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tough deer |
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gun74
Optics Apprentice Joined: February/10/2009 Location: PA Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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Posted: December/07/2009 at 00:04 |
I never realized how tough and determined a deer was until this past saturday.we were doing a stalk and hunt drive on a large ridge and one of the guys jumped a doe up and he noticed her guts were hanging out of her and before he could get a shot she disappeared into an old roadway,he tracked this deer up a slight incline for about 100 yards in the snow reached the top of a bench in the ridge and and the deer made a right turn and went another 25 yards where he found her guts laying and a large blood trail going back down hill,he followed the trail back to where he had jumped her to start with still alive.one shot put her out of her misery and all he had to remove was her heart and some other internal parts, someone had shot at her and grazed her stomach slicing her open.we didn't belive him so this morning he showed us her trail up and across and back down the ridge.This was the second deer that a member of our group had to finish off,the third day of the season a fellow shot a nice eight-point that weighed close to 200 lbs field dressed.
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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These type of experiences are not good for our hunting image. All hunters should check their shots and follow the spoor of the animal for a short distance to check for blood.
Luckily your friend was in the right place to end her misery.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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my brother in law and i had a discussion on this subject, we both decided that in north america (other than bears wolves mountain lions etc.) the whitetail deer is in the top 3 for being tough to kill. elk is right there too.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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SD Dog
Optics Master Extraordinaire OT Scratching Post Joined: February/28/2008 Status: Offline Points: 4177 |
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They can be incredibly tough. Friend shot a 4x4 buck this past weekend. Hit it in the shoulder at about 20-25 yards. Buck about flipped, but managed to get up, run 15 yards jump over a 3.5' fence with both shoulders destroyed. It went roughly 20 more yards and expired. As far as time, did not live long after the shot, but still amazing how far it went.
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If nobody ever said anything unless he knew what he was talking about, a ghastly hush would descend upon the earth. AP Herbert
Stupidity & ignorance have been the foundation for many certainties. |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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I dunno. While there are certainly no shortage of examples cited where deer (and other big game animals) have shown an amazing will to live after being shot, I would hardly classify them as truly "tough" critters. Though there are always exceptions, my experience from killing my fair share of whitetails has shown me that the majority of the time a deer won't travel more than 75 yards or so after being hit, assuming good shot placement and an appropriate bullet. Of course, it's impossible to predict with certainty how any animal will react after being shot.
I've never hunted outside the US, but as far as North America is concerned, pound for pound, I would have to place a big feral hog near the top of the list for toughness. I've seen mortally wounded hogs travel amazing distances and remain alive for incredible lengths of time! The longest blood trails I've ever followed were in pursuit of hogs shot behind the shoulders, many of which were never recovered. This is why I usually just shoot them in the head these days.
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i put hogs at the top of my list, with elk and whitetail in tie for 2nd/3rd. i would certainly say that whitetail are tougher than most mule deer ive been around, they certainly adapt better i believe.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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mlv2k5
Optics Journeyman Joined: September/18/2008 Status: Offline Points: 313 |
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Not sure what I think about whitetails being "tough." I have heard many stories about poorly shot deer living for extended periods of time and traveling great distances despite their wounds. In that respect I believe they are very tough. Like most wild animals, they continue to try to escape and survive often despite catastrophic wounds.
However, I am here to say that when it comes to the difficulty in killing a whitetail, the determining factor is the hunter not the animal. I cant speak for other parts of the country, but I have seen eastern whitetails dropped with everything from a .22 lr to a .300 win mag and the determining factor for how "tough" the deer seemed was always shot placement. A clean shot behind the ears at the base of the brainstem from a .22 mag will drop a deer instantaneously while a poor shot from a .300 win mag to the guts or hindquarters might have you tracking the deer for quite a ways. With proper shot placement it is rare that whitetails go very far if they even run at all in my experience. I have several friends who believe it is NECESSARY to shoot whitetails with big magnum calibers yet sometimes they still end up tracking the deer because the shot was not as accurate as it should have been due to the anticipation of heavy recoil/muzzle blast. |
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-Michael
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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Kerry
Optics GrassHopper Joined: November/10/2009 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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I concur with the hog statement. Never, I mean NEVER walk up on a wounded hog w/o a loaded gun ready to fire. I suggest you use a second shot just in case!
Yes, this comes from experience.
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Kerry Smith
Somewhere Down in Texas |
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magshooter1
Optics Professional Joined: August/27/2008 Location: El Dorado, AR Status: Offline Points: 827 |
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I have to agree with these guys. The hogs in south ARK are known for being tough to kill. I have shot them and they showed no indication that they were even hit when they ran off. We find most of them but we never track a wounded one alone. The post about shooting them in the head, I believe is the way to go. However, I have seen whitetails do amazing things and cover long distances after being shot.
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Some people are educated BEYOND their intelligence.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i guess i should have clairified myself a little. this information you just posted is the kind of stuff i "thought" but apparently it didnt transfer to my typing. i totally agree with you. i shoot deer with a big magnum, so does that automatically mean im wrong?? i killed a buck on opening morning with my .375H&H at less than 30 yards. was that neccessary? no. does that make me wrong? not at all. i have seen well hit deer run over 200yards with no heart, that to me is tough. i shot a cow elk one time it made it maybe 25ft with no heart. same 30-06 same 150gr bullet. same result in the end. just had to drag the elk a lot further to get to the truck. so which animal was the tougher of the two?? i guess they both died in the end and both had well placed shots. ive never hit a deer badly i try to be very picky about the shots i do take. so i either miss cleanly or hit them good. |
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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That sounds to me like the prelude to a story that needs to be told, Kerry!
I couldn't begin to estimate how many hogs I've killed with a variety of weapons. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the surprising number of times I've seen them fall, act like they were in their final death throes, lie motionless, then minutes later, get up again and run off, never to be seen again... even when hit with some serious firepower!
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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ccoker
Optics Master Joined: February/13/2008 Location: Austin, TX Status: Offline Points: 2041 |
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I can attest to that
I hit a 200lb boar at 30 yards with a 44 mag rifle in the neck WACK and down it went about 5 minutes later up it gets and walks off we wait it out and we can hear him thrashing around making all kinds of racket now, this was a 2AM... we waited a good 20 minutes before proceeding hit him low in the neck, was using a NV gun and didn't account for the fact that scope over bore was like 3" |
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Sgt. D
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: February/20/2008 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 4525 |
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Reminds me of a nice 7pt. I shot yrs ago with a 1oz. slug at about 40yds. An easy broadside shot right in the heart. Rascal went 200yds before dropping. I was and still am amazed at how he did it. I rolled him over to see the exit hole and you literally could have dropped a softball in the hole. No heart at all! How does any animal go anywhere without a heart?
After some thought I figured that with no pump to push a bleed out, he must have made it on oxygen in the remaining blood.
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Take care of Soldiers, Show em how its done and do it with em, Run to the Fight & and hold your ground! I die my men go home! If you're a NCO and this ain't you. GET OUT! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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budperm
Optics Retard show me your sheep!! Joined: January/01/2009 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 31710 |
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Adrenalin is some amazing stuff. Just this last week some guy pick up a car and push it off an elementary school Girl it had back over. Guy weighted 155pounds.
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"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson |
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trigger29
Optics Master Extraordinaire X = 180 Y = 90 (X+Pyro)+(Y-Pyro) = ? Joined: September/29/2007 Location: South Dakota Status: Offline Points: 4353 |
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