I own a tracking dog and track/find as many as fifty deer a season and some of those deer are alive. I always have the hunter I am working for carry a weapon be it bow or gun. I carry my Ruger 44 mag. during firearms season. We are not allowed to carry a firearm or bow when tracking at night so I also wear a 6" fixed bladed knife. Cutting their throat is not the way to go. As mentioned above stabbing is the way to go but you don't just start jabbing away and killing one this way is not for the faint at heart. First, your 3" folding Buck is too small, you need a min. of a 5" blade and when you decide to do the deed you need help. A deer that you think is "almost dead" is going to be "very alive" when you and your help pounce on it. One on the head (antlers) one on the hind qtrs. and this person absolutely has to have control of their rear hooves and legs (I put my most aggressive assistant here) their hooves are weapons. You , the stabber, take the middle section. You have to have to move quick- left hand on uppermost leg pinning it to ground. Your target is the heart. You have to stab in an upward motion with a lot of force with your knife entering just behind their leg/shoulder area 3-4 in. above the bottom of their chest cavity one deep plunge in an upward stroke. Again, the heart is your target. Like I said before killing a deer with a knife is not for the faint of heart. You have to be committed. I would not recommend it. I've killed a bunch over the years this way and I "hate" it everytime I have to do it. I will not walk away from a live animal and let it just slowly expire so I do what I have to do but if you can your first choice should always be to shoot it again with your bow or firearm.

Dan