IA Buck Hunter

Last season, I spined a doe (unintentionally/bad shot) and it dropped. I was in stand and the deer was making horrible noises so I shot it again. I waited prob like7-10 min and it was still trying to get up and making noises. I didn't want the deer to sufferso I climbed down and slit its throat(expired in 1-2 min). If I had it to do all over again I would have shot it the second time andbacked out, waited 30-45 min then come back to get it.

MarquetteMagnum

second shot, I think that cutting the throat is a little crued. death is a little quicker with out seeing it gasping for air while gurgling blood.

rybohunter

I’ve been in the unfortunate circumstance of having to deal with a spine shot deer more than I would wish on anyone. Sometimes I may not have done the smartest thing to dispatch the deer (regarding my safety), but I always did the quickest thing. A frantic deer, adrenaline filled hunter and the desire to end things quickly, doesn’t always make for the clearest of thinking, or the placement of 2nd shot very easy.

Killer_Primate

Well…

The first deer I ever shot with a bow, I was lucky enough to shoot on my very first day in the woods, on my very first bow hunt. It’s a long story, but I’ll shorten it up…

After taking the shot, which seemed to be really well placed, but from a pretty high stand, I watched as this nice eight-pointer ran probably forty yards into a pretty thick blackberry and green briar patch. He tried to stand up a few times and kept falling over. Finally, in what seemed like an hour (probably more like ten minutes) I lowered my pack/bow and walked over to get a look at him. I couldn’t get a good look at his eye because of how thick the briars were. Since I had walked pretty close to him, with no effort of being quiet, and even threw a stick in the patch next to him, in which he didn’t respond, I decided to take the only trail in the briars, which he’d just made…

As I approached I saw no breathing, but I realize that I was at least a little overwhelmed by the situation. I walk in toward his hind legs and eventually I’m standing with my left foot beside his spine, and my right foot between his front and back legs beside his stomach. Now, this fine deer decides to stand up right between my legs… You can’t imagine what is going through my head at this point; I couldn’t run out of there if I wanted to. I grab his right antler with my left hand and force my forearm down as if I’m doing a curl with some weights in an effort to keep him from standing. At this point he’s having some trouble getting any traction due to the placement of his head. But after a short struggle I could tell that he was going to get to a standing position in short order, so I pulled the knife with my right hand and slammed it into his throat. At this moment he went absolutely crazy; thrashing all over. I couldn’t believe how strong he was. I ended up falling over with my legs wrapped around the deer all the while forcing the blade out through the front of his throat.

For a pretty long time afterward I couldn’t believe what had happened. It seemed fake; as if I’d watched this in a movie, or it wasn’t me. I think I was yelling as all of this was going on, but I can’t say for sure. Once he was down for good, I was literally shaking all over like I never have before. You could have seen my shaking from 100 yards away.

But… the kicker is… of all the things I’ve done, of all the crazy moments in ones life; this one keeps coming back. This was probably the most surreal experience of my life; at that moment I was committing a horrific act of predation. Many of you may think that I’m stupid, but I actually hope to do it again someday.

NY Bowhunter

I've never understood it myself [:-]. Sorry but I'm not approaching a deer that is seriously pissed off at me for shooting it. I've never needed a "follow up" shot in bow hunting and I hope I never do. But if it does happen I'm sending another one through the heart rather than jumping on it like rambo and stabbing it.

GMMAT

I'm not even talking precision shooting, here. Do your best and shoot til it stops moving. ANY arrow shot into a mortally wounded deer is better than the one not sent downrange.

NY Bowhunter

True, but if you can get close enough to stab it with a 5 inch blade, seems like you can get close enough to make a pretty precise shot to end it just as quick.

killadoe

I never have had to while bowhunting. However I spined a deer with my rifle one time and instead of slitting its throat I shot it in the neck, no meat wasted... I just think its disrespectful and cruel to cuta deer's throat like that. Shootem again I say...

BobCo19-65

If I was tracking it at night and found it alive I would use a knife if it was possible to do so (not sure if it would be legal though, I know following a deer at night with a bow is illegal in our state). If it were daytime, I would use an arrow.

GMMAT

Good point, Bob. I've only walked up on one while tracking that was still alive. I backed out and came back a few hours later and found it 10yds from where i bumped it.

In the situation you described......I may get flamed for it....but I'd have NO ISSUES with the hunter taking a weapon to dispatch his animal with. None. Ethics is said to be doing the right thing....when even the wrong thing isn't against the law. I feel like that phrase should work both ways.