Deer reaction when shot

[1lnbrdg]

The only 2 deer that I've shot that didn't run off were shot with a 30-30 shooting cast lead bullets. Why? I have no idea but it just worked.

I've shot them with a lot of other different cartridges/bullet combinations and they have all run at least 20 or more yards.

 

[STOMP442]

My friend and I are having a discussion/disagreement on deer reaction when hit well in the boiler room with a high powered rifle, in this case a 7mm rem mag. The story goes he was hunting last year and from a good rest shot at a deer at 100 yds broadside. The deer walked off into the woods, a few minutes later another deer ran to the same spot and he shot it in the same spot he shot the first one and it dropped in it's tracks. He is convinced it is his scope changing zero. While I concede it is entirely possible for his scope to be defective, it is also possible he hit the first deer perfectly and it just didn't die right away. He doesn't believe this to be possible. I have shot many, many deer with everything from a 450 marlin, to a 7 mm rem ultra mag and I have shot the heart and both lungs out and seen them walk off like they weren't touched only to pile up 100 - 200 yds away! I once shot a doe at 30 yds broadside with a 12 ga 1-3/16 oz slug Hollow point, blowing the heart and lungs to mush. The deer ran 100yds down hill and 50 yds up the next hill before dyeing ! When I dressed the deer is didn't have a drop of blood in it! Please agree or argue if you wish.

1. So this happened last year? Was the first deer found dead somewhere? Was it even looked for?

2. If the first deer simply walked off it sounds like there was plenty of time to fling more lead to stop its progress into the woods.

 

[thekriebles]

Shot a buck at about 70 yards with a 16 ga slug, not a drop of blood for 50 yards then a 4" wide path of blood that I followed to his final resting place. It must have run almost 100 yards before it dropped. Top of the heart was gone, go figure.

Experienced a similar outcome when a buddy of mine used his 12ga. slug to harvest a doe from a tree stand. The shot was less than 25 yds., and she ran nearly 60 yds. before falling over. While field dressing her, we saw how much damage the slug had created. Her heart was nothing but a jelly-like mess. We were in total amazement how far she was able to go without a working heart.

 

[agr516]

I once fired on a broadside whitetail doe from about 100yds away while taking rest on top of a round bale of hay. I was shooting a 30-06 with 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. When I fired, she threw her head up in the air at the sound of the shot but did not react other than that. I bolted another round and fired once more. Again, she flinched at the sound of the shot but nothing else. At this point, I bolted the rifle again, put the safety back on, and leaned the rifle against the hay bale thinking that surely my scope had malfunctioned and I was not going to shoot again with my rifle being off. Just after I set the rifle down, the doe fell over on her side as dead as a hammer. She had two bullet holes just behind her shoulder, less than an inch apart. I do not remember whether or not either of the two bullets hit her heart, but both passed through each lung. I still remember the sight of her standing there looking around for where the shot came from before she toppled over.

 

[Pete Roberson]

Top of the shoulder, deer is down and out right where it stands.

 

[hogpatrol]

I've had xbow kills that took two steps and dead and then had runners. Firearm and bow kills, not sure what it is but I've found the old ones give it up quicker than the youngsters.

 

[Albany Mountain]

How come the chance of just plain missin’ Is never listed as an option?

 

[243winxb]

Shot with my 30WCF they did this.

30-06 shake and drop.

 

[joshb]

Sometimes it's like you used the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique."

That's for you Kill Bill fans.

I hit a deer with a 2 ton Mercedes at 35 mph. It tumbled down the road, got up , jumped a 4 ft. fence and ran across a 1/4 mile field and disappeared over a hill. $2000 Damage to the car!

 

[69mach]

I’ve made excellent shots with a 338 lapua and have had them go 30 yards. They just don’t know they are dead. I’ve even shot deer with my 50 bmg that have went a few steps. In Kansas we can shoot 4 deer a year and I shoot as many as possible. A couple years I’ve even got the game warden to permit me to do away with some whitetail since they were so many I couldn’t keep an electric fence up and they were tearing the hell outa my bails. We dontate a lot of them to the food bank.
Every deer is different. I don’t determine the distance they cover after shot rather I determine how long they live after they’ve been shot wether or not it was a good shot. Deer that drop in place may live and suffer a lot longer that a deer that runs 40 yards. Wether a deer drops in place isn’t a good reason to call the shot a good one.

 

[ShootDots]

Here are a few observations I have made over the years from killing quite a number of Deer.
1.) If they are T-Totally unaware and not even considering that maybe trouble is afoot, a good shot thru the heart / lung area with a bullet designed for rapid expansion, they will "normally" fall right there.
2.) The exact same hit, with the exact same bullet, on a Deer who's "Spidey Sense" puts him on high alert, will generally run for quite some distance.
3.) Heart shots will generally be followed by a "Jump/ Kick" and taking off like a scalded monkey>>>>for about 50 or so yards.
4.) A shot, with a direct hit on the shoulder knuckle, will put them on the ground instantly!
5.) The same reaction as #4 with a Spine shot..
These are things I have noticed and can almost be counted on as the "normal" reaction(s)..
REMEMBER: Deer are very fragile creatures with thin skins and light bones. You really need a bullet designed for rapid expansion>>>not like a varmint bullet BUT more like a Nosler Ballistic Tip..

