see the deer I get to them quickly to make sure they are a corpse.
Every downed deer gets the tap on the eyeball as soon as I get there.
One year a friend of mine and I were working a series of draws in late November looking to fill out second doe tags. I shot a doe, as we approached it another doe popped out of a side coulee and my buddy shot it. The deer dropped at the shot, I called it high and near the diaphragm, told my buddy the deer is not dead you need to go finish it.
“No it’s dead and I’m not going to put another bullet in it and waste some meat”. I encourage him to go up to the deer and stick a knife in its ribs just to humour me, he finally agrees and as he walks toward the deer it pops up and starts to run off. Two or three more shoots and more wasted meat than a finisher to the ribs the deer is down.
It’s not dead in my books until you poke the eyeball and does not blink.
Not me, but someone close enough to me to tell me this story... He and his business partner were sitting around the office one day, things were slow and they thought it would be a good idea to leave the help in charge and go get a deer for an upcoming barbecue affair. The fact that deer season wasn't open didn't concern these guys. They started cruising the back roads, looking for a deer where they could shoot it and throw it in the back of the Ford van to take home and prep for the cookout. They were, without a doubt, passing a bottle of vodka and a joint back and forth as they drove. "There's one, down across that field." Rifle out the window, POW! Down goes the deer. Drive the van down across the plowed field, throw the deer in the back, get back up on the road and head for home. driving carefully now, don't want to get stopped...the business they were in, it could have serious repercussions if they got in trouble. Getting back into a settled area, driver looks in the rear view mirror: there's the deer standing up and looking back at him. All hell breaks loose. Guy in the passenger side ends up getting back there with a tire iron and putting the deer down for keeps. This was around 40 years ago. Most of my friends and relatives have matured somewhat beyond that point in the intervening years.
Same guy that lost the turkey was also a big trapper and caught a very nice red fox one morning. He took out his camera to get some photos before dispatching the fox, and got about 10 feet from it when it suddenly pulled its foot out of the trap and took off like a rocket.
On the “dead deer” thing, dad always told me to always approach a downed deer from the back side and touch the gun barrel to their eyeball. Evidently something alive cannot prevent a reaction to their eyelid if something touches their eyeball.
I was taught to do that when I was a teenager, but have gradually been forgetting. Evidently, the stunned possum playing deer are more common than I had realized.
Back when we had to take ours to check stations, one kid pulled up in front of the small town grocery store to check his buck in and as he stops his buck hops out of the bed of his truck and runs off.
Another fellow shot a trophy buck, and as he was posing for pictures, holding the deers head with his rifle in the rack, the deer hops up and runs off with his nice Remington 700 in its horns, never to be seen again.
Another fellow shot a trophy buck, and as he was posing for pictures, holding the deers head with his rifle in the rack, the deer hops up and runs off with his nice Remington 700 in its horns, never to be seen again.
Dude! That's a great story, and sucks for the rifle owner.
I shot a mature GA buck a few years ago, 7mm RM, 275 yards, hit twice, one straight on, the second broadside. Walked up and it looked like a crime scene, blood everywhere in a circle where he tried to hold his ground and eventually "died". I walked up to him, touched his eye with my gun barrel and he blinked. I thought "I don't want to shoot this deer again" as it was such a mess and certainly couldn't get up, so I walked a few paces away to let him die in peace. I turned my back on him for a moment and I heard a noise that I couldn't register, turned around and he was on his feet going straight away from me about 20 yards off. One more to the base of the neck did the trick but I'll never forget that moment. Hunters will tell you that a mature buck is harder to kill than a younger deer, their survival instincts are so strong that if they can physically move, they will. I am a believer!
.257bob; in that situation; while the deer is dazed on the ground, I put a knife (Buck 119 my hip splitting knife) in the lower ribs close to the leg and give a “scramble”. Works very quickly to make something truly dead. Based upon my experience quicker than another bullet to the chest.
Of course a downed deer with a lot of life still on it gets another bullet or arrow.
Some years back, my alcoholic friend with a reputation as a brawler was on the way home from work about dusk, smack, hit a nice buck. No traffic on the highway so he backed up, drug it up out of the ditch and got it into the bed of the pickup. Proceeded down the highway a few miles, oh schidt, the buck is scrambling around trying to get to it's feet. Tony stops the pickup, without thinking, jumps in the back with the buck, pocketknife in hand and commences to murder the buck. The buck ain't cooperating, a hell of a tussle ensues before the buck finally bleeds out. But Tony is in bad shape too, hoof cuts, horn punctures, blood everywhere, shirt torn to hell. He pulls in his driveway, motion light comes on, his mean old woman looks out the window, sees Tony all torn and bloody, assumes he's been drinkin' and fightin' again. You son of a bitch, you promised no more drinkin'...she locks the door, starts throwing his stuff out the window. Took him an hour to talk her down and show her the buck with it's throat slashed.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
.257bob; in that situation; while the deer is dazed on the ground, I put a knife (Buck 119 my hip splitting knife) in the lower ribs close to the leg and give a “scramble”. Works very quickly to make something truly dead. Based upon my experience quicker than another bullet to the chest.
Of course a downed deer with a lot of life still on it gets another bullet or arrow.
What do you do do if the stunned deer comes to about the time you’re bent over it with your big serial killer knife and tosses his head and sticks you with an antler?
I’ve not had one come back on me, but I’m apt to use the bullet at the base of the neck method if I’m in doubt.
Stuck one with a knive one time and the "dead deer" kicked the crap out of my hand. Thought I was gonna lose the nail for a while. They are tough critters.
Some mornings, it just does not feel worth it to chew through the straps!~
Not me but my buddy had an old International scout and a black lab. He went pheasant hunting and on his way home when his dog perked up with its tail waving. He looked in his rear view mirror to see the rooster standing up in the back of the scout. Damn near rolled it before he got his dog under control.
.257bob; in that situation; while the deer is dazed on the ground, I put a knife (Buck 119 my hip splitting knife) in the lower ribs close to the leg and give a “scramble”. Works very quickly to make something truly dead. Based upon my experience quicker than another bullet to the chest.
Of course a downed deer with a lot of life still on it gets another bullet or arrow.
GRF, I don't disagree with your process but I this case, I simply couldn't imagine that deer could possible get up. I was wrong!
.257bob; in that situation; while the deer is dazed on the ground, I put a knife (Buck 119 my hip splitting knife) in the lower ribs close to the leg and give a “scramble”. Works very quickly to make something truly dead. Based upon my experience quicker than another bullet to the chest.
Of course a downed deer with a lot of life still on it gets another bullet or arrow.
What do you do do if the stunned deer comes to about the time you’re bent over it with your big serial killer knife and tosses his head and sticks you with an antler?
I’ve not had one come back on me, but I’m apt to use the bullet at the base of the neck method if I’m in doubt.
Never been in this situation, but have walked up on many not yet dead deer. If they arent just kucking out they get a bullet to the back of the head.
Me, a largish wild animal fighting for its life, a bigger sharp knife, What could possibly go wrong?🤔
Why take a knife to a fight when you have a gun?
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
