HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I never really encounter this problem during bow or rifle season but I almost always do during shotgun season. Finishing a downed deer. One that has been crippled or paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated. Now I have seen and used several methods but I have always been curious how others handle it. It gives me a weird feeling when I have to do this thatI can't really describe. I do know this, the first time you do it can be tough, ecspeciallyif you can't for whatever reason ground-check it(shoot it on the ground), which I don't really prefer anyway. I guess I'm notinterested in the methods as much as "Does anyone else relate to that feeling?" I'm sure someone does.A lot of times youare seperated/desensitized from the actual death of the animal by distance(rifle), it runs off-you trail it and find it dead already(bow), or other similar circumstances.But when it is just you and that animal in the woods and you have to end its life up close and personal, it's just different.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

HEY

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Like it or not, our jobs are to dispose of them as quickly as possible. If there is no imminent danger of approcahing the deer, cut the vugular and it will only take seconds for the deer to expire.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I have done it once for me and once for my littlecousin. Killing the animal is a part of hunting. It is supposed to be done in a quick and ethical way. Wether you kill the wounded animal when it is at your feet or you shoot the animal and it dies 60 yard away, you are still killing it. A lot of people dont understand that until it happens to them. The first time I had to do it was my deer and I got "that" feeling. I havnt gotten it again. It was my first bowkill and my feeling wasnt feeling bad for the deer, well kinda. It was more of a "damnit I should of made a better shot. If I would have, the deer would of died quicker and more peacefully."

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

first deer i ever shot i spined it with an old 30-30 and have had to finish a deer off twice since then and i dont geel anything at the moment...i switch into a mode where i dont think about anything but killing it ASAP...all i do is shoot him again in the vitals.....if u can get a good point black shot at the heart it is over VERY fast.....like i said i dont feel anything at the time but later that night in the car ride home or before i go to sleep it hits me and i sorta feel bad that i made him suffer...

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

What ever will end it quickly, and not present a high risk of injury to yourself. (had a few "kickers" in my time, best to shoot again in that situation) BUT, I seem to remember that some states have some strange laws on what is considered "proper" ways to finish an animal. (probably put on the books by Humane Societypettitions[:'(] )

So, one that's just laying there and no threat to you physically,
a stab to the jugular (cutting makes too much a mess to the carcas)
or "pith" them (small narrow knife stabed into the spot between the base of the skull and the vertibre, sometimes up into the skull)
Or, if it's kicking and struggling,
One clean shot to the chest. (head shots are WAY too messy, especially close range)

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

messy and then they get all twitchey.....

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I relate with the strange feelinng. But I just finish it with a shot where the head meets the neck.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I know the feeling and hate when I have to do that. Sometimes I actually feel like quiting hunting all together after that.

I shoot them in the lungs. Nothing to waste there but rib meat.

I don't shoot the head or neck. I need them to tie the drag rope to and I feel if none hunters see that it may turn them against hunting.Seeing a deaddeer with an eyeball hanging out isn't a pretty sight. I sometimes hunt a state park and encounter nonhunters quite often.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I had an uncle (actually my father's uncle, passed away years ago) who used to carry around what looked almost like a old style bayonette. Maybe it was, but the main thing is that it was a long, narrow but thick spined blade that was perfect for finishing off game. He used it on deer, coons, anything larger than a squirrel or bird. He would use it to spike their spine and sever the sinal cord right at the base of the skull. Just hold down the head with his boot and pop, they don't move around any more. When I had anatomy class in school it stuck out as the basically the same thing done to "prep" frogs and such for disection. Must have been the old WWII vet in him getting the fastest way to stop your quarry.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I hate that feeling as well...

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Ican't even get close to a number of deer and other game animalsI have killed in my life and every year it happens.I know the olderI get the more it bothers me but inside of me is a hunter and death is part of the hunt.I try the best to makethe first shot lethal. And ifI know the shot was goodI wait till the dieing is over beforeI get close. But when the worst happensandI have to shoot againI make a shot right below the head into the neck center. If thedeer is going to be mounted or is moving around a heart shot. Just ask yourself if you were the one beingput down where and how would you want it.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

If your going to mount it shoot it as far back in the kill zone as possiable if your not going to mount it cut its throat. Plain and simple. It has to be done.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

to me cutting the throat would be tough..if i had 2 do it i would but a shot to the heart is just as easy....

