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How many shots does it take to kill a deer?!!

5K views 36 replies 28 participants last post by  lazyike 
#1 ·
Funny experience yesterday afternoon.

Using the wind and wet leaves to her benefit, my 19 year old daughter snuck into a stand near a bedding area. I set up in a ghillie suit in a log pile about 200 yards east of her on the other side of a thicket. To the east of me was a 10 acre parcel with a horse pasture, and immediately east of that tract is an 80 acre field and woodlot.

About 4:50 a guy in the woodlot east of the horse pasture fired two rapid shots, followed by a brief pause, and then a burst of three more shots as fast as a person can squeeze the trigger.

All was quiet for about 10 seconds, including the wind, and then from near the horse pasture barn a lady screamed, "How many shots does it take to kill a deer?!!" I couldn't stop laughing for the next several minutes.

My daughter and I stopped by her house after the hunt and told her that we enjoyed her question. She said, "Glad you could hear me. Hopefully he could too, unless his ears were ringing from all the gunshots."
 
#12 ·
I generally agree with the neighbor lady in most circumstances. But, there are a few incidences where I can see multiple shots on the menu. Somebodies weapon might be off, not a good bullet to range choice, a little frustration, multiple targets, etc. I posted on the "
How many rounds does your firearm hold?" thread. Once in a while I will use my 835 with home brewed buckshot in certain scenarios. I put all six in it then. If I was set up on the close brushy edge of a field and shot at a deer @ 30 yds or so and the deer took off, I would empty the gun at it as long as I seen it or until it went down. Buckshot deer can leave little sign to track. That's 114 pellets, but not all are going to hit as the range increases. The shots would probably be a half to a second apart.
 
#15 ·
Not certain of age but he was at least old enough to drive.

He utilized a unique parking technique, as he drove across the field and parked his truck right next to the woods. Of course, he got a shot(s) at a deer, while our stealth approach yielded nothing.

Note to self: Begin parking truck on edge of woodlot in order to increase odds of shooting at deer.
 
#16 · (Edited)
My dad was great shot but a poor hunter. During WWII when he completed basic training in the navy he qualified for submarine school. The sub training was way overbooked and they had barracks full of guys waiting to start training. The guys spent all day raking the yard and cleaning the latrines. My dad conned his way into specialized small arms training while he was awaiting his slot that was months off. He figured small arms training was better than manual labor with no purpose. Being navy they practiced moving targets and then moving targets from a moving boat. I only deer hunted once with my dad when I was in high school because my mother figured someone so young should not be exposed to that level of alcohol intake. After I married my wife my dad came up and hunted my in-laws farm with me one thanksgiving. I walked down one side of a corn field while dear old dad took the other side. About half way through 5 shots ring out from the bolt action Winchester of my dads, it sounded like a semi auto. I cut through the corn and to my dismay there lies two does and three fawns. It was the last time I hunted with my dad. He was pretty proud of himself, five down and not a one hit in the ass! I always, to this day, when I hear a string of rapid shots wonder if there isn't some young guy going, "What the hell are you doing dad".
 
#19 · (Edited)
My dad was great shot but a poor hunter. During WWII when he completed basic training in the navy he qualified for submarine school. The sub training was way overbooked and they had barracks full of guys waiting to start training. The guys spent all day raking the yard and cleaning the latrines. My dad conned his way into specialized small arms training while he was awaiting his slot that was months off. He figured small arms training was better than manual labor with no purpose. Being navy they practiced moving targets and then moving targets from a moving boat. I only deer hunted once with my dad when I was in high school because my mother figured someone so young should not be exposed to that level of alcohol intake. After I married my wife my dad came up and hunted my in-laws farm with me one thanksgiving. I walked down one side of a corn field while dear old took the other side. About half way through 5 shots ring out from the bolt action Winchester of my dads, it sounded like a semi auto. I cut through the corn and to my dismay there lies two does and three fawns. It was the last time I hunted with my dad. He was pretty proud of himself, five down and not a one hit in the ass! I always, to this day, when I hear a string of rapid shots wonder if there isn't some young guy going, "What the hell are you doing dad".
Many years ago I had a good friend who lived on the far side of the section I lived on he was a good kid but his dad would leave him alone for weeks on end.. His dad was an iron worker and a drunk.. The kid would be given a small amount of money for groceries, usually right as his dad was walking out the door.. He would drive illegally being 15 to town (in an old 66 Ford short box with a three on the tree.) to shop on his own, sometimes the groceries would run short before his dad would come home... He called me one day and asked if we could get him a deer to help stretch the money and it was Thanksgiving week so I grabbed him a green and yellow box of Remington slugs out of our ammo drawer at home and went over with my rifle and some shells..

