I shot a nice 9 pt couple years ago with a 25-06 at about 20yds at the shot he rolled down the mountain got on his feet and ran.After about an hour I picked up the blood trail and found him stone cold dead or so I thought.I poked his eyes nothing grabbed the rack and pulled him to a spot to gut him.I rolled him over on his back and grabbed my knife when he started blinking and turning his head.Next thing I know he was on his feet I had to shoot him two more times never forget it.

My dog just trailed a buck that finally got 5 rounds of 270 in it before it died... thankfully we had Tiger to find him as he was not bleeding much and it was pouring rain....

I've never had an issue. I can count on one had the times I had to fire two shots at a deer.

Another time I was hunting with my muzzle loader and grunted in a big 8 pt.When I saw horns coming up the ridge about 50yds I brought up the gun and put the cross hairs on his shoulder. About the same time I pulled the trigger he dropped his head and fell backwards at the shot.He never moved so I walked up to him he was breathing heavy blinking his eyes.I reloaded the gun and shot point blank behind his shoulder at the shot he tried to stand and rolled about 10 feet down the hill thrashing his horns.Another shot sealed the deal upon inspection the first shot put a 300 gr xtp hit the base of his horn and glanced around the side of the skull.

Never happened to me, nor have I seen it first hand.

This video always cracks me up though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xum24z2R7qM

I've hit two with high spine shots that lay there paralyzed and looking dead until I approached. One twitched and pawed like the spine was broken and the other just looked dead. I didn't collect either of them, although both were tracked over 600 yards before they stopped bleeding.

I shot an 8-point once that didn't blink when I touched the barrel of the rifle to his eye. Then I grabbed an antler to pick up his head. He shook his head, twisted the antler out of my hand, and got up running. I put another in him that entered his neck and came out below his eye. Then he was dead.

I don't remember any others playing dead, or dying with stubbornness.

Steve.

Hit a buck with a crown VIC that took 1 shoulder shot, 2 neck shots one face hit and a final contact distance behind the ear with a short barreled ruger 45LC corbons.

Was hunting New York public land years ago when a doe was shot close to where I was hunting. The doe staggered and fell about 50 yards from me and I watched as the shooter aproached his "dead doe" put down his Browning BAR and pulled out his knife (a medium machete). At that point that poor little doe jumped up and took off running. I saw it later that day, limping pretty bad, and put one in her ribs to end her suffering. Last time for me in New York.

LMAO.


http://video.foxnews.com/v/46421381...sh-into-buck-/?intcmp=hpff#sp=show-clips

I once had to give a doe 3 shots, 5 beers, and bottle of Mad Dog and three Kamikaze's to get her off her feet. Man, those Sisconnie girls can DRINK!

Just had it happen, actually (refuse to die).

I shot a mule deer buck laying in his bed at 215 yards. I was shooting a 264 Winchester Magnum, running 140gr Nosler Accubonds at 3300 at the muzzle (don't try that at home, that load was a little on the "warm" side).

At the shot, he didn't move. Not a twitch, flop, nothing. Just laid there as he had been.

I cranked in another shell and let another one fly. That one made his head flop and he started what I figured was the fairly normal thrashing at death. Except it didn't stop.

So, I walked down the canyon I'd shot across and when I was about 60-70 yards from him, he got pretty serious about his thrashing and carrying on, so I put a third into his ribs.

When I walked up to him, he went at it AGAIN thrashing around trying to get up. I shot him at the muzzle (in the chest), and it was still probably 30 seconds till he'd fully expired.

His left side (impact side) was pretty much pre-made hamburger. Three shots hit about an inch below the spine, through the shoulder, angled down through the chest to exit between 3 and 4 inches below the spine on the exit side. The 4th was middle of the chest (done when I walked up to him). Lungs were basically in pieces, and gallons of blood poured out of him.

I cannot explain it, and would probably be skeptical it ever happened if it hadn't happened to me.

Wound channels/exit wounds all looked absolutely perfect....nickel sized exits or bigger on all of them, massive internal damage......the bugger just wouldn't give up.

The 9pt I shot was with winchester super x 120 gr positive expansion points the next day I traded that gun for a 30-06 and never looked back.

When I was in my teens and a pretty good shot with a bow I came to full draw on a scrubby 6 pt only to have him step behind a big hickory at 15 yds and look right at me.This went on for 2 or 3 minutes and 80lb let off was not enough I shot him thru the head I kid u not a broad head thru the brain. I still had to chase him down and cut his throat.The fletchings peeled off and went 6 ft in the air when thy went thru his head I've got the skull some where I'll find it.

Years ago on a very hot evening I shot a doe in a swamp during NYS gun season. At the shot the doe went right down in some cattails and did not move. Since it was so hot I decided to walk back out to my SUV and dump some of my clothes and shotgun before I gutted the doe and dragged her out.