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

You grab the wrong one to cut its throat and you could be injured rather quickly. A .22 to the head is best to me.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

wow ive had this happen to me 2 times so far even tho i am a young hunter. last year a buck was killed by my house and the neighbor called me to finish it off. well my i couldnt take my gun because the cabinet was locked and since my dad wasnt home i couldnt get the key. so i had to use a knife to the throat. it was terrible. the other time was i shot a doe high and paralyzed it in that situation my first reaction was to shoot it in the head although now that i think about it, it probably wasnt the best way to do it. certainly not a good feeling. very difficult to do as well.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Just a thought for ya. If you need to finish a deer and plan on eating it, it is best to cut it's throat. Yeah, it's messy and they tend to get twitchy, but it's best for the taste of the meat to bleed them quickly. It also makes the feild dressing of them easier since all the blood has been let already.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Getting near an animal that isn't dead - with a sharp instrument [knife/machete/whatever] in your hand - is not a very intelligent thing to do......unless you would also like to be injured. I shot my first deer, an 8pt buck with a 20 gauge single shot. I had shot at 5 deer that day, missed 4 and then, with my last slug tagged the buck. He wasn't expired when I came up on him. Boy was I excited. But he wasn't dead. Heck I was like 10 or 11 and thought, "Hey, cutting the throat seems to work on TV........" So I took the knife my Dad gave me and pulled it across it's throat. I don't think the knife was dull - but it wasn't exactly a surgeon's scapel either. It didn't do anything. So I thought to stab behind the throat and cut "from the inside out" - right? Well he didn't like that and really started thrashing. When he settled down a bit I made the wise decision that I uldn't let him have a say in the matter. I will simply put my foot on his antler and pin it to the ground as I had my way with his throat. So I stood on his rack, stabbed at the throat and found myself on my butt with my knife/hand under my leg. Could have stabbed myself.

So I sit there looking at this deer [and he's looking at me]. Later my Dad came and saez something like "Hey great deer." "Whoa he's not dead - stay away from him" [Really?] I told him what I tried to do and he laughed. Said, "This is how ya do it." POW - right at he neck/back of skull like Cardeer said.
Dead deer. "That's all ya gotta do," he said. I remember telling him, "But Dad, I ain't got no shells left, I missed 4 other deer."

Never forget his words............."We gotta work on your shot."

If there's one thing I really miss it's my Father and hunting with him - I miss ya Pop.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I've had this happen three times. Twice the deer was paralyzed from the neck down. I use a pretty long hunting knife so I just stuck it behind the shoulder like I would an arrow. They both died in a few seconds. The third one my son shot, it was his fist deer and he just barely caught the spine. That one I shot in the chest, I didn't want him to feel worse than he already did. I really hate when this happens but remember it is a lot more humane than they would die naturally. Starvation, getting ripped apart alive by a coyote or getting busted up by a car and slowly dying is way worse than quickly killing a downed animal.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Same here .

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I usually double lung them with my Buck knife, depending on the animals size and how it is reacting to me. Sometimes I will shoot them again if the deer starts flailing whenI get close or is too big to hold down with my boot on its throat. ButI might not recommend holding one down to a smaller/young hunter (I'm 6'2", 260 lbs). I definitely remember that feeling being stronger the first couple of times, but the more I have done it the more I just want to end it quickly. But I wouldn't say the feeling is gone altogether. I have a lot of respect for my game and hate to see them suffer so maybe it's a little bit of sympathy/empathy for the animal. Thanks for the responsesI was thinking I might be a wuss. J/J !!

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I've had to finish off a wounded deer several times. I don't have a set particular way or plan to do it, I just take care of it the best way possible depending on the situation. I have cut throats, shot in the head, shot in the lungs, shot in the neck................

The "feeling" is not a good one and I dread when I have to do it again, but I know I will..............it's the nature of what we do.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I had to do that on my first deer. I wound up spining it and then me all pumped with adrenaline would up shooting it in the heart at like 30 yards. Note: I could have done it better but hey I was 14 and I hope I would do it diferently if it ever happens again.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I am a meat hunter so for me, its a shot to the head. Use a 270 and you won't have to finish them.;)

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

never missed wiht my 270...i have a single shot NEF with a bushnell 3x9 on it and ive taken 6 deer already with it and i have never missed....

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

It is a terrible feeling... no matter how many kills you have. I have had to finish a couple of mine that wasn't very pleasant. I have finished one w/ another shot, but I have had to cut a couple throats due to legal shooting light. Stills gives me the chills.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I am glad this discussion was brought up. I have been hunting for 18 years now and last gun season was the first time I had to finish a deer. I tracked the deer into a high swamp and it tried to get up less then two feet away. It was after legal shooting light, so even though I had a pistol (CCW in Michigan) I did not fire. I had heard of people cutting the throat, so I grabbed my knife and jumped on the deer. I have always thought of myself as a man's man, but never again. Struggling with that animal and the noises it made... to say it bugged (and is still bugging me) is an understatement. I did end up with 6 stitches across my left hand during the battle. For now on, I do not care if it is legal shooting light or not. If I find a mortally wounded animal, I will shoot it in the base of the skull.

