This is why you should always walk up to your "dead" deer with a loaded gun

Indiana hunter killed by whitetail buck

Make sure you always walk up to a "dead" deer with loaded gun

Indiana hunter killed by whitetail buck

For the "noobie" you never walk straight up to the deer from the front of the deer and always pause and look at the animal from several feet away looking at the rib cage to check if it is breathing.

If no obvious other signs using your rifle barrel touch the deer's open eye with the muzzle.

Even with years of experience, I tend to be lax in my approach to a downed animal, but so far I've not made the mistake.

I shot a deer two years ago in OK. It jumped a fence immediately after the shot and disappeared in thick brush. So my buddy and I went to find him. He almost immediately spotted him and yelled. As I walked up 10 yards or so behind him I could clearly tell he was still alive and waited for my buddy to move so I could finish him off. Instead he walked up to him and kicked him in the shoulder, obviously unaware his eyes were open and moving around. It was the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen. The deers and my buddies eyes both bugged out of their heads like a cartoon as the deer EXPLODED up and took off and my buddy crashed backwards onto the ground. It was such a mix of emotions from anger that he jumped the deer, to being scared that he almost got gored, to shock to witness such a strange event.

Im sorry but I think nudging the deer with a loaded gun is retarded. Call me crazy but ive taken plenty of deer and not once extreneded my loaded rifle to nudge the buck (with one hand might add.) What are you gonna do if that thing kicks and your rifle goes flying? Sounds pretty dangerous to me.. I was taught by my old man to watch and make sure the thing is dead but NEVER nudge your loaded gun to "poke" the deer. Just my 2 cents.

The problem is you do anything so many times you get lax!!!

I will usually toss a rock or a stick or something at it as I am coming up from behind it and then kick it on the rear several times as I get up to it. Don't take any chances. My son shot s buck last year and it dropped like a rock. He got about 10-15 feet away from it, and it started trying to get up. He stepped on the horns and held the head down and then stuck a knife in him to finish him. I chewed him out for that. Better to put a bullet in him even at close range than to take a chance.

I always sit and wait for about 10 to 15 minutes watching the animal and then make my way over to the deer. I always approach from the front directly toward the head with my rifle aimed and ready to fire at the deer should it jump and charge. The very last thing I do is poke it in the open eye with the rifle to make abwsolutely sure it is dead. I do not consider the poking an unsafe practice if done from the correct angle. Then again, accidents can and do happen no matter how careful one is. Just my 10 cents worth on this.

Evelyn

Look at the eyes , if they are open and filmed over it is dead, closed or glossy you may well have a problem and live things need air, some will move to make that happen. Walk up slow, and pause look and think. The real problem when in haste someone runs up on an animal gripping a rack twisting a neck to look at a rack.

I watched a guy do this about 30 yrs ago. He shot 200yds , buck dropped, he ran the whole way , grabbed the rack lifted the neck while straddling the buck, it stood up with him on the back hanging on the rack, then tried to poke it with the little pocket knife he had in the other hand. That could have ended very badly instead of being one of the craziest things I have ever seen.

i always walk up from behind and put my foot on his butt and give him a few good hard "pushes" if you will that shake his whole body. never had one get up......

Dang... bad way to go. Antler to the liver.

wow

Yup, carry at least a handgun

Good Lord that sounds like the most dangerous possible way to approach a deer. Never approach anything from the business end, that how people get gored or attacked. You want the animal facing away from you so it runs AWAY if it's alive, not so It has to go through you while trying to escape. I have answered many a call to track deer and have seen many of them get up that looked dead. Poke n the rear first, and then the eye from behind second just to double check. Neither of these methods allow your gun to be hit or put you in any danger and allow or a quick follow up shot.

Thats exactly why I ALWAYS carry my .45 on my side when I hunt. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

X2 If you follow this advice you should look down the barrel of your gun and make sure its loaded first...

First buck I ever shot was a pretty big spike. He dropped right where I hit him. Like an idiot, I climbed down and excitedly walked right up on him not even 5 minutes after I had pulled the trigger. He didn't move...

...until I grabbed one of his spikes. He shot up like a bolt of lightning and ran me over on his way into the brush. Wasn't trying to get me, but I'm very lucky his spike didn't go right into my chest.

I have had several encounters that could have ended like this. Had drug a buck quite a ways only to have him get up and run before falling again. My dad neck shot a doe one time that we had to cut her throat to try to get her to bleed out. Had to cut her twice, the second we went from the bone out. Got her to the pickup and turned around to open the tailgate. Looked back and she was standing up, then she turned and ran another 20 yards before falling dead. We had drug her over 40 yards to the pickup and she hadn't kicked or fought us at all. Just never know.

Wait 30 minutes minimum

Normally what I do after dropping a deer is carefully approach him from behind, squat down behind him, & sing to him as I gently pet his back. If he's not dead yet, they usually beg me to finish them off!

Hmmm...wait 20 to 30 minutes before retrieving deer.

I just use a real gun (270) w (150g) blow a whole in the neck the size of a baseball

Skinnerback, I like your approach the best...I think I'll try that next time! ha

Ha

No way. Make a killing shot, be ready when you walk up, know what to look for and tag that deer. The sooner you get it cooling the better the meat will be. Why let a deer lie dead for 30 minutes? Use some sense and get it done.