After I humped back to the doe I quickly realized she was not dead and had no intention of dying without a fight. It was not pleasant but I ended up slitting her throat to kill her.

One of my dumber moves leaving my shotgun at the car.

An older friend shot a 6 pointer with a muzzleloader about 10 years ago. He radioed everyone to say he was the first to get a buck. He then placed a chest harness on the buck to drag it 30 yards to the ATV trail. Dickie was waiting for help and sat down on a log when the buck came back to life. The deer drug him a few yards before the rope broke on the harness. Another member of the group saw the buck running with the rope around it's neck. The deer was never found and we still kid Dickie about killing the deer before calling for help.

Or could have picked a better bullet...

A deer doesn't 'refuse' to die. If it's properly hit with a good bullet, it will die whether it wants to or not. If it doesn't, spend more time at the range or use a caliber/bullet that's up to the job. A wounded deer is hunter's error.

I don't chalk it up to anything more than just the old timers stories,but every since I remember I always heard tale of someone always knowing of some one shooting a buck,and setting their rifle on the rack to take a picture,and the deer runs off with their gun.

I don't know let me check the freezer.

I once shot a small doe 3 times, all to the chest at 25 yards with a 165 gr BT from a 30-06. I was sure the first round would have been fatal but she kept getting back up and was near the edge of a steep ravine that would have made recovery much more difficult.

Another time I shot a doe at less than 20 yards as she popped out of some brush onto a two track road. She hit the dirt on her side and didn't even twitch. I shucked in another round and turned back to the brush to see if there was a buck following. I heard a scuffling noise and looked back to the doe and she was gone! No blood, hair, nothing. I spent about an hour searching without any sign before giving it up. I'm pretty sure my shot was high and stunned her spinal cord temporarily. I've heard and read of many similar stories.

If I shoot a deer and it immediately collapses without any movement I now watch it like a hawk and approach it carefully with my rifle at the ready.

Wasn't mine, but one of the few I can give my Dad a hard time about....

Was about 15 -20 years ago on a muzzleloader hunt. No inlines or scopes allowed at the time. He shoots a doe and sees a limb wiggling between him and the doe after the smoke clears and knows he's in trouble. He reloads, gets down, finds a little blood and starts to follow the little drops when he can find them. After about an hour of tracking her down the mountain, the drops of blood getting fewer and fainter, he finds her laying on her side and can see she's still breathing. He'd been on a black powder kick and had a black powder/cap/ball revolver that he'd been shooting. He'd carried it and was going to use it for the finisher. He sits the rifle down. When he unsnaps the keeper strap on the holster which makes a loud snap, the doe jumps up and runs off. He can find no more blood and she's gone.

He still gets pissed when I mention it....

Notorious for knocking a deer down, then getting back up. Notice that the first posted video link showed the deer hit near the spine, maybe above it.

I've had deer refuse to die. They died anyway.

Bill

Never involving a rifle. Was driving home from being afield with a friend one time. We had hunted for three days unsuccessfully in a mostly pouring, cold rain. About halfway back home, a small buck literally ran into the side of my buddy's F150.

He came off the bank and hit the left front wheel. Hair was stuck between the wheel and tire bead. We stopped, and backed up to the 'dead' deer, and promptly threw him into the bed of the pickup. A mile or more down the road, I catch movement in the bed of the truck and turn around to see the deer up on his front two legs, wobbling around. We stopped, and dropped the tailgate. The deer flopped out onto the road and then fell into the ditch, where my buddy finished him with a 45 in the head.

My friend died a few years back of cancer, but we always laughed about that terrible hunt that ended with a 'road-kill'.

Had a friend shoot a buck some years ago. He had just left his truck when the buck stepped out. At the shot the deer went down. He walked up and checked it out. Pulled out his tag and reached for his knife, only to realize he had left it in the truck. He said he doesn't know why he did it, but he tied his tag loosely on the base of the horns and went back to get his knife. Came back less than a minute later and the buck was gone. Never saw it or his tag again.

I was on an Alberta whitetail hunt and most of the hunters were finished for the evening. We heard a shot from the yard in back of the cabin, everybody goes outside and the outfitter had to shot the deer again in his yard. The dead deer had been in the back of a pickup for a half hour ride and came back to life when they were unloading him.

Many years ago, before you ever heard or saw a portable ladder stand, I built one out of a 12' piece of ladder. At the end of the day I was coming out of the woods with all of my stuff stacked on the ladder, dragging it like a stretcher. Right in the middle of the trail was a doe, stretched out like it was dead, not curled up like it was sleeping. My thought was some one hunting on the government land on the other side of the dirt road had shot a doe, buck only back then, and was afraid to come over onto private land to get it. I just dropped the ladder, making all kind of noise, pulled my knife out, and reached for her rear leg. At the last second I decided I better kick her and make sure she was dead. As my foot was in motion she jumped up, ran maybe 5 yards and turned and started blowing at me. She blew 3 or 4 times and turned and just trotted away. I couldn't see any blood on her, no blood on the ground where she was laying, and no blood where she was standing blowing at me. She must have been wore out tired and took a nap, Joe.

