Im sorry but unless you shoot the thing in the butt it will not just lay still for you to walk up on it and die hours later. The other possibilities of it not being dead in a couple of minutes will let that dear run and when you find it it will be hours later because you should back out and let it die so you can recover it. Now if you do shoot one in the butt you seriously need to shoot it again because it will take hours for that animal to die if you dont and you do not want to get within kicking distance of it because it will lay a hurt on you. And if you are in a stand and shoot a deer you should give it 30 minutes to die before you get down anyways because if you did gut shoot it and walk up on it to quick and it aint dead it is gonna run and you might never find your deer. But on the odd chance that it is still alive when you walk up on it you can a) cut its throat or b) shoot it like your instuctor told you the bullet will imbed into the dirt on the other side of the animal and will not bounce straight back and kill you. Also I am pretty sure he meant to shoot it from a little ways back not walk up and touch the barrel to the animal. And honestly if you walk up on animal still alive I would lay money on it running off or just give it a couple minutes and it will be dead with out you having to go and ruin meat by blowing it away from half an inch. but in my experience unless you want to keep the head just shoot it there you will ruin no meat and the animal is dead instantly. So that is the way I would go if I were to shoot the animal. Also you say you have the equipment but have you practiced with it? If you have not you need to hit the range and practice practice practice. You can not just buy the rifle and then go shoot something. You have sighted the rifle in right? If you do your part and hit the deer in the brisket you will not have to worry about having to finish it off. It will be dead before you can work the bolt or soon after. And one of the ways to keep this from happening is to go out and go for a doe first. Dont have a buck be your first deer harvested. You will get buck fever. You will probably get it with a doe to but once you have broken the ice it will be easier after that and will settle your nerves. Also wait and be patient for a good shot do not get over excited and shoot when there is not a good shot present. Wait for a good broadside shot calm yourself down think of it like paper and squeeze the trigger. Sorry for the long rant but it sounds like you need all the help you can get. And good luck on your first hunt.