I've had a few deer go lights out almost before they hit the ground. I don't count the couple of spine shots. I hate those because they require a finishing off. I like them to be done when I get to them. Those experiences are enough to make me concentrate on making a good shot.
When I shoot a deer, I just expect them to make the 25-50 yard death run. It has been further than that, but a good hit deer doesn't usually go past 50-60 yards. I give them about 45 minutes and I trail to a dead deer. That is the way I like it.
I've learned that a deer jumping in the air doing a mule kick means a shot through the ribs right behind the shoulders.
It's easy to tell if you took out one or both of the shoulders.
A deer that kind of hunches, or doesn't act like you would expect would probably mean a miss, or a shot south of the diaphragm. I would give that deer at least an hour before I started trailing. If it is early in the day, it wouldn't hurt to give even more time, especially if you don't find much blood at the point where you hit him.
Two years ago I hit a big doe right through the ribs with my 50 cal muzzloader. I found good blood right where I hit her and trailed what seemed farther than normal. I left orange marking tape as I found blood. I must have gone about 150 yards when I found the deer and I did not know where I was in the woods. I knew I had a decent drag on my hands and I pulled out my phone to see where I was on the property with my GPS. I was shocked to see that I was about 15 steps away from the trail I walk to my stand on. I stepped out on the trail, and the 4 wheeler was 20 yards away. I gave the doe a big "thank you!" I was concentrating so hard looking for the blood I didn't know where I was in the woods.
C. Davis
Last edited by C. Davis; 12-06-2016 at 01:15 AM.