My opener

[jltimm]

I shot a nice 10-12 point buck on opening morning with a 30-06 180 grain bullet through the brush and dropped him right in his tracks. Great right? He made the death ball sound soon after the shot and I could see his head and rack thrashing around, but he could still hold his head up. I sat in the stand watching what I could see of him for 15-20 minutes and then decided to try to walk up on him to finish him if I had to. Well, I got about 15 yards from him and he acted like I had spined him and was trying to get his front legs under him.I could see the blood on him from the top middle part of the ribs and then he got up and took off. I fired twice at him and waited an hour to trail him and then tracked the little amount of blood there was for about 100 yards until the blood trail went down to pin drops of blood, then I lost the trail. There was blood and clotting where he was first laying, and then it slowed as the trail went. Frustrated and not knowing if he's alive or dead or if he ran into someone else and they finished him?

[LOTWSvirgin]

Besides red what did the blood look like??? Bubblie bright red milky??

[jltimm]

How about clotty? It was a darker red on the droplets on the leaves, but at the sight I dropped him it was lighter in color. Not alot of blood loss at the drop sight or on the trail as I've shot many deer, and have definately had better blood trails.

[frogtosser]

This happened to a friend of mine too. a couple years ago he shot a big buck with a slug, dropped it in its tracks and while he was looking at it, it got up and took off with a very tiny blood trail and we never did find it. We guessed he hit it high, maybe above the spine?

[fishinfey8]

I had this happen to me two yrs ago. I went back the spring after deer season the next year and found the bones and skull of the deer I shot the previous deer season. It had burrowwed(sp?) it's way under an uprooted tree roots/dirt clump and died 15 yards from where the blood trail ended. It was the craziest thing I ever saw, not to mention I wouldn't have found it the next spring if I didn't look in the "den" out of curiosity. I would suggest looking high and low.

[Boxcar Wllie]

Let them lay for at least an hour. More deer are lost or ruined by a second shot in the hindend or through the guts when run up to your "monster" 15 min after you pull the trigger. We had a guy in camp this year that was on his first deer hunt and blasted a big 10-pointer at 7:30 in the morning on Sat. He saw it drop and still let it sit for 1 hour.

Now if someone can do that on their first hunt, anyone can.

[mnguy152]

It is dead I am thinking that the first shot was high in the chest and was clotting up with very little blood showing. Should have let him sit at least a hour after the shot . When you could see him from the stand i would have waited.

[T.S128]

I hear this happen a lot. There is a spot on a deer below the sping but above the vitals that if you hit they seem to drop like being spined but can get up and take off. HAppend to a buddy of mine a few years ago. Its hard to say if it is still alive or not chances aren't good but they are tough animals. I would make sure i checked for it good though. go to your last blood spot and start searchin the area real good.

good luck

[jltimm]

I'm gonna search the area more, but have looked pretty hard through the general area already. Maybe he ran into another hunter and got finished? I hope to find him, but I'am trying to get this whole ordeal out of my head and find it impossible to do so!

And yes I should of waited in the stand for as long as it took for him to hopefully expire, but I don't know if that would of happened?

[HNTNBUX]

Sounds to me like the bullet impact or shock temporarily shocked the spine. I am a firm believer in shooting until the deer is dead. I will not waste time to put another one in them for this reason and I sure you will think about it next time. How much meat is lost when the whole animal is lost compared to shoulder,neck, etc shot that is available as the animal is flopping around. Do yourself and the animal a favor and finish it quickley if you can. I am not trying to be critical just offering my .02.

[HunterLee]

Anytime you should a big buck and he is thrashing i suggest shooting again. We have had similar things happen, usually hit high in the back or gut shot. With guns, i shoot and go over there. You should be able to get another one in them if they try to get up.

[96trigger]

I unloaded on the buck I shot this weekend. The first shot was a little too low and I shot him in the lungs, he took off running, I pumped another one in his shoulder and another in his neck. He had three kill shots in him, but he still thrashed for a couple minutes. They are tough, No doubt, and should not be underestimated. I have heard of way too many people that have rolled them, only to have them get up and run away. If they are still moving, I am still shooting. I have only had a couple pile up right where they lay, they were either head or heart shots.

