Deer reactions when hit.

Good thread. I have never really thought too much about it. I have seen deer run 50 yards, generally not more if well hit and drop on the spot. A frontal neck shot always seems to drop them on the spot though a side neck shot that does not break the spine will leave a blood trail like the Texas chainsaw massacre has just taken place.

To the original post I have also seen heart shot pigs do death runs as well as drop on the spot. Maybe the compact nature of a pig puts more vitals closer together when you consider the pig really has no defined neck, unlike a deer.
 
I have shot a great number of deer, most of them would take a short dash after being hit when I shoot at the crease of the shoulder, away from bone and double lunged, to save meat. They don't run far, blood trails are easy to follow. I have taken a good number of does and spikes right in the ear, and would drop instantly.
I can't imagine the brute strength of those deer after being hit by a high velocity round, I guess its from adrenaline. As other have stated, lungs tend to fill up before they expire and able to run short distances before they run out of air.
 
I've had some drop in the scope but as many stated already the majority run a short distance and crash. If hunting a big field i usually see them go down before they make it to the wood line and those that do are usually just inside the woods.
 
I don't think I saw anyone say this, but I may have missed it in this excellent thread. Breaking major joints I've found tends to limit runs. It also damages a lot of meat, so if that's your goal, it's best avoided. But physically smashing a shoulder keeps the animal from being able to move as far before succumbing to blood loss.
 
I would say most look like they have been struck by lighting and fold in there tracks. I had Magnum Fever when younger and most Deer were shot with a 6mm REM a .270 Win till I sold it for a .264 Win Mag with 99% being shot with cup and core bullets.
With that said I had some make a short run then collapsed. I tend to expect them to fold like a cheep suit, but some occasionally make a short death run. I do think Roy Weatherby was on to something with Hydrostatic Shock.
I also shoot a lot off season and 99% of my Deer and Antelope are a one and done affair, with only a few requiring a finisher. I never get Buck Fever, I have had a couple bullet failures a now just put them in the category of very rare but I have gone to Nosler 130gr AB today as the Nosler 120gr BT was a old favorite but a .264 Win Mag it tough on a bullet inside 100 yards.
 
If you hunt elk and are “old”, you tend to look at deer as being fragile by comparison. That being said deer still need a proper hit but after that it’s bang flop if muzzle loader / bigger bore lower velocity center fire up to that short dash with everything else. Now there is a big difference between a meat doe and a big bodied rutted up buck. One will stumble over if you say Boo ! loud enough and the other needs the respect of proper bullet in the proper place.
 
The deer in my avatar was shot with a 300 grains .50 cal muzzleloader bullet over 110 grains volume blackhorn 209, at approximately 130 yds if I remember correctly.
It tore its heart in two and destroyed its right front leg upon exit.
It ran 250 yards into the swamp before it succumbed to its injuries.
It ran so hard and fast I had thought at the time I had missed it.
I’ve had them drop right there, and go anywhere from 20 to 250 yards.
Deer do some strange things when shot.
I’ve said it before there are not absolutes when deer hunting.
 
What I did not mention in my previous post is that of Shotguns and Muzzleloader. Until recently Iowa was a Shotguns State for Deer Hunting and today allows straight wall cartridges.
In 40 plus years of hunting with Shotgun 12ga and Foster slugs I have had 1 deer fall in its tracks as every chest shot deer I have shot have ran after the shot with the longest going close to 1/4 mile and jumping a fence and falling down and getting back up and run and the amount of blood on the snow was substantial. The deer that fell in its tracks was hidden behind a tree a 8 point buck and he knew something was not quite right and when he peeked his head around the tree I shot him in the ear hole on a broad side shot. The few deer I have shot with a Muzzleloader about the same as they always run from a chest shot with my .54 and patched round ball with a quarter sized exit hole, but only 50-75 yards then failing down and trashing around a little bit.
 
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