Couldn't Believe The Deer Got Away

[RIFLE MAN]

Have you ever shot a deer that should have died on the spot, or at least
reasonably close, yet not only did he NOT die on the spot, but he was
never found, even though he was well hit. Some way...some how...the
deer got away! Tell us about your experience.

Thanks,
Rifle Man

[Land_Owner]

Doe at 30 yards; across a gulley; shooter sitting cross legged on the ground; rifle in hand; steady; adrenalin though; deer advancing toward shooter; 270 Win x 150 grain shot fired into chest; WELL HIT; lots of blood at point of impact; at DUSK (not good); two men searched for two hours after dark and could not find that deer.  Next day at dawn, no blood trail to follow and no deer.  Vanished!  Lots of considerations in that one.  Still wondering and agonizing over that single day.

[flintlock]

Well hit deer that get away usually aren't well hit if a hunter is good at tracking...

Hunters get excited, don't remember where to hold, they flinch, some can't even remember which way the deer went...

There are many reasons why a hunter looses a deer, hopefully most learn from these experiences and correct them in the future...

[charles p]

Shot a nice doe with ML at 20yds.  Saw impact, blood, and deer fall to ground.  Reloaded the ML because the doe was still kicking and expected I might need a finishing shot.  Climbed down from tripod stand and approached the deer.  Wanted to shoot it in neck or behind the head.  Deer kept squirming and I couldn't be sure of shot so I grabbed a rear foot to drag the doe out of the bramble she was in and then finish it off.  To my surprise the deer jumped to her feet (previosly only rear legs worked) and ran about 30 yds and fell.  I knew then I would need to shoot the deer again but did not want to shoot it in the rear.  I approached for a shot from the side and the deer ran again.  As she entered a pine thicket I took a desperation shot that missed.  Never saw the deer again.  No blood except where she first fell.  Shot was perfect, steady aim, and bullet was a 50 cal maxi ball through both sides of the ribs just behind her shoulders.  Perfect lung shot.  Below the spine and above the heart.  Probably damaged one or both shoulders also.

Go figure.

[hillbill]

shot a nice 6pt buck one time with my 06 with sum new at the time  green tip 125 grn ballistic tip sierra bullets that were cooking pretty good out of my max handloads.100 yrds or so, right square in the neck off a dead rest. bang flop. deer went down so fast and so dead his head was upside down with horns stikin in the ground.casually reloaded my ruger no 1, waited a lil bit and then walked over to him.he sprang back to life when i was about 50 yrds away and ran off dragging his head beside him. i could not believe he would go very far and was really not wanting to shoot him in the ass as that was the only shot a was presented.he jumped a low fence into a huge patch of brush and even tho i searched for hrs and the next day never did find him.at the shot sight i found a chunk of neck meat the size of a walnut that had blown out the opposite side of the neck on impact.had a similar bad experience on a coyote the next day.that was in my smaller faster better days. went back to 150 grn horns and aint had a prob since.live and learn. lung shots for me from now on.

[Rock Home Isle]

Have you ever shot a deer that should have died on the spot, or at least
reasonably close, yet not only did he NOT die on the spot, but he was
never found, even though he was well hit....

Years ago I shot a huge 5x5 muley at maybe 15 yards. He bounded out of the woods and stopped right infront of me. I put the crosshairs right between his eyes, pulled the trigger and down he went.

I went up, poked him with the gun and set down my pack and started to get out my gear to dress out the animal. I then caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw my nice big buck get up, staggered for a step or two and then he put his head down and chased me for maybe 20 yards.

It was my 2nd year deer hunt, and I was embarrassed and confused as to what exactly went wrong...musta been one of them hard-rocker metal-head muley bucks. I will say that I quit reloading with Hornaday Bullets and switched strait over the Sierra Bowtails or Noslers.