What Would You DO?
 

Just want to know what everyone would do in the circumstances. You hear your buddy say " I found him", "I found him". The buck is within 10 yards from us and looking at us. Its raining, the bow is back in the truck 350 yards away, and the snow is about to be upon us. Then you hear, " He's still alive". The buck is not able to get up at the time and has been bleeding some and is dazed. He doesnt want the throat slit because he wants a mount on the deer. What do you do????

This happened to me and some friends tonight and I'm curious to see what everyone would do in this situation.

Walk away for a little while and let him die with some dignity.

350 yards aint that far....id go get my bow...or just come back in the morning..i know where he is and where he should be dead...i dont have yotes or anything really to worry about though...

he'd likely be dead by the time you came back from the sounds of it anyways but id still likely go get the bow...i have no problem watching an animal die...but i always do my best to help them get dead ASAP...even if the first shot is fatal, if i can get another one or 2 in there, no question about it, im sending them..rifle or bow..doesnt matter...arrows and broadheads might seem expensive, but to me, its a no-brainer..if i can get another arrow into a deer im sending it...sent 3 into mine this year...first one was perfect..but i wasnt sitting in the tree above him waiting and watching him die...

sneak up behind him and stab him in the ribs with ur buck knife, done it a few times, works pretty well. Put the deer out of its pain, you owe it to the animal

if you dont feel like leavin him over night...cuz its pretty much a sure thing that he is goin nowhere, but just b as quite as you can and try and sneak to him and put another arrow in his chest

Go back and get the bow.......no doubt. By the time you get back he might be dead anyway...

Not my first choice but what ever tickles your fancy....Walk back and get the bow. Drill em' with another stick. Have done it 3x now.

Find a big stick and bonk him on the head. Seriously- make the walk and get the bow to put another arrow in him.

Done this several times! Dad always said if you ain't man enough to finish him off and they lay there suffering you shouldn't be out there!

Hypothetically speaking, I would go get my bow to finish him off.

This will never happen to me though. I ALWAYS carry my bow with me on a blood trail because there's always a chance I"ll need it. I haven't needed it yet, but I'm sure that if I ever do, I'll need it quickly.

If you are tracking a wounded animal you should have the bow with you. 350 yards is not that far...go get the bow.

I will agree with everyone else on this one. (What ever works)?

Go get the bow or Put a knife in him what ever it takes? Just do it!
I have had to do both one time or another.
They both work!

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

You say you have buddies with you. I would leave one guy on watch, so if the deer did get up you have a set of eyes to watch/follow him and send someone else back to get the bow so you could finish what you started. Then I would make a note to myself to always have my bow with me.

I would slit his throat anyways. You owe it to the animals you hunt for them to die with as little pain as possible.

I would have either stabbed or slit. I'm sure you dont need to hear it, but it's a good reason why you should always have your bow.

get your bow, or stab for the heart.. it works, if i was in the situation i would try to get him in the heart with my knife, had to do it on a doe the other year and it worked well... my second choice was to get my bow.......... lets see some pictures of the deer!?!