Im not trying to pick on anyone, I am trying to figure this out.

Why shoot a deer more than once? I have never shot more than once ever in my 25 years of hunting. My guess is that you want it to die faster, but that also destroys so much meat, IMO.

Again, I am just trying to wrap my head around this, and am having some trouble with it. I am not trying to pick on anyone, honestly

Well sometimes you don;t hit vitals. And without a 2nd shot the deer can travel miles before dying. I have never had to shoot a deer twice either, but I wouldn't heisitate to do it if I needed to.

But he could have walked up on it and shot it in the face like all those hunters on shows look like they would do if the deer moved. You ever noticed that, they always poke em with the gun barrel... what are they gonna do.. BLAM! a 165 grain 30-06 bullet at < 1 foot? geez!

andy, there is nothing wrong with using your gun to check if the deer is actually dead. it's better than reaching down your hand. at least, using a gun or a stick you give yourself a couple of feet in the rare instance it is not dead.

or you could wait a few hours and let the thing die naturally. If it is still alive, then yeah pop one in him with a pistol. To each his own I guess.......

geo, it's more about keeping distance from the animal than blowing it away at point blank range. like i said, in the rare instance a downed animal is alive, you don't want to be down there by its rack if jumps up.

I understand lazlo, i did not mean to disrespect. I have had one or two pop up on me a few times when I thought they were dead. Typically I leave and track them in a few more hours.

ok, i'd also add this and it is totally my opinion. i think if you walk up on a downed animal that is not dead and you have a clear shot to put it down for good, you do so. i'm no bleeding heart. i just feel like i owe it to the animal to put it away as quickly as possible.

I agree. I will say that I usually track animals with several people at a time, so I find it a little unsafe to shoot. However, if I am alone, YES I will put the animal down if I need to.

Use your knife

i have done that as well sue.

Stuck a 7 inch blade into a wounded piggie yesterday morning...

Spear.

shot a deer right below the spinal cord and it was parylized. I had to go cut its throat

Of course with your knife in hand defer to your better judgement but I've put many a deer down quickly for other hunters without much of a struggle.

Something about a rifle that close I never liked unless the animal was thrashing and a possible threat.

*and I did make a spear for pigs once. I fashened the "blade" on my grinder from an old shovel. Never been used except to skewer a few pumpkins.

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i'm no bleeding heart. i just feel like i owe it to the animal to put it away as quickly as possible.

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Amen. I get pretty mad at myself when I make a poor wingshot that doesn't kill the bird right away.

I've never had to shoot a deer twice but I haven't hunted deer very often. I'm not sure what I would do in that situtation. I'd hate to use a rifle at close range. I don't know why but I'd think I'd have a hard time cutting a deer's throat.

Pigs, however, are not one of God's creatures and to quote that G.I. from Saving Private Ryan, "Don't shoot, let'em burn."

i use the knife when necessary

This is going to sound hypocritical but:

1. I don't feel a deer should be made to suffer a bad shot. If another bullet ends it quickly, I owe it to the quarry.

2. The only instance that I would go against that statement is if it's a kill that I am mounting no question. A slit throat could damage a cape.

I've seen one time when a deer needed a second shot. A 6.5 yr old buck was slowly walking broadside to my dad at 20 yrds. He was huge, literally the king of the forest. Dad shot him a little rear of the shoulder. (180 grain 30-06). The buck shuddered like he had a chill and kept walking at the same pace like nothing happened. It was clear that he hit him, that deer just walked right through it. So dad shot him again, this time in the upper neck, and he dropped like a rock. It turned out the first shot was double lung, and I have never seen or heard of anything like that before.
It was a massive 23" spread 9 point; the oldest deer I have seen. We don't measure them, but judging from others' pictures and measurements this deer was 140 class.

I shot what is far and away my best deer a few years ago while he was at a trot. I thought it was a perfect shot, but he never broke stride. Didn't speed up or slow down. As he was about to head up another canyon I popped him in the neck with a 2nd.

Turns out the first one was perfect, but he was all charged up with rut and didn't pay me any mind. If I'd have let him go he wouldn't have gone another 50 yards.... but I was scared I'd lose him.

...thus, a second shot.

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wait a few hours and let the thing die naturally.

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Yes because shooting it is already natural enough. Letting the animal finish its existence in this world in pain, slowly drifting off, would be unethical by the hunter who respects his prey.

So SpoetzelAg just blindsided all bow hunters?

I lost one deer 2 years ago that was chased by a dog. Outside of that I've not had another deer that I've shot with an arrow that didn't die before I had a chance to get down from my tree.

My average recovery is less than 60 yards, and most expire within 30 seconds.

oh jesus, here we go.

this is directed at stranger

[This message has been edited by Lazlo Hollyfeld (edited 11/19/2007 10:21p).]

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So SpoetzelAg just blindsided all bow hunters?

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Perhaps I did but I did not mean it that way. I am not a bow hunter but am intrigued in the work in stalking your prey the way bow hunters do. However, is it not possible to have kill shots with a bow? I think misplaced bow shots could be answered with another sticking if so needed. Of course I'll probably catch flak for saying that.

For those of you that would use your knife...

6 maybe 7 years ago, a guy down near Huntsville was found the morning after he didnt return from a hunting trip...he was near the deer he had killed.

His femoral artery was cut by his own knife after the deer he tried to finish with the knife knocked him down.

They both bled out lying there together.

I'm sure he thought it would never happen to him either...

PP '89

I shot a small 8pt a few years ago right behind the shoulder. He jumped and ran out about 50 yards, stops, turns broadside to me and just stands there looking back toward me. So I shot him again. He spins around and finally drops. Turns out, both shot were through the lungs.

Some deer are like friggin Rasputin

I shot a buck a few years back that I had to put two bullets into. After my first shot he was still standing there, I thought I missed because I was shooting into the glare of the sunset. I shot one more time and he dropped. When we got him back to the camphouse he had two bullet holes behind the shoulder about 1/2in apart.

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His femoral artery was cut by his own knife after the deer he tried to finish with the knife knocked him down.

They both bled out lying there together.

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My 14 year old son got buck fever when he shot a buck, missed the first time (the deer amazingly stood still), then then he basically blew it’s leg off with the second shot. I gut shot it as it leapt forward. It laid down, and was still not dead when I went up 15 minutes later. I put it out of it’s misery with a proper shot to the heart. IMO, that was just a bad scene. I think a deer should be taken with one shot, and I work real hard to making sure my gun is accurate, and I am talking a good shot. In that instance, I am glad that I went for it, because that deer would have suffered for a long time if I had not knocked it down with my 30-06. Anyway, there you go, 4 shots, one deer.

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I gut shot it as it leapt forward. It laid down, and was still not dead when I went up 15 minutes later

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Gut shots take closer to 15 hours to be successful.

I was hunting with a buddy of mine and I shot a doe with my 270. She fell down right away and started kicking on the ground, she was attempting to get up and next thing I knew my ears were ringing and she was shot twice. My buddy decided he had to kill her right there instead of letting her drag herself 20yards or so. Ruined a good portion of both back straps, I was kinda pissed.

[This message has been edited by ToHntortoFsh (edited 11/20/2007 2:05a).]