I usually check deer by grabbing a back leg and giving a tug. If they get up I should be able to jump out of the way without getting hurt. I've never had a deer come back to life on me but these stories remind me of the toughest buck I ever shot. He had come out in front of me running on the opening day of buck season in PA. He stopped behind a tree and had part of his vitals blocked. I was in a climber so I had to stand to shoot and I aimed as far up as I could and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a ton of bricks and rolled about 20 yards down the hill. I got out of my stand and approached him. When I was about 40 yards away he lifted his head and jumped up. I fired another shot that blew off his right front leg below the knee. He still kept going. So I leveled my gun on a branch and shot him in the neck (he was facing directly away from me). When I ran up on him he was still trying to get away. I was getting a little close to the road to be shooting so I pulled out my knife to finish him. When I grabbed his antlers he bucked up at me and tried to gore me. At this point I reminded him that I still had the rifle and that was all for him. He was one tough buck. Even his anters showed he was tough. He was a basket rack 8 and each point showed signs of injury. Hope I don't run into too many more like him.