livbucks

OK, You pulled the trigger, the deer is down. The game isn't over. Now is the time for discipline and prudence. You should have jacked another shell in immediately after pulling the trigger and secured the gun on safe. If bowhunting, you should be waiting anyway. When you find your deer, walk slowly to it. Approach from the rear. Stand near the deer for a few moments and just watch it. If it is still alive, and you pay attention, you will see some movement in the chest at some point. If after a couple of minutes you see NO movement, move around to the head and touch it's eye with a stick. If you can indent the eye and no blinking occurs, it is dead. One reliable indication of deadness is if the eye is open and no blinking occurs for several minutes. If the eye is closed, watch your a$$. Deer seldom close their eyes completely when dead.

HAZCON7

Never had one come back to life after field dressing it.

6ptsika

If the eyes are closed, it's alive, if they're open, poke one with the broadhead, if it blinks, it's alive. The blinking is a reflex, and if it doesn't happen, you can be sure it's dead.

davidhardegree

My neighbor told me the same thing about the eyes being closed. I've never experienced a downed deer with eyes closed. they've all been open.

Trushot_archer

Reminds me of the story I heard last year where the Som shot his first buck and and hollered for his dad. Attached the deer drag to his harness to start pulling towards his dads stand when the deer decided it had had enough of the sled ride and started to pull back a bit Took the youngster on 40 yard "Dirt Ski" ride.

Luckily the buck ran right by the father and he got a hold of the starap and slowed it long enoug to cut his son free.

I bet they both make sure now

MR.D

I have to agree on the eys closed tip.
I once shot a buck that went down out of sight. When I approached it it was facing me with its head on its front legs much like a dog would lie down.
At first I thought that it had died in that resting position but immediately noticed the eyes were closed. I have never seen any deer that I killed die with its eyes closed. Almost all had their eyes open and tongue out.
I watched this deer from a distance for about 10 seconds and noticed that he did take one breath in that time. As soon as I saw his chest rise I drilled him with another round head on at the top of his body where the neck meets the spine.
He rolled over let out a huge gasp and his eyes opened and mouth went slack.
NEVER assume that a downed animal is dead!

daystalker

yup sounds an awfull lot like my first year riffle hunting way up north... opening day im riding along with my uncle in his truck when out of no where a buck jumps out of the woods right in the way. after a few moments to recover from the impact we threw it in th eback of teh truck... this truck had a cap on it. about two miles down the road and almost to the hunting spot the sun was rising legal shooting time. all of a sudden there arose a clatter, pure commotion coming from the back of the truck. my uncle threw the truck in park, grabbed the riffle from behind the seat and told me to open the tail gate and get off to one side. after asking him if he was clinically insane, and argueing for a few seconds i did it. that deer coudlnt ahve bolted faster, nearly knocked me down as i spun around i cought my self on the side of the truck only in time to hear the boom of the 300 mag and look up to see my uncle packing the gun back into the truck. he turns to me and says "TIME TO EARN YOUR KEEP BOY!" after that i always make damn sure they are dead before i touch em!

StrmChzr

just reminds me of the scene from Tommy Boy when they load the "dead" deer in the backseat.....................lol

---Richard's car is destroyed by a deer---
Richard Hayden : No way that just happened.
Tommy : I've seen some crazy stuff in my time, but that... was... AWESOME. Oh, sorry about your car, man.




seriously, i would imagine this happens at one time or another to all deer hunters....................

.................................the answer is: always be ready to take a follow-up shot at a second's notice

unless you're planning to have the deer mounted, i would cut the jugular before transporting the carcass (messy, but then you know the critters dead)...
(actually, i usually field dress deer before trying to move the animal -- added benefit is decreasing the weight you will be draging to nearest pick-up location)....

as with many "phobias", your intentions are good, you just need to pre-plan how you will handle the situation before you have to actually deal with it..... good luck!




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KimberRuger

I honestly thought everyone knew about the open eye poke with a stick thing.

That's the ONLY way I know of, and the ONLY way I've ever heard of anyone checking a downed deer.

Bees

exactely, if its alive it will blink.