Reflections of a hunt

Windjammer · November 30, 2005, 08:20 AM

Last night as I was processing the 8 point buck I shot on Friday, I was thinking about how it reacted after being shot and some of the posts lately about .243 vs. 308, using Super Duper Magnums, lost deer etc.

I was hunting a cut-over in a pine thicket, this buck stepped out about 75 yards away. I had a full broadside shot with my Marlin in .375 Winchester using my reloads of with a 255 gr bullet.

When I shot I knew I hit him because he did the classic hunch up in the center. He ran 65 yds. ( measured with range finder) into the pine thicket and crashed. As he ran through the thicket he made three leaps as he ran high enough I could see half of his body (the pines are 8 -10 ft tall) . As he is running though the thicket like Tigger, I thought I had completely missed.

It was a clean through double lung shot (a little high for the heart/liver area), As many deer as I have shot it still amazes me what an animal will do when its shot. I'm convinced that if I could re-shoot this deer (hit the same spot) with any caliber that provides enough penetration ( 243, 30-30, 300 Win Mag, what ever ) it would react exactly the same.

Which IMHO, its not the gun, scope, caliber or any of the fancy gadgets we have, its the skill and knowledge of the hunter that makes the clean kill not the hardware.

Just my reflections on a good day of hunting.

Art Eatman · November 30, 2005, 09:18 AM

Adrenalin is amazing stuff. I've shot deer out in the open, with good high-heart shots. They'd go down and then jump up and run maybe 50 or 60 yards before crumpling for good. The first time I ever saw it was in my early daze as a Mighty Hunter. I just knew I'd made a bad shot when I saw the deer run. Nope. Call it a learning experience.

My father's comment was, "Well, if you shoot'em in the neck, they don't do that."

He was correct, of course...

Art

Fremmer · November 30, 2005, 09:29 AM

Good job with the buck. Yep, sometimes they will run, regardless of what you hit 'em with. But a 65 yard run is a lot better than a 165 yard run, and you have to hope that the wallop of that 255 grain round helped to cut down some of that running distance.

Windjammer · November 30, 2005, 02:24 PM

I've mulled this around for a long time. Every deer is an individual and each will re-act to pain in different ways. I'm assuming they can detect different kinds of pain i.e. the .375 255 gr gain would feel different then a .243 100 gr bullet, but it is still intense pain ( they don't know they have been shot just that something has hurt them). This is where the adrenalin kicks in.

No matter which caliber is used the end result is the same, two completely collapsed lungs. From what I understand this condition leads to suffocation in 10 -15 seconds. So that would mean what ever the deer is going to do its got 10 - 15 seconds to do it, lay down, lay down then run or just run until it collapses ( the distance it can run before collapsing would be based on the individual, I think).

Foxman · November 30, 2005, 03:13 PM

It does depend on the deer and if it has seen you too sometimes, but they do run on adrenaline and of course till the muscles and brain are starved of oxygen from the blood. I have shot deer at a distance with 243/ 270 etc and even though they didn't see me they have run up to 100 yds with a clean heart shot before dropping, they usually turn towards the exit wound too, although I am not sure exactly why.

November 30, 2005, 08:20 AM	#1
Windjammer Member Join Date: September 28, 2005 Location: Eastern North Carolina Posts: 83	Reflections of a hunt Last night as I was processing the 8 point buck I shot on Friday, I was thinking about how it reacted after being shot and some of the posts lately about .243 vs. 308, using Super Duper Magnums, lost deer etc. I was hunting a cut-over in a pine thicket, this buck stepped out about 75 yards away. I had a full broadside shot with my Marlin in .375 Winchester using my reloads of with a 255 gr bullet. When I shot I knew I hit him because he did the classic hunch up in the center. He ran 65 yds. ( measured with range finder) into the pine thicket and crashed. As he ran through the thicket he made three leaps as he ran high enough I could see half of his body (the pines are 8 -10 ft tall) . As he is running though the thicket like Tigger, I thought I had completely missed. It was a clean through double lung shot (a little high for the heart/liver area), As many deer as I have shot it still amazes me what an animal will do when its shot. I'm convinced that if I could re-shoot this deer (hit the same spot) with any caliber that provides enough penetration ( 243, 30-30, 300 Win Mag, what ever ) it would react exactly the same. Which IMHO, its not the gun, scope, caliber or any of the fancy gadgets we have, its the skill and knowledge of the hunter that makes the clean kill not the hardware. Just my reflections on a good day of hunting. __________________ "I am completely out of ammo... that's never happened to me before." --- Burt Gummer

November 30, 2005, 02:24 PM	#4
Windjammer Member Join Date: September 28, 2005 Location: Eastern North Carolina Posts: 83	I've mulled this around for a long time. Every deer is an individual and each will re-act to pain in different ways. I'm assuming they can detect different kinds of pain i.e. the .375 255 gr gain would feel different then a .243 100 gr bullet, but it is still intense pain ( they don't know they have been shot just that something has hurt them). This is where the adrenalin kicks in. No matter which caliber is used the end result is the same, two completely collapsed lungs. From what I understand this condition leads to suffocation in 10 -15 seconds. So that would mean what ever the deer is going to do its got 10 - 15 seconds to do it, lay down, lay down then run or just run until it collapses ( the distance it can run before collapsing would be based on the individual, I think). __________________ "I am completely out of ammo... that's never happened to me before." --- Burt Gummer

November 30, 2005, 03:13 PM	#5
Foxman Senior Member Join Date: August 13, 2005 Posts: 466	It does depend on the deer and if it has seen you too sometimes, but they do run on adrenaline and of course till the muscles and brain are starved of oxygen from the blood. I have shot deer at a distance with 243/ 270 etc and even though they didn't see me they have run up to 100 yds with a clean heart shot before dropping, they usually turn towards the exit wound too, although I am not sure exactly why. __________________ Better the man suspected of being a fool keep his mouth shut, than to open it and remove all doubt.

November 30, 2005, 09:18 AM	#2
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Adrenalin is amazing stuff. I've shot deer out in the open, with good high-heart shots. They'd go down and then jump up and run maybe 50 or 60 yards before crumpling for good. The first time I ever saw it was in my early daze as a Mighty Hunter. I just knew I'd made a bad shot when I saw the deer run. Nope. Call it a learning experience. My father's comment was, "Well, if you shoot'em in the neck, they don't do that." He was correct, of course... Art

November 30, 2005, 09:29 AM	#3
Fremmer Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2005 Location: Nebraska Posts: 3,482	Good job with the buck. Yep, sometimes they will run, regardless of what you hit 'em with. But a 65 yard run is a lot better than a 165 yard run, and you have to hope that the wallop of that 255 grain round helped to cut down some of that running distance.