careful out there guys....

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FLHTCUI

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/24/us/arkansas-deer-death-trnd/index.html
Just because it appears dead doesnt make it so.
Wait a few minutes and make sure it is dead otherwise you might end up with a nasty surprise.
I am sure we either know of game getting away or an unsuspecting surprise when we went forward.
Be Safe and have fun.
Rob
 
Many, many years ago..[when I was young, lol] I was hunting with a gent who remains a close friend.
We were in a very productive mule deer area in the Shuswap, and he took a shot at a nice muley buck
that a third member of our party had spooked up.

The muley was on the move, but was not "stolting". At the shot, this deer just folded up and slid down
the incline a bit. When the shooter approached it and grabbed one antler, the deer cocked its hind leg
and took a swipe at my buddy. The edge of the deer's hoof nearly severed his ear.

Needless to say, we had a short hunt that day. It is good to make sure your animal is out for the count.
Remember, if a cervid has it's eyes closed while laying there, it is NOT DEAD!! If the eyes are open, that
is a good sign, but a poke in the eye will verify death. If the eye blinks, Shoot it again!!

Enough hazards to deal with....we don't need to become a victim of the animal we thought was dead. Dave.
 
My first deer I shot jumped at me. I was still wet behind the ears and didn't know any better when I went to check it out. Damn near got me with his little spikes. Definitely was a learning experience in exercising proper caution.
 
Eagleye said:
Many, many years ago..[when I was young, lol] I was hunting with a gent who remains a close friend.
We were in a very productive mule deer area in the Shuswap, and he took a shot at a nice muley buck
that a third member of our party had spooked up.

The muley was on the move, but was not "stolting". At the shot, this deer just folded up and slid down
the incline a bit. When the shooter approached it and grabbed one antler, the deer cocked its hind leg
and took a swipe at my buddy. The edge of the deer's hoof nearly severed his ear.

Needless to say, we had a short hunt that day. It is good to make sure your animal is out for the count.
Remember, if a cervid has it's eyes closed while laying there, it is NOT DEAD!! If the eyes are open, that
is a good sign, but a poke in the eye will verify death. If the eye blinks, Shoot it again!!

Enough hazards to deal with....we don't need to become a victim of the animal we thought was dead. Dave.
Click to expand...

:)Your info on the eyes was the same as what I got from my Dear Old Dad when I started out on big game. I do recall an incident :redface: when I forgot that info and it was on my first young bull Moose. After downed, eager and excited, I had just about reached the back end of my Moose when Dad grabbed my collar and pulled me back. He used another method, took a branch from the ground and tapped the back of the leg of the bull at which point the leg shot back very suddenly. Lesson relearned and I used one more shot.
 
One of the lessons I learned early on was to make sure the deer was dead before you started to gut it ........................

About 40 years ago I shot a deer that folded up like he was hit by the hammer of Thor. (Another related lesson was learned there.) I ran over to him and poked him with the rifle barrel in the ass and he stayed put. I then unloaded my rifle and grabbed the deer by the antlers to spin the head uphill so I could dress it.

Wouldn't you know as soon as I grabbed him his eyes popped open (See what Dave posted above for yet another lesson.)

Thankfully back in those days I had a 6" fixed- bladed knife on my belt and was able to grab it with one hand while holding on to the the deer's antlers with the other. (Once upon a time I was built like a Greek God and had muscles in my ####. Today I am built like a God-damned Greek but that is another story.)

After a frantic 5 or 10 seconds - that subjectively felt like a half-hour - I was able to stick the buck in the jugular before I turned him loose. He wobbled for a few more seconds and then fell over.

Upon dressing the animal it became clear I had hit it way too high and punched a hole through the back straps above the spine. The impact was just enough to shock him for a few minutes but wasn't low enough to break the spine.
 
The eyes will glass over after life has departed.I approach from the spine side and poke e'm in the eye with the rifle barrel.
 
Mbogo is absolutely right, always approach from the spine side...and immediately stand on an antler or ear if a female, if they cant lift their head they are helpless to move or thrash around with anything that will stick or kick you. I will also add that I never try to cut a throat, if the animal shows any sign of life from an "eye check" I stab between the ribs in the heart area and give the knife a good twist inside the animal to do as much "boiler room" damage as possible....never try to cut the throat, if the animal id dead it has already bled out inside from the killing wound and the little bit of blood drainage you achieve is negligible and if ,by chance, the animal still has a bit of life left in it the minute you try to cut the throat ,It's front legs /hooves become battle axe's that can strike your knife hand and redirect a knife uncontrollably. If you are standing on the antler they aint going to stick you and are behind the animal the hooves (front or back) cant touch you.
 
Not a hunting story but of the same vein. We were deadheading and almost home when we smoked a deer. Deer are incredibly tough. The conductor decided he was going to harvest the deer, went into the ditch with knife in hand and the rodeo began. He was off work for about 5 months and no meat either.
 
Bland said:
Not a hunting story but of the same vein. We were deadheading and almost home when we smoked a deer. Deer are incredibly tough. The conductor decided he was going to harvest the deer, went into the ditch with knife in hand and the rodeo began. He was off work for about 5 months and no meat either.
Click to expand...

LOL, that conductor must have seen to many Tarzan movies!!!!!
 
I shot at a dear about twenty years ago from 35 yards going for a head shot.
He folded and I walked up knife in hand expecting to see blood and brains spread around.
Poked my knife through his throat behind the jaw bone and cut down.
Started tp bleed and after a short while started pawing the ground like swimming.
When examined closer I had shaved the top of his ear and hit a burr on his antler.
Probably another closed eye version of a previously related post.
 
I do the two poke method. Make sure you're rifle is loaded and scope back to lowest setting (you don't want to be looking for a stumbling deer with your scope at 9x), circle around if you are coming in head on and approach 45* from the rear. As you are coming a few steps away, remove safety, let out a quick "hey", wait, poke the ass, wait, move closer, poke an OPEN eye, unload your rifle and there you go.

Only once have I done this and the deer blinked when I poked it's open eye, scared the poop out of me, it let one last breath as I pumped a second round in the boiler room.

I know some people as well as people on this forum, who claim to approach with a knife (when they still have a loaded rifle by their side), that has to be the dumbest thing you can do. Unless it's all you got, use your rifle or give the animal sufficient time. I do the same after a bow shot, I give it more time just in case.
 
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