Deer's Reaction to Being Shot and Where to Shoot

[147 Grain]

Whenever a bullet strikes your intended target - like deer - if carefully observed, (9 times out of 10) its reaction will tell you if you hit your mark or not.

Heart or Lung Shot
Upon being hit in the heart or lung area, most deer will usually jump or bound forward - kicking out with their hind legs. This shot produces a bright red frothy blood trail with pink or white flecks of lung tissue in it.

Liver Shot
No deer can survive a shot to the liver. Reactions include running a short distance with its head high or well forward before dying within 100 yards. Blood trails tends to be very dark red / thick and glutinous.

Stomach or Gut Shot
Gut-shot deer usually hunch-up and stagger away into nearby cover with their head held low. This poor shot usually produces a lot of green-like splashes of rumen from the stomach - content that sometimes has a lot of pines, acorns, or hair, but with very little blood.

 

[147 Grain]

Found the following links that hopefully will be helpful to everyone:

Deer / Elk Anatomy Overview: http://www.bowhunting.net/NAspecies/elk2.html

In looking at a deer or elk's circulatory system and bone structure, there appears to be two good spots to shoot for:

1. Heart and Lung area slightly behind the front leg / near the top of the shoulder.

2. Spine / Base of Neck Area. Following the forward portion of the front leg 1/2 to 2/3'rds up to where the neck meets the spine. There are a lot of major support bones in this area that when broken, should anchor the animal very quickly.

 

[7mmfan]

Good information, remember not to push a gut-shot deer right away. Allow him some time to lay down and stiffen up. The lack of a blood trail, especially in heavy cover, could cause you to lose the animal. It's hard to due in the excitement, but it's the right thing to do.

Brad

 

[rick smith]

Then there is the heart shot that causes the animal to drop dead in their tracks. I have had that happen on several occassions. I first read about that happening when cape buffalo were being culled. Autopsy indicated blood vessels in the brain had ruptured on those that dropped at the shot and not on those that had run on the shot. Theory is that the heart is pumping blood to the brain as the bullet hits causing a pressure spike which causes the rupture.Rick.

 

[HuntElk4Fun]

147 grain - great stuff on the reactions! Those are generally true with most animals. Elk tend to throw the wrench in there because they are so large.

I would add to wait even longer than you might imagine on liver or gut shot animals. I hunt with a Biologist (plus adding in 30+ elk and 20+ mule deer kills of personal experience), I would caution to wait on a liver shot animal too. It is a kill shot, but they won't die right away, it takes time. Also, on a gut shot animal, we wait an entire day. We come back the next day and then go after them. It takes 24-48 hrs if it's a true gut shot and didn't hit any major blood vessels. Liver can take up to 24 hrs as well, but usually doesn't.

Just remember, if they don't drop and you know it's not in the lungs/heart, take your time to analyze where you hit, you have plenty of time and need to learn to force yourself to wait - most don't. I can't tell you the number of stories I've heard, "we jump him once and never saw him again".

 

[tapehoser]

I have also heard (not from experience) that if an animal is hit in the lung, the body will detect the low blood pressure and start pumping blood much faster. Since all blood has to go from heart to lungs for oxygen, then to the rest of the body, it would seem ideal to make the 'hit' a combination heart/lung shot, if possible.

 

[centurian]

147gr

Not a bad list but you forgot several other shots like, muscle wounds-ie: legs or hind quarter, which usually result in bright red blood, not frothy, with some kind of pronounced dragging of limbs or odd tracks.

There are also wounds to the brisket which result from low shots, these include white hair with fat at the shot site and pinkish colored blood. Many times a brisket shot looks like a good one, because the deer will jump pretty high at the shot and it will run off awkwardly like it is mortally wounded when in fact it is not.

One of the biggest factors in finding deer while bow hunting is to find your arrow after the shot to ascertain where the arrow went. Covered in bright red blood usually a good hit, slimy green material-gut shot.

An old wives tale is to let deer bed so they can stiffen up, rigormortise only occurs well after death, the deer do not stiffen up, but lose blood from their wound to the point that they either die, or are so weak you can walk up to them and finish it. If an animal is gut shot let it bed for at least 6 hours more like 8 to 10. You will find them within 100yds of where you shot them as long as you dont push the animal.