 

[Someoldguy]

Here are a few observations I have made over the years from killing quite a number of Deer.
1.) If they are T-Totally unaware and not even considering that maybe trouble is afoot, a good shot thru the heart / lung area with a bullet designed for rapid expansion, they will "normally" fall right there.
2.) The exact same hit, with the exact same bullet, on a Deer who's "Spidey Sense" puts him on high alert, will generally run for quite some distance.
3.) Heart shots will generally be followed by a "Jump/ Kick" and taking off like a scalded monkey>>>>for about 50 or so yards.
4.) A shot, with a direct hit on the shoulder knuckle, will put them on the ground instantly!
5.) The same reaction as #4 with a Spine shot..
These are things I have noticed and can almost be counted on as the "normal" reaction(s)..
REMEMBER: Deer are very fragile creatures with thin skins and light bones. You really need a bullet designed for rapid expansion>>>not like a varmint bullet BUT more like a Nosler Ballistic Tip..

I believe this is the best summary I've ever read. Mirrors my experience exactly.

 

[rammac]

Who cares what your friend thinks, he's unethical or a slob hunter. If I were you I wouldn't have the guy as a friend any longer.

 

[fyrewall]

This old guy I know, who has probably shot 100's of game animals from 50 to over 1000 pounds told me to shoot for the shoulder with a suitable bullet. This excludes crocodiles and charging animals. Mechanical break-down.

 

[7887mm08]

Agree with Shootdots, way too much gun is being used in most of these posts. There is nothing in a deer that's going to upset a 338 caliber. Dump the energy from your bullet IN the deer, instead of it penciling through.
Remember this: DEER HAVE THE WILL TO LIVE!

 

[Intheshop]

As posted above,each animal is going to have it's own criteria or reaction to the hit.

I had "damage permits" for a few years in an effort to,in my view....... herd reduction. The farmers would say,herd eradication. Not being all self motivated but,I was leaving mature bucks rightly or wrongly. Just felt the area's hunters would appreciate it.

We would go through strings of bang flops.... then,with basically the same conditions, go through a period of them taking off after solid heart/lung hits. The calibre was not nearly as important as shot angle and the animal's awareness (also posted above). 1/4'ing away with a jacked up .30 150g taking out the off shoulder is tough to beat. As the bore size gets smaller/faster..... the more broadside you can get away with. All the way down to shooting "heavy" varmint class .22's,which can be downright impressive DRT..... but you give up a lot of shot angle.

I'll friendly wager on a lot of shooting activities..... but betting on live game reactions is a waste of time. You play the odds with shot angles,decent bullet construction,and then you become a spectator.

 

[bsekf]

I don't believe I've ever had a same reaction to similar hits. I like to shoot them in the heart/lungs, no waste, but they almost always run 50 to 100 yards but sometimes it's bang-flop. If I want them to lay down instantly, I hold on the shoulder if broadside or the shoulder/neck joint if they are quartering towards me.

Bill

 

[Bojo]

I went thru the whole list above and one thing I notice on any deer is if the heart is stopped /shot or an ethical head or neck shot is made and the blood ceases to flow thru the muscle ,makes a huge difference on how they taste.
When u make a bad shot and they run needing a second follow up or just die slow and suffer , that adrenaline pumps thru the meat making it taste funny.

 

[JSH]

I see not much rhyme or reason to some shots. I have used cast and jacketed in rifle and pistol with. Arizona results.
The only smack down DRT every time has been a 300WM with 180 SST’s.
I have done some cull work for a few friends. Seems like they let me have a try on the tough ones. I have my opinions on “hunting” and just killing. Terrain designates some on definition. The culling I have done is just killing and you better be on your game. 700-850 yards on a couple of these, because of terrain.
I have seen adult does get a solid lung/heart hit in winter wheat with snow, they will just stumble a little. Then more often than not continue to feed and just tip over.
And this will be with say any where from 5-20 in a herd. None of the others seem to pay much attention.
I would guess they have no clue as to what is going on because of the range.

The gent the OP spoke of could easily have had two deer and not known it. Bad habit to get into imho.

Knock down and all kinda of other descriptions of energy people think a projectile has have pretty been disproven.
To much TV adds to ones thoughts of what is going to happen.
Last minutes of the last day of a bad season 20 plus years ago. Hunting an apple orchard. Large doe appears at a bad angle. I was using a 44 magnum stoked with 240 JHP running full tilt out of a 10” TC. Now or never, took the shot wanting to hit the point of the shoulder and hoping it would exit just behind the off side shoulder. At the shot she flipped over on her back, jumped up and hauled a$$. Buddy laughed and said I missed, deer seldom fall down.
Waited a few and got the lights, very little blood trail. Found her about 200 yards away stone dead.
Bullet had entered point of the shoulder but with bad angle it went just under the spine full length and lodged in the off side hip socket.
That is as close as I have ever seen energy transferred to a critter and knock it down.

Cast lead bullets have killed a pile of critters with good success. I would suspect we will have to hunt another hundred or so years to catch up even close.

 

[Down South]

I’ve always always experienced a heart shot deer to mule kick at bullet impact and run 20-40 yards before falling down.

I've had this same experience many times, jump straight up, kick, then pile up 20-30 or so yards later with behind the shoulder shots from various bullets in different calibers. With that said, I've shot many that dropped like a rock from lung/heart shots behind the shoulder, especially with Berger VLD bullets.