Years ago, probly 50, my dad and his buddie hit a big doe with his buddies almost new station wagon, backed up and put the dead doe in the back of the wagon, was going to take her back to the farm, and butcher her. 15 mins later she came back to life, so Larry was going to hit her with a big ball peen hammer, he hit her with a glanceing blow she kicked all the windows out tore out the head linner, and jumped out the back window and ran off, car was a mess!

Sounds like the scene from Tommy Boy

Yep. We had what refer to as "The Terminator" deer. Double lunged a three point mule deer with my trusty 7x57. Down he goes. We approach and he gets up and takes off down a dry wash. A running shoulder shot with the 7x57 bowls him over like a big rabbit.
A minute later while trying to work my way down to him, I saw him trying to get up. A neck shot with the 7x57 fixed that.
Another minute later Im still working my way down the wash and I see him lifting his head! I didn't have an angle for any kind of a shot so I yelled at my partner to shoot him. Another neck shot with his 30-06 and we were finally done.

Any one of the four shots were fatal.......go figure.

And to think you could have saved three shot,and all that trouble if you had a 270

In my 20's I hunted with a 300wm, and one opening day had a great buck come by on a trot at 40-45 yards. I shot him square double lung, and he looked at me. I cycled the bolt and put another behind the shoulder, he looked to the left and twitched his ears. I was freaking out as it was the first time a deer didn't just collapse when shot with that cannon. Cycled again and shot my last round in the mag back of lung/liver, the deer starts walking towards cover. WALKING! I dig a round out of my pocket and chamber it, putting that round in the shoulder, and finally he hit the ground. Any one of the 4 180 grain power points should have killed him, but the dang deer never acted hit until I hit bone.

Had a doe take a quartering away heart shot from less than 10 yards with the same 300wm, she ran for over 150 yards leaving a blood trail that looked like a solid red tire track the entire way. I was in a tree stand and the exit was so low it was practically bottom of the brisket. I knew I had to have hit where I was aiming, but was wondering what was going on when the doe just kept going and going and going.

Shot a nubbin buck once. Dropped at the shot on the field edge. Drove the suburban across the field to pick him up, about fifteen minutes after the shot. Field was freshly plowed and muddy. I figured load him up take him to a nice clean dry hayfield to gut him. So I grab a pair of legs dad grabs a pair of legs and flip him in the back of the suburban. Deer was limp as a dish rag eyes open whole deal. He was stone cold dead. Start driving out the field. Hear banging around behind us. Figure assorted crap is bouncing around as the field is rough. Well it gets worse so we stop. Look in the rearview to see bambi looking right at me. Son of a biotch. Deer proceeded to go nuts. Cut the headliner all to hell from kicking the ceiling kicked the door panels and window trim off the back doors. Then I had to do something to end the situation. Figured knife was smarter than a gun. Still undecided if that was the right call. Because the deer went pissed off and freaked out to pissed off freaked out and spraying bleed from it's neck. Fun times.

After gutting the deer I found the first not to be fatal. Hit between the lungs and spine. Minimal blood loss and all the wiring was still intact. Thinking temporary paralysis from shock to the spine.

In 1995 I hit a small buck at just under 50 yds. with a 12 ga. Foster style slug from my scoped 870, back in the smoothbore barrel days, whereupon he ran less than 100 yds and fell over at the edge of the flat spot on the big hillside I was on. He laid there motionless for the several minutes it took me to pick up my gear and calmly walk over to it. I walked up to it and saw absolutely no sign of life, didn't seem to be breathing or twitching or anything else. Was 2 ft. away and about to set the gun down when he suddenly sprang to his feet like he was spring loaded. The gun was loaded but in my right hand at my side. I was so startled that I fired at him from the hip and he went over the edge of the hill and slid downhill about 20 yards in the snow to where it leveled off again. This time he was really dead. Closer examination revealed that my fancy hip shooting had missed him completely. Don't know how he managed to jump up so fast but it must of just been his last gasp before expiring because my hip shot apparently went high and right over him. Learned my lesson well that snowy November morning and ever since then I approach every downed deer with the gun at the ready. Haven't had any more experiences like that one, just a couple where they were down but not out and a close range finishing shot was needed to end things quickly and humanely.

Have heard of guys walking up to deer that they thought were dead and getting kicked when attempting to gut them.

Had one I shot under my stand with a yearling. Nuisance type hunt on this property. The doe drops the yearling runs straight up a hill. Took me 2 hours to find her. Fist sized 45 cal XTP through both shoulders and she made it up a hill and 200 yards before flopping. Wouldn't have believed it possible. I think one of the shoulders stayed intacted because she didn't plow. Definitely dead but still can't figure out how she climbed the big hill.