Do deer drop when you shoot them?

I think that if you carefully look at those hunting videos where deer instantly drop (as if somebody flicked an off-switch), you will find that the shooter is using a high shoulder shot, just below the spine. This placement will knock out the central nervous system mentioned in previous posts. Very dramatic, but I'm learning from experience that it can sure ruin a lot of meat, potentially both shoulders.

Ninepointer
 
Glad to hear these experiences. I didn't understand why when shot in the heart or lungs they didn't drop. It is not just me or my bullets, it is common. Thanks everyone!
 
Glad to hear these experiences. I didn't understand why when shot in the heart or lungs they didn't drop. It is not just me or my bullets, it is common. Thanks everyone! Another thing is when I did drop the one it was one of the furthest shots (200 yards roughly). When my dad droped the young bull elk it was 373 yards(range finder). Does the distance in relation to the speed of the bullet have anything to do with it? The deer at 50 to 100 yards look like they were blasted with a shot gun on the exiting side( bullet fragments like crazy) and they run a little bit. Is this coincedence?
 
Combination of both bullet type and speed. As bullets approach 3000 fps, the tend to fly apart upon impact, hence the marketting of tougher bonded and solid bullets. Not sure a ballistic tip is a good candidate for this application as they are designed to expand (and potentially fragment) relatively easily.
When bullets hit animals at this speed they often create a shock cavity exit wound - you can read up on shock waves if you want to know more.
So with the combination of a ballistic tip and high speed you're likely to make a big mess. Great for predator destruction, not so great for game animals.
Personally, I prefer heavier lower speed bullets - say 180 gr at 2500 fps. Knocks the deer right off their feet, and they seldom get up
 
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Animals that I have hit in the shoulder with big bore,heavy boolits, always go down fast and stay down, this includes bear and moose. With chest shoots, even heavy .458 and .50cal. sometimes it takes a bit longer, but I think they are dead and don't know it.
 
I think that perhaps too many hunters are anxious to take that rapid second shot if they see no obvious reaction from the animal (i.e. drop DRT). If you're at all confident that you achieved a hit, give it a moment. Often, very soon the animal will realize that he's dead on his feet.
 
I generally shoot deer above the heart through both lungs and way over half have dropped where they were standing. The farthest one has ever run is about 100 yards.
 
The only whitetails that drop like a "bag of frozen rabbits" are the frontal shots, that is through the neck/brisket area as the animal is facing directly toward me. Heart shots take off like rockets, lung shot deer drop their heads and can go for 100 yards or more. 27 seasons shooting a 25-06 Rem. Have shot deer in the open at 4-500 yards and had them run in a little circle stop and keel over dead... never knew what hit them!

Hunt safe and shoot straight guys!
 
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Only deer that dropped was a spine hit. I was not aiming at the spine, but I had slipped on the ice and broken the front sight off the rifle.

One think I learned was to sit tight after the shot for a couple of minutes. A hit deer will only run a short distance if he has not heard/seen the shooter. I usually find the dead deer/moose within 50 yards of where he was heart/lung shot.

If he knows someone is after him he will either run farther or actually hide.
 
cosmic said:
Combination of both bullet type and speed. As bullets approach 3000 fps, the tend to fly apart upon impact, hence the marketting of tougher bonded and solid bullets. Not sure a ballistic tip is a good candidate for this application as they are designed to expand (and potentially fragment) relatively easily.
When bullets hit animals at this speed they often create a shock cavity exit wound - you can read up on shock waves if you want to know more.
So with the combination of a ballistic tip and high speed you're likely to make a big mess. Great for predator destruction, not so great for game animals.
Personally, I prefer heavier lower speed bullets - say 180 gr at 2500 fps. Knocks the deer right off their feet, and they seldom get up
Click to expand...

So what you are saying is that when I shot a deer at a further distance using my usual 270 Win 150 grain Federal Premium BTSP the deer is more likely to drop ( the bullet is slower and doesn't fragment). When I shot one at close range with the same bullet, it will fragment and the deer is more likely to run. Could the gun blast have anything to do with this as well? At greater distances the deer is hit before he hears the bang. At close range the bang is almost as fast as the hit causing the deer to run on instinct.
 
I have had only a couple handfulls of deer run maybe 20 yards on me... and I was quite surprised each time. I have shot countless deer on our limitless cronic wasting deer program. I have never had one go over 20 yards when hit in the vitals.
 
I shot 2 lastyear. One was a running shot on a doe, hit in the back, dropped right away. Couldnt believe when it tried to crawl away, so shot it in the head, hate to see em suffer.
2nd was through the neck and he didnt move a foot, at about 80 yards. Both deer taken with .300 Savage, 150gr.

I remember when I first started my grandpa was using, and still does, a .250 savage with dominion 100gr. With him and my cousins (.30-.30 team), all we seemed to do was chase wounded deer around the bush.
Its all about shot placement AND shooting an animail within your limits and knowing them before you go out. Takin pot-shots at anything and everything is a good way to wound a deer and never find it.
 
Another factor is if the animal is 'on alert' or not. A deer that has no idea you are there struck in the heart/lungs will tend to go down pretty hard - if not instant then within a few steps. A deer that's wary however tends to already have a little adrenaline going and can get a little farther before they go down. but that shouldn't deter you - it's still going to be pretty easy to find 'em, they won't get far.

The heart-lung is still the best choice for your shot, even tho it doesn't produce as many bang/flops. If you're off by a little and just blow away the lungs, you've still got a dead deer and he won't be far.
 
I have shot only a few that come to mind that dropped. Most are boiler room shots and make it less than 60-70 yards, only once have I had to track a deer for any time, only went 220 or so yards but it was early without snow and little bloodtrail, hit him high between spine and lungs but was still enough to get him to lay down. Elk is another story, never seen one drop yet, in fact never seen one that didn't get less than 2 shots into him before dropping.
 
Most my shots are all within 100 yards and usually more like 50 yrds. so I usually do a nice neck shot and they drop in their tracks, but I stay away from any head shots, I was told by a game warden many yrs ago that a head shot always looks suspicious to them, and I do not want anyone thinking I am poaching.
 
Open-sights, I've only shot 2 Elk. Both dropped in their tracks. One to a 300 gr. X bullet out of a .416 Rem. the other to a 225 Nosler center chest facing shot with a 340 WBY. My Deer have mostly been shot with various 300s and 338s. Basically no tracking or followups involved, unless they slide after the hit.
 
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