2nd (follow-up) shots - Your thoughts?

2 years ago hunting with my dad, he shot a doe at close range with a .30-06 shooting 150 grain Super X, he shot the deer in the head. It fell, about a few seconds later it got up and ran a good distance. He shot it again, in the head, it still lived for a couple more minutes.

I'm no deer slayer but only 2 have the ones I've killed have required a 2nd shot.
 
MoBuck, I have never shot a deer two times. (With the exception of two deer that I had complete bullet failure on, I actually shot them the "second" time weeks later. With those two exceptions,I have not lost one since I was a kid. There have been quite a few running like scalded dogs that I would have shot a second time if it were possible. My dogs have tracked some deer over 400 yards that were lung shot. It is pretty safe to say that without dogs, I would have lost a few.
 
I guess there's a reason for the saying "your first shot is the most important."

I once scuffed a 200+ yard downhill shot on a mulie buck by not considering the angle of the shot. Mr. Springfield 30-06 saved my butt by plowing through the whole body and breaking the opposite side hip. It took me 45 mins to find him and finish him.
If I could have taken a second shot faster I would have; no animal deserves to suffer a broken hip. Probably my worst moment, but we're all fallible and these things happen.
 
My hunting experience , and that of almost everyone I talk to about hunting, mirrors that of MoBuck. Very, very few people have every deer they shoot simply drop dead on the spot. Almost everyone has deer that run. Some run a few yards, some run hundreds of yards. I've had deer die after one shot, and I've had many that needed two shots. I had to shoot one buck seven times, it simply would not go down.

I believe that if you lined five deer up (all the same size and sex) and shot all of them from the same distance with the same gun, the same load, in the exact same spot, you would get five completely different reactions.
 
"When in doubt, shoot again" Absolutely yes, if for no other reason than humane-ness.

However, if the animal is clearly down and not getting back up, but kicking, given the cost of rifle ammo, I'd rather deliver the coup de grace with a .22lr kit gun revolver if I have it with me. Even in bow season (it's illegal to do so, but I choose humane-ness over a law aimed at stopping someone *other than me* - poachers). Never had to shoot a second arrow (though I certainly would if had the chance initially, or if needed a coup de grace and no kit gun on me). I guess because I wait a long time after bow shots (at least one hour, and 8-12 hours at least if "too far back" shot (like an idiot) - and so you either find it dead a ways off or never find it. Large game doesn't DRT with archery shots unless you hit spine - at least for me they don't.
 
I've told this before, either here or at THR. My father told me of an event from sixty years back. A woman shot a nice buck. Set her rifle down, tagged the deer. As she was getting her knife out to field dress it, the buck jumped up, ran off, and jumped the fence onto a neighboring ranch. She had grazed the base of an antler, cold-cocking the buck.

As she was running to try to catch up, she heard a shot. Crossed the fence. Approached two hunter standing over "