yakuza wiz

[font="verdana, arial"] ok last minute of shooting hours.
i see a doe walking right at me.
i shoot and hear her go down.
go get someone to help me out and when we get back she is just standing there, still alive, but there is blood everywhere. it looks dark red, and her jaw looks beaten up but was still there...i think my gun was out of sight and i hit her in the jaw.
i feel like I've hit a whole new low,
if she dose not die from the shot will she live?
and is there a chance she will die?

anyone got some advice? or help?

i feel really bad about this

Chantecler111

More then likely, she will die a slow and painful death, from either infection or starvation. I hate to be the one to tell you that, but, it happens. You should not take a shot unless you are absolutely sure you can hit the deer in the vitals, lesson learned.

bhensley

Well, first off you shouldn't have taken that shot. You learned so no need for me to say anymore. You should have went ahead and finished her off though when you got back and saw her standing there but maybe you didn't have a shot, only you know. As for living, if there was alot of blood theres a good chance she will die. If not, I don't know if she can make it with her jaw blown off. There is no way she can eat and maybe not drink from the pain.

RandallT

why didn't you shoot again when you saw her jaw?

farmchick

I'm pretty sure everyone has had a shot they wish they could take back. It does happen. Hopefully someone will have the chance to put her down if they see her. We have actually stopped planting wheat, left tractors running, take the dump truck back to our pick-up and bring a gun back to end ones suffering. We had an 11 point edge the field we were planting and the last joint of his hind leg was GONE...limping on bone. Not sure how long he had been that way. He would move about 50 yards and lay down, wait about 20 minutes and go again. He had gangrene all the way up to his spine when we dressed him. I know its awful, hopefully mother nature will handle it. At best, maybe she'll bed down and bleed out. Then again, there is the chance its just flesh wound and it will heal.

wi_buckstomper

if they jaw is broken the deer may live 3-5 days until is starves or dies of dehydration.

yakuza wiz

see thats what I think I may have done.
cause it turned its head and i saw it was in tact...could it live with half of one?
another thing is, the was one spot where it looked like it bedded down for the 35 or 40 minutes before I came back.

but after that there was nothing at all...not one drop.

and it did not seem as if i even hit the bone after thinking about it....

As for why i did not shoot it.
I forgot to bring a gun back with me, and the deer was in thick brush.

i'll update tomorrow or sometime this week about what i find when i go back tomorrow.

thanks for not going off on me...i feel like i've been kicked in the gut right now.

Chantecler111

Don't feel bad, it happens, man.

farmchick

Max, I won't kick anyone when they are down. Hopefully it is just a flesh wound. With no blood where she bedded down, there is a chance. There aren't many veins in the jaw area. How far had she gone to bed from where she was shot? Infections don't spread very fast when its cold either. Hopefully you can run across her again. I have seen deer born with a "parrot mouth" live for a while. It's a long suffering for them. Keep me posted.

mudtutl

That you feel bad and are willing to share the expereince with others speaks highly. Stuff happens while hunting that is unexpected and unfortunate. Our task is to do our best to reduce the consequences of misfortune and bad decisions. My first thought in this situation was that maybe you should have confirmed the kill before leaving the field.Thanks for the reminder.