The deer that wouldn’t die....

[Hatrick]

I have noticed that the will to live sometimes depends on the animals attitude before the shot.

 

[hpmag308]

That's what is so fascinating about ballistics. By all measures, a 300 win mag should drop them in their tracts. But then, you'll see 243s sending 80 grains downrange and dropping em.

Life is wicked that way.

Just goes to show you don't need heavy bullets to kill a white tail. 308 I only use 125 at 3000fps. Never had one lost.

 

[JMB 1911]

I generally cut there throat or break there necks, I takes a little strength to break there necks either way if you do it fast enough and take total control of them you don't need to worry about the hooves. You just can't be gingerly about it,

I double lunged a nice 8 pointer 2 years ago in a snow storm. The deer was perfectly double lunged. It went 800 yards I thought that I made a bad shot. When I found him he was very dead and the after shot analysis showed a perfect hit. .270 Superfomance W/ 130 GRN GMX bullet

 

[John@redmt]

What do they call it? Double tap? I always plan the second shot (if necessary) before I take the first shot. It doesn't bother me in the least to kill an animal. It bothers me greatly to see one suffer. Sometimes it can't be avoided but it should never happen a second time. JMHO, yours may vary.

 

[Alibiiv]

Well, I had already shot it in the neck, so I figured the best way to finish the job was to put one through the boiler room (the chest behind the shoulder) where the textbook kill zone is on a whitetail. But as you probably know, it's common to obliterate the exit side shoulder with this kind of shot, depending upon the angle. In any case, the whole affair was a freakin' nightmare!

I've shot my share of whitetail deer with both shotgun slugs and rifles. Whitetail deer have a great will to live and be a difficult kill! But........I've "never" seen a head shot fail to disperse a whitetail, or any animal actually. Head shot would have ended your situation without destroying that deer. Really a waste of good meat and sad to hear about an animal allowed to suffer.

 

[Frog4aday]

I think it will always rattle us when we shoot enough game to come across "that one" that doesn't do what all the others have done. "Shoot there, watch animal fall over, job done." When they run off and live for 800 more yards, despite having 'no lungs' you wonder how that is even possible.

My buddy double lunged a hog with a 7mm RM. The thing jumped way up in the air, landed, and came right for him, as alive as could be. A second shot at the 'charging' hog stopped it, but my friend moved on to the .300 WSM shortly after that. Logically he KNOWS the 7mm RM is plenty for hog, but when the game doesn't 'bang-flop' like normal, it can shake your confidence. (Also, the hog wasn't really 'charging' him; it had no idea where it was going...it just happened to be heading right toward the hunter that shot it. Still WAY exciting!)

I shot a hog through the lungs with a .308 Win and it ran off, too. After hours of tracking it (blood and lung tissue a plenty) it was still alive and running off again! My friend had the shot and dropped him (finally) with a .243 Win. Crazy. Autopsy showed first shot went all the way through with big expansion and nice silver dollar exit wound. Right caliber. Right bullet. Good shot placement. Some animals just don't get the 'memo' to take the long-term dirt nap.

 

[YZ-80]

I've shot my share of whitetail deer with both shotgun slugs and rifles. Whitetail deer have a great will to live and be a difficult kill! But........I've "never" seen a head shot fail to disperse a whitetail, or any animal actually. Head shot would have ended your situation without destroying that deer. Really a waste of good meat and sad to hear about an animal allowed to suffer.

Well, I can't argue with that. I had to do it last fall to a button-buck my son pulled the shot on. Hit the thing in the head w/.243. Reminiscent of the Zapruder film. I had nightmares about that one too!

 

[skipglo]

I've been in this game for quite some time now but on a couple of occasions I've been truly amazed by the will to live a whitetail deer can exhibit. Several years back, I was hunting a farm with my friend and 8 deer materialized around dusk from the tree line about 200 yards out. I trained my rifle on one of the adult does and dropped her instantly. I got another one in my scope square in the neck at about 80 yards and down she went. We got out of the blind and I noticed that the second deer was still moving a bit on the ground, so I figured I'd field dress the first one and the other would surely expire in the 10 minutes necessary to perform the task. No such luck. So, I did what I hate to have to do and put another .25-06 round through the thoracic cavity from about 20 yards and jettisoned the oppiset shoulder. The deer did not die. I had to repeat the process 2 minutes later, and destroyed the other shoulder. 5 agonizing minutes later, the animal finally expired.

We are not allowed to carry side arms in MD and I can't bring myself to kill the deer with a knife, so I guess I had no choice. There wasn't much left by the time it was over.

Anybody else have a similar story to share where, even though you knew you had a solid shot on the animal it just ended up taking alot more than you bargained for to seal the deal? Why do you think it happened that way?

In a circumstance like this I always walk up close and head shoot the animal...never another round into good meat.

 

[Cinchy]

I used to "cut" the deers throat even if DOA to help remove more blood from the meat. I was never really satisfied as the old across the throat method usually only caused minimum blood loss? I asked a butcher the secret to relieving the blood on a game animal? He said stick them with knife point as deep as it will go, at the point their neck meets their chest, jugular veins from each side of the neck cross at that point. If done on a freshly shot animal, the heart helps blood flow. Unless its a something I intend to mount I always stick them to drain as much blood from the meat as possible, I hate seeing blood run out of hamburger meat!

 

[John@redmt]

I have a couple thoughts,,,, I have shot literally tons of game, pigs, deer, etc. with a .223/5.56 with the right load and the right bullet. Is it just possible that hunting with too much fire power is the problem? The small caliber is designed to kill at a specific range in the specific parameters, as the larger calibers are designed for their parameters. Here's a 100 yd shot with a 5.56 With a Barnes TTSX on a 175# coastal from last year. No second shot needed.

 

[LexRick]

2 years ago I got the chance to go to Montana to hunt mule deer. My buck dropped in his tracks at 140yds.with a 280. I then bought a doe tag over the counter and got to hunt a doe borrowed one of the guides 7mm saum at shot her at 500yds the guide said it was a perfect shot but she wouldn't die. After looking at her in spotting scope he said it must of went through that small void between spine and vitals. We had to chase her about .5 of a mile so I could shoot her again. Tough animal for sure.

 

[Huntz]

Shoot them behind the ear.I carry a 22 or 9MM in case I have to do this.It is instant death no suffering.

 

[YZ-80]

Shoot them behind the ear.I carry a 22 or 9MM in case I have to do this.It is instant death no suffering.

That's a good idea. I think now that I'm hunting my own property I'll carry my CZ-82 and do just that.

 

[TBell]

When I was very young, and hunted with 22 LRs we were taught to cut their throats as soon as we could to finish them off. we always head shot them and sometimes they did not die right away. Once it saved my bacon because the deer was only unconscious (The bullet had glanced of her skull and just knocked her out.

Bow hunting many years proved this to be a good practice at times, but most of the time it was not necessary.

With the proper rifle cartridge it is seldom necessary but a good method If the animal has not left this world and needs to be relieved of its pain.

Even with perfect shots/hits, sometimes they just don't want to go. so extra steeps must be taken.

J E CUSTOM

Only deer I recall cutting her throat was a deer I low neck shot with a 44 cal sabot from a 50 cal muzzle loader.

She could not get up but was kicking around I had one of the ten inch bush knives from Academy, thank goodness I sharpened it. Approached from the rear put my knee on her neck and did the deed. Was quick and swift but not pretty.