Shooting at deer

[3006]

Just wondering why people shoot at a deer, see it run off, and think they missed it. Couldn't believe it when a couple of guys were telling me all the deer they were missing, but they never got up to look for blood or any sign of a hit. They actually expected to see the deer drop dead in their tracks. If it runs away, it was a clear miss because a deer couldn't do that if it was hit by a slug.

Just makes me ticked to see this and wonder how many deer may be on their sides becuase of this.

[nightstalker]

That is why i find so many dead deer during december. Yes it is amazing how some people expect the deer to drop right there, sometimes they do, but to not investigate the situation is like not knowing what you are aiming at before you squeeze the trigger!

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In the wind he's still alive!! Fred Bear

We had a guy in our hunting area hit a buck and not go after it as he didn't think he hit it that bad. 2 hours later he was back in his blind overlooking his illegal bait pile (we hunt in a no baiting area), unbelievable. When we saw this, we tried to pick up the trail but only got a quarter mile before the falling snow took care of any chance of us tracking the deer. The deer was hit bad judging from the blood and was dragging the left front leg as could be seen before the snow fell heavily. He may have had a chance of catching up to this animal if he had gotten on the trail right away. Two of us continued to search but eventually lost all signs of the deer as a couple of inches of snow covered up everything and we could no longer figure out his track.

[stelmon]

you no that really pisses me off. All that venison waisted. I would of smacked that hunter.

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Stelmon, the only one.
Keep those bullets flying and reels screamen

[sticksandrocks]

tHIS YEAR A PERSON IN OUR CAMP SHOT AT A DOE WHEN THE DOE RAN OFF HE FIQURE HE MISSED IT COMPLETELY. ANOTHER DOE CAME OUT 5 MINUTESSS LATER AND HE TOOK IT. IT WENT RIGHT DOWN. WHEN HE WALKED UP ON IT HE SAW A BLOOD TRAIL FROM THE FIRST. hE ENDED UP GETTING 2 DOE THIS SEASON. IT WASN'T A PROBLEM BECAUSE HE HAD THE TAGS AND GAVE ONE OF THE DOE TO THE LAND OWNER AS A THANK YOU. HE WAS TAUGHT THE LESSON TO NEVER GIVE UP. I AM SURE HE LEARNED HIS LESSON, I WOULDN'T LET HIM FORGET IT.

[Hunter333]

I was watching some TNN hunting show over the weekend wnad was amazed when the hunter said "I think it was a good shot...."!! I think? if you are not sure that you can make a clean shot, you shouldnt shoot.

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ONE shot, ONE kill..No excuses, no exceptions EVER!!

[Joe Archer]

I think it is just inexperience. Even so, I knew enough way back when to expect to track and to always be sure the animal was not hit. Maybe hunters just do not read enough these days. In my opinion, the value of a good hunting publication can not be measured. <----<<<

[Ultramag]

I was able to harvest four deer this season. I was using a .300 Ultramag and I thought a gun that large would drop them all on the spot. The first deer went down on the spot, but to my amazement, the other three ran. I was able to observe that each deer humped up as it ran off, indicating a possible hit. All of them were double lung shots. The farthest one went 50 yards. Even if they would not have reacted that way, I was taught to follow up the shot and look for signs of a hit.

[Chuck]

The doe I shot this year at 5 yrds with the 12 gauge ran in a large ark out from me. I got a compass reading in the direction I last saw her. I waited 1/2 hr and went to see if I hit her. When she ran off her tail was up and she was running and jumping high. Like I missed. I found only 2 pinn drops of blood and some hair were I shot her. I could tell which run she was on the leaves were all kicked up. I followed for 100 yards and found no blood and couldnt posttivly track her any more. I looked for 2 hrs and found nothing. As a last resort I went to were I shot and took my compass out, got a heading and stayed on it. About 150 yards out there she was! She never left a blood trail and both lungs were gone.
Wierd

Never give up!

Chuck

[Markfaz]

A couple of years ago, I shot a buck with my 12 ga. and after 30 min, went looking for it as it didn't drop on the spot. After following a pretty obvious trail for over 200 YARDS, I found him. He literally crashed into a tree and died while standing up against it. In fact, it took a couple of minutes of me watching him to see that he was dead and not just resting. It was an eerie site seeing a dead buck still standing up. When I gutted him, both lungs were shot through as well as the tip of the heart.

Don't EVER give up looking for that deer you shoot unless it becomes very obvious that the deer was not mortally wounded. Even then, I would suggest searching as long as possible.

Case in point: Three years ago, a buddy of my brother was gun hunting on our property. He shot a HUGE 11 pt at 35 yds., but he hit it a bit back on the body. After tracking the deer for the next five hours, which also ended up in having six people helping him, he gave up. It was the last day of the gun season. He came back the next day with his bow. That same deer walked past his bow stand that morning, obviously limping from the shot the day before. He shot at him with the bow and, once again(isn't this getting old? ), he hit a bit too far back. He went and got the neighbor and my brother, and between the three of them tracked the deer into the next section. It was a good thing he hit it first thing in the morning, because they tracked this deer for the next 6 HOURS!! When they found him, he was trying to hide in a swamp, laying down to probably try and cool off the wound areas. Our neighbor actually jumped on top of this deer and cut it's throat in order to kill it quickly and put it out of it's suffering. It was only because the deer was so exhausted that he was able to get on top of it.

Moral of this story is two-fold. First, even when you think you might have missed the deer, get up and look for sign that you did hit it. If you find some sign, don't give up until you have exhausted all possible avenues to finding the deer.
Second, practice with whatever you pick as your weapon of choice.

I had a LONG talk with this individual and he now has to take a shooting test before he goes on our property every year. Yes, it initially caused some friction between him and my brother, but I could have cared less. It should be our goal as hunters to make sure you make quick, clean, efficient kills on the animals we hunt to ensure they suffer as minimally as possible. That is our responsibility. In addition, that will greatly reduce the amount of wounded animals that go off and die somewhere ending up in an unharvested animal and a waste of not only the meat, but of that animal's life. There is nothing I hate more than finding dead deer on our property that were shot someplace else and then they were never tracked down and found. It sickens me more than anything to think we, as hunters, could be that irresponsible.

[Neapolis]

A proficiency test with your weapon of choice is not all that bad of an idea. I wonder if that has ever been looked into? At first I thought it could be included in the hunter safety courses, but at least in Ohio that is a one time pass the class deal. If it would be pursued, it should be a periodic deal.

I for one think we should have to pass our drivers license exam (both written and driving) every time it expires. I have seen several people that really shouldn't be on the road. All were elderly, before you alll jump on me for age discrimination, I just turned 60 and both young and old should have to show they are capable of handling a vehicle on an ongoing basis.


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Neapolis
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[This message has been edited by Neapolis (edited 11-22-2000).]

Usually when a deer is hit and runs away, look to see if the tail is up or down, if the tail is down its been hit. I have found this a sure way to know,well 99% of the time anyway.

[DuckMan]

My father taught me the the same thing that old hunter said about the tail and found it to be fairly inaccurate. The problem I have is when I have shot deer that are "dead on their feet" and they still put their tail up in the air while running away. If they have no heart/lungs, I don't know why some deer would put up their tail and other do not.?.?.?

It's strange.....

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DuckMan

[Steve]

Moving to Whitetail forum.