[jltimm]

Definately noted here! Never again will I wait to put another bullet or 2 into a deer that is not completely dead. This is a tough lesson to learn, but one I will not forget!

[Lunker]

Bummer, hate to hear those stories, and even worse when it happens to you! One post mentioned shock to the spine, and that would be my guess also. The impact of the bullet if close to the spine may have shocked it enough to drop it. Kind of a "stinger" for those familiar with football injuries.

[Rost]

Diddo to the guys that shoot until the deer is dead. When given the opportunity, a good sportsman will swiftly kill the animal. Gun and bow hunting are two different things.

[jltimm]

Gun and bow hunting are two different things

Yeah, they are as I bow hunt also and have for several years. The gun seems to easy, but not this time! I had watched this deer for around 15 minutes at around 50-60 yards and waited for the best shot I could get and it just didn't work out.

[Flash]

This is exactly what happened to me on Saturday. Yep, there will be more shooting until it stops moving. Never again.

[92python]

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. That shot through the brush you mentioned caused my bullet to fragment and although it still had knockdown power, the penetration wasn't great with several pieces of a bullet vs a whole bullet.

I got out of the tree after 30 minutes as it was getting dark, the buck took off and I shot at it running away, caught up with the buck and finished it off but it had strange wounds throughout the rib area from the fragmented bullet. Looked like the buck had been in a kung foo sword fight and had slashes across the chest.

[pulleye16]

Just this morning I downed a 7 point buck, mostly broad side, just quatering away about 50 yards. First shot, the deer drop, struggled to get up then ran 20 yards and just stood their. I chambered another shell and fired one through the heart. Get this...The first shot at 50 yards...missed the deer completly. I can't figure out why it dropped and seemed to "flop" on the ground. I've NEVER missed that easy of a shot but, it happened...I guess. Why did the deer drop? Why did it run 20 yards, stop, allow me enough time to chamber my bolt action, find him in my scope, and re-shoot? I looked for blood for 30 minutes where I first downed him and nothing until where I shot him the second time...then I had a nice Arterial bleed, double sided bright red blood trail indicating a perfect heart shot.

I guess what I'm saying is, even though I thought I dropped that buck on the first shot, with it dropping and all, I either scared it or buzzed the heck out of it stunning it. I typically drop a deer with one shot, but if I see it alive and I have another shot at it-I'll take it, you never know for sure if you made a kill shot or not. You said you saw the deer alive after you shot it? Do the deer a favor and put it out of its misory. Some people for some reason will only shoot once...

don't let an ego get the best of you, shoot it clean, shoot it right, and shoot it dead!!

p.s. Down load a topography map and areial map, map the blood on it. Deer tend to travel down hill and in thick cover when hit. Also mark the trail made and see if you see a pattern...Good luck, I hope you find it!!!

[TrophyEyes]

I had a slightly different story. On Saturday someone shot across our property line as I was lining up the shot on a eight pointer. I decided that I wasn't going to let the deer make it to the woods (property line), so I put two more shots in the deer. One connected in the heart and the second landed a perfect neck shot dropping the deer 4 yards from the property line. And yes the DNR is involved in the incident of the neighbor that shot across our property line 100 yards on our property. Either way, I got the buck and he didn't.

[HunterLee]

In regards to the shock of nicking the spine. My bow buck this year had a similar situation. After skining you could see where a bullet just clipped the very top of the spine. No doubt dropping him, but apparently he surivived the shot. They are tough.

[jltimm]

Do the deer a favor and put it out of its misory. Some people for some reason will only shoot once...

This was my plan, but I wanted a good clear shot that I could make as the deer was on the ground in a V of two big trees laying on the ground protecting his body and all I could see was neck and head. I figured since he didn't get up after 15 minutes or so he couldn't and I was gonna finish him but he had other ideas!