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RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

Ouch,the "mans man" quote is great. A wounded deer bleating/grunting and struggling will strike a nerve with anyone. Foot on the throat, double lung knife jab, walk away for a minute. That's my method, good or bad, it's what works for me. Big, flailing deer will get another shot. If you have to handle this situation with a new hunter, handle it quicklyand cleanly. Most of the time if my youngest son is with meI will ask him to wait at our stand for a second andI will take care if thesituation as discreetly as possible. There willbe plenty of time for him to become a killer when he gets a little older and I choose to not make him deal with it just yet.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

as many have said so far, i have done it once, and it was my first deer killed. my freind and i walked up to this powerline where he knew deer were all the time. we walked up, and he said "if theres a deer down there, ill give you a look, you take aim and calmy take the shot". im like "alright" so we get to the top and look down, sure enough here is a doe (or we thought it was a doe), so he looked at me, i looked at him and he nodded lol, so i aimed and fired. well the deer went down and we walked down there to the deer and we realized it hadnt expired. so im thinking, as i have never killed or hunted anything b4 this, "what now?" lol. he says "cut his throat" and i just look at him and laughed, until i saw he wasnt kidding. i tried, but it wassnt like i thought it would have been. it was like hard to apply pressure to it -and i saw that i was maiming the deer more than killing it lol. so my friend took the knife and showed me how to do it quickly. but if it eve happens again, i think ill just put another slug into him. lol. that was defintely a crazy experience.

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

I carry a SOG seal pup with me when I hunt and in the trunk of my car. I have never had to do it to a deer in a hunting situation, but I have killed a few deer on the side of the road after accidents. I just put the knife thru the lungs like I was bow hunting and wait for them to die. It isn't pretty that is for sure. Deer don't bother me too much however, being a game animal. And woodchucks and bunnies don't bother me at all. With small game I just step on the head if they are not dead. It seems cruel but its very quick.

I grew up on a farm in the country though. I have put down more than a few animals in my life, and some my favorite pets. I've had to put down my own dog a few times and killed a little kitten once that had a slug in it's neck. It takes a special person to look a loved pet in they eye and pull a trigger. If you don't feel something when you do it I suggest you visit a shrink.

Watching an animal suffer is waay worse than actually doing the deed to me.

Paul

RE: HOW TO: FINISH A DEER?
 

It doesn't matter what kind of gun you use this can still happen. One time I shot a doe in the head to try and save meat. First shot the deer went straight down. Popped back up 2 seconds later. Second head shot, deer went straight down maybe 5 sec popped up again. Third shot, still trying to conserve meat went for the neck deer dropped, popped straight back up. This was with a 7mm mag with 150 gr ballistic tip bullets now I'm down to my last shell. Fourth shot double lung deer down for good. When I checked out the deer I shot off it's bottom jaw, blew off it's right eye along with half of the right side of it's face, grazed the spine on the back of it's neck and hit right behind the shoulder with the last shot. All of my shots were within 2-3 inches of where I was aiming. I felt sick when I seen this animal. After this deer I will never take a head shot at another deer as long as I live. I'ts just too small of a target and they are always moving their head.

Relate to feeling
 

I just had that happen to me on the deer I just shot this year with my crossbow. I missed the lungs and shot him in the neck. I hate not getting a clean kill and it's getting harder the older I get. I do say a prayer for the animal giving up his life so I can eat it's flesh, but when a deer is wounded it's a responsablity of the hunter to make sure the animal is dispatched as humanely as possible. Sometimes I just wish I could take a picture with the animal and then let it go free like I do with fish. But then I would be able to enjoy it's delicious meat.


QUOTE=NEW61375;1555680]I never really encounter this problem during bow or rifle season but I almost always do during shotgun season. Finishing a downed deer. One that has been crippled or paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated. Now I have seen and used several methods but I have always been curious how others handle it. It gives me a weird feeling when I have to do this thatI can't really describe. I do know this, the first time you do it can be tough, ecspeciallyif you can't for whatever reason ground-check it(shoot it on the ground), which I don't really prefer anyway. I guess I'm notinterested in the methods as much as "Does anyone else relate to that feeling?" I'm sure someone does.A lot of times youare seperated/desensitized from the actual death of the animal by distance(rifle), it runs off-you trail it and find it dead already(bow), or other similar circumstances.But when it is just you and that animal in the woods and you have to end its life up close and personal, it's just different.[/QUOTE]

Those of you who want to use a knife, why do you want to inflict more pain on the animal? Yu cut it's throat, even if you get it in one swipe you still get to stand there while it is bleeding to death and it is still suffering. Most hunters do not have a knife sharp enough to cut through deer hair and the flesh into the artery with one swipe, it is a wrong headed way to administer the coup degras .The fastest way to end the suffering right now is a bullet at the base of the skull from the rear, separate the spine from the brain.

Unfortunately the law often doesn't allow for a follow up shot.

Its all the same for me. 100 yards, standing over top of it, ordering it at a restaurant is all the same. I wasn't blessed with out of sight out of mind.

can you elaborate on what state there is a a law that say s you cannot shoot a hunted deer a second time?
I never heard of such a thing
having spent a lot of time hunting many states and working in deer processing/butcher shops, I seen hundreds of deer that been shot more than once by the hunter or hunters!

After legal shooting hours.

There are no laws about how many times you shoot a deer. The laws are regarding when you can shoot a deer.