Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Running dead…

Tough animals. They can go a long way without the necessary parts.

High shoulder shot to drop them.

-Jake

Shot one w a bow several years back at 14 yards, high entrance on ribcage as I was 15 feet up in a tree stand.
Deer flinched and started walking away.
As he got around 30 yards walking straight away from me I could see blood pouring out of his chest.
He stopped, wagged his tail and tipped over.

Shot a 200 lb plus buck in Missouri Nov 16th at 20 yards w a 308.
150 Accubond at 2900 FPS.
Again, 15 feet in the air in tree stand.
High in onside shoulder, exited lower 3rd of offside shoulder.
Deer ran 100 yards down hill and finally cartwheeled ass over head.

I quit trying to shoot deer in the heart years ago.
Shot a buck in the heart w an 06 and 165 Hornady Interlock BTSP.
He was about 120 yards.
I looked for blood for 30 yards and never found a drop.
About that time my brother walks up on me and says " I know ya hit him I heard it."
The deer went into a cedar thicket on side of a ridge he'd come out of after I shot him.
We got on a trail through the thicket and about 15 yards in there was blood everywhere.
Then no blood, then blood everywhere, then no blood.
Deer ended up running 400 yards through the cedars, nearly to the top of the ridge.
Stayed on the blood and we found him about 50 yards from where he was standing when I shot him at the bottom of the ridge.

On the way to work one morning several year ago, I was dong 55 when’s buck came out of know where and collided with the drivers door of my 2010 Tundra. The buck spun back taking out the passenger door, damaging the rear quarter panel, and took out the rear tire. He ran off like nothing happened. 7K worth of damage. His will to live was greater.

I shot one this morning through both shoulders with a 300 Weatherby. He ran off and didn't bleed a drop till he fell. 2" exit and I didn't find any blood or hair where he was standing when I shot. Heart was cut loose at the top. He went 70 yards uphill.

Clearly the 300 Weatherby doesn't have enough killing power.

i would try the 460 Weatherby Mag and if that don't werk, i'd go with 950 JDJ.

I shot a doe a few years ago at about 20 yards with the .444 Marlin, didn't notice the sapling just in front of her chest, maybe an 1" or so in diameter. Bullet hit the sapling before the deer and must have expanded and carried some of the tree with it as it punched a 2" hole clean through her heart/lung area completely obliterating everything in her chest, you could literally see right through her. She still ran 30 yards. There was so much blood when my son viewed the scene he asked me how many did I shoot.

For the TSX bullet, especially heavy for caliber like the 6.5/130, .277/140, or .30/168 gr. in non-magnum cartridges?

High or off shoulder.




GR

I recently just read a study that was done on this very subject.
I t come to the conclusion that a heart shot deer can live up to 15 seconds after being hit.
A deer could cover some ground in that time.
Sorry i can't for the life of me remember where i read this.

300 win mag with 150’s or 180’s has always been bang flops for me pard.

Heart still pumping out entry and exit holes makes blood trails.
I prefer to see them drop at the shot but,
I’m thankful my dad taught me to track when I was little.
F01

Even a bigger mystery is why the always look for the closest fence so they can jump it. Is this their last act of defiance?

Yes, I've heard something similar, such that a buck shot only in the heart might cover up to 300 yards before going down.

Single lung? The deer may actually survive.

Double lung or double lung plus heart is preferable. I prefer double lung plus top of the heart.

I'd heard 13 seconds at some point in the past...can't remember where. Most of what I hunt is wooded mountainside land...sometimes I'll hunt ag fields in the bottom. At any rate, lung or heart shot deer can cover A LOT of ground running downhill.

I take advantage of that when I've hiked in going up (most of the time). If I hike in going down or around, I really want to take out the front axle.

I videoed an open country Texas deer once that my dad shot double-lungs with a 130NBT from a .270Win. It was stumbling at 20 seconds or so and finally flopped down for good at close to 30 seconds. Seemed like a rather long time.

I double-lunged a buck last week with a 7mm-08 139 Interlock and he took off through the dry leaves. He crashed after maybe 8-10 seconds and kicked once. Covered about 50 yards in open hardwood timber.

I killed a doe this year with a 30-06 and 180 grain bullet. She was 50ish yards away broadside and standing still when I shot. At the shot, she shuddered a little bit and ran 40 or so yards. Stood there a bit and then ran up to me but behind a blowdown. Then ran past me for about 30 yards before doing a complete summersault. I could see blood blowing out her side. She was hit right behind the crease of the shoulder and was double lunged.

Amazing creatures they are.

I've always heard it takes about 9 seconds for the brain to stop. Between that and adrenaline, unless you take their wheels out from under them they are gonna move until then. I imagine some pass throughs account for some of it being not absorbing all that bullets energy.

This one ran about 60 yards with a 130nbt out of my 270. She was facing me dead on. She backflipped, hit the ground hard, picked herself up and ran. Heart is obliterated.

Damn pard you really blasted her.

Shot a deer this yr with a 35 Remington 180 Speer FP and was hit about perfect for me on entry, tight right behind the shoulder, exit was front portion of off shoulder. Took out the heart, went 10 ft.

Shot 1 later with a 30-06 150 grain and was hit exactly the same, just reversed. Entry was front portion of near shoulder, exited tight behind off shoulder. Took out the top half of the heart. That deer ran 80-100 yards until it piled up on the run.

There are never absolutes with deer, but with 4 deer now in the last several yrs that larger frontal area of the FP's and soft round noses used in 35 Remington really seems to knock out their motor skills. The deer that made it the farthest made it 60 yds and momentum only kept it on it's feet the last 20. Stumbled horribly the last 20 with no major bones hit.

Maybe it's just coincidence but so far within it's range out to 100 yds or so, that FP or RN 35 caliber is stopping them from truckin.