Back then in northern Newaygo county there was an overabundance of deer here.. So I put him at the end of a cattail slough and started in on the other end.. Where he sat there was an old pine stump fence and a drive through the fence.. Mostly that is where the deer would go through when you drove that swale.. I started in on the other end and as I got half-way he started shooting.. He shot every slug I had given him and I thought he had missed as it took only seconds for the shooting to happen..

When I got to him there laid 5 does one for every shot he had taken and he was finishing the last one off with a knife because he had spined it and had no shells left. I about came unglued.. We started gutting and we were done just before dark. So we walked to the house and got that old 66 Ford and went back picked up all of those deer and filled the back of that truck.. We then brought them all into the barn and skinned them well into the night, (I got in big trouble from mom and dad for many reasons that night.) He cut them all up over the next week or so and filled an old chest freezer he had in the basement. I brought over the big powered meat grinder at the end of the week and we ground all that mountain of burger up.. He had a years supply of venison shot all in about 20 seconds..

I'll never forget that as long as I live... I was 14 then..

He moved away a few years later and died in a car wreck, drunk himself at 19...
 
#35 ·
You need a bigger magazine. I like to shoot at least 10 additional shots after it’s down to let everyone know I was successful.

If it’s a really big deer, like a 4 or 6 point, I’ll empty the sidearm too, just to make sure everyone knows how awesome I am.




Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app
 
#20 ·
When I was younger I once shot an 8 point. I hit him on the first shot but missed the next 4 as he ran across a field. I then ran across the field to find him lying in tall grass on a ridge between 2 ponds. I shot the last 2 shells I had and then returned to the truck. Instead of running back my dad drove around to a drive that ended by the ponds. With more slugs I went to find my first 8 point. He was still alive so I finished him off with 1 final shot. At this time I heard a roofer from a new construction home across the field yell out "shoot him again".

Since this time I have completely re-taught myself how to hunt and shoot as I was extremely gun shy. I now pride myself on accuracy and myself and my boys often hunt with our single shot Encores.
 
#25 ·
Weds I thought...no tracking today.

While looking at my pruny fingers.

My first shot I knew would kill something with antlers in Allegan county. But tracking is gonna be a problem.

My plan was what I heard a bunch. Shoot until it drops, can't track blood today.

All I thought reading this thread
 
#32 ·
All was quiet for about 10 seconds, including the wind, and then from near the horse pasture barn a lady screamed, "How many shots does it take to kill a deer?!!" I couldn't stop laughing for the next several minutes.
I'm going to remember that line. Sounds like the way my "neighbor" hunts. To the south of the private land on which I hunt is a large agricultural plot, and every year I hear the same thing on at least one day during gun season: First, 5 rapid shots (BOOM BOOM BOOM... BOOM... BOOM). Then, the sounds of some kind of ATV driving followed by 5 more rapid shots, then more driving, then more shooting, etc. Goes on and on for about 15 minutes. What's he doing, chasing the things on a 4 wheeler and then spraying and praying anytime they stop running?? Someone oughta gift him a machine gun mount for his ATV and save him a lot of trouble.... o_O
 
#33 ·
I used to call my little brother FLINGER when he was a kid (I'm 10 years older) because of the way he was always flinging arrows and lead around. His first year gun hunting he was using myself Remington 1100 and would send 5 rounds off faster than you can aim. That winter I talked my dad into getting him a H&R slug gun for Christmas, figuring it would slow him down.
Fast forward to the next opening day of gun season. He's sitting about 400 yards away from me when I hear THERE'S A BIG ONE OUT IN FRONT OF ME over the Motorola radio that we used back then. I then hear BOOM BOOM BOOM pretty quickly. I think to myself WHO THE HECK IS SHOOTING BACK THERE when over the radio comes I DROPPED HIM!!!! Come to find out before he started shooting he put one slug between his fingers and one in his mouth. Hit it on his third shot at 150 yards.
Thankfully he calmed down as he got older
 
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