badshotbob

I' ve shot many deer with gun/bow, but this is my first with a muzzleloader. Not a big buck, but I' ll take it for my first ML kill. Here' s the problem though - I' m not sure I' m really happy with the hunt. With 15 minutes of light left, I see a deer running through the woods on three legs - his right front hoof was dangling, I assumed he was shot by another hunter and decided I needed to put him out of his misery. The buck stopped in front of my stand about 60 yards out, behind a tree of course. As he stepped out into my shooting lane, I pulled the trigger and the deer went down on his chest and flipped over, got up and flipped again and went down. I figured, cool, good shot, he' s dead. He then picks his head up and starts looking around. I was amazed. I quickly loaded another round and shot but apparently missed because he didn' t move at all. I was out of rounds at this point. A few minutes later he got up and tried to run. I waited until dark and backed out. After a two hour wait, my wife and I went in and found him dead not far from where I saw him last. Yes, I' m proud of this deer as my first ML deer, but not too proud about the way the deer came to me and feeling that I was obligated to finish him off. See, my wife was at the barn tending to the horses and saw the deer running on three legs through the pasture and then into the woods. Her and her friend ran to the woods to try and push the deer my way hoping I would finish it off. Well I did. Thank God for a great wife who pushed the deer to me, helped track it, gut it, and drag it back to the truck. And she doesn' t even hunt! If I rattled it in and skillfuly took this animal, great. But that' s not the case. Not real sure why I feel bad about it as if the hunt didn' t count because of the way it came to me and was wounded badly and all, but I feel it was not a true hunt if there is such a thing. I guess I just feel bad for this deer. That' s never happened to this extent. I don' t know, it' s a deer. Thank God my 2.5 season slump is over finally.

charlie brown

I understand what you mean. That is too bad that the deer was injured. You did it good for putting it out of its misery. It would have been good to call in or stock on a nice buck, but at least this one didn' t suffer any longer. Congrats on the buck!

James B

You did good guy! Finished someone elses poor shooting.

kyhuntsman

Congratulations! You deserve to commended on your ethical hunting! You did what every hunter should do, put down a wounded and suffering animal. I take my hat off to you my friend!

Your wife should be commended as well. What she did was an act of compassion, God bless her!

Don' t feel like you' ve been cheated during this hunt. You never know what will happen. I believe that you were suppossed to harvest this deer.

Matt

averagejoehunter

Everything happens for a reason. God chose this deer for you! Dont feel bad, you did what was right. Good for you, you give hunters a good name in a world where too many want to take it away. Thank you.

3DTHUNDER

Looks like a success from both ends man................you were successful and the deer never had to suffer anymore.

cayugad

First off, congratulations on the deer. There is no shame in the manner you were able to get a shot at this deer. In fact I commend you for being able to take the wounded animal out of the woods. Had I been in the same situation, I would have shot the deer and never felt bad once. In fact I would have been over joyed at the fact I got a nice deer, and the animal was not forced to spend a long hard winter because of me. Also you have a very special wife there, who saw a situation and reacted in a positive manner.

You never mentioned what kind of rifle you have or what kind of load you were shooting. If you were upset over the fact that it was not an instant kill on the deer, then thats easy. Get out there and shoot some more. All the better reason to play with the rifle. And practice makes it all that much more easy the next time.

Again, good job and nice deer.

badshotbob

Thanks. It' s a good deer and I' m glad it' s down.

I' m shooting a TC 50 cal with 100 grains pyrodex and sabots. This gun is sighted in for a 100 yards, hitting bullseyes is not too difficult as it' s a very accurate gun.

I led the deer about 8" or so as it appeard he was running. This was of course a decision made within a thousandth of a second. He ah, didn' t run like I thought and I hit him exactly mid way up on his shoulder about 8" forward of the kill zone.

cayugad

That is a great rifle you got there. Nice looking photo and deer. I shoot a T/C Renegade in .54 caliber and have used it for over 20 years. They really are a good shooting rifle.

I have read how other people shoot sabots out of their sidelocks, and I tried them many years ago (when they first came out, they were the hot selling load). The trouble is I had terrible luck with sabots knocking a deer down. I shot a nice little buck right behind the front shoulder, and the sabot never hit that rib. That deer acted like it was not even hit. It poked a perfect hole through the deer, hitting his lungs, and that deer really put some distance on before he went down. After I recovered the animal and pulled him through a cedar marsh, I vowed I would never shoot another deer with them.

I then went back to the roundball or the lead conicals. In fact this year I was back to shooting roundball, and of the three I shot, only one managed to run 45 yards into the cedar marsh on me. The other two dropped almost where they stood.

Good hunting out there....

wimp

That' s a good size buck. Don' t be bummed. If only his lower leg was shot off, there is good reason to believe he' d have survived with a limp. So its not like you where offing a deer that was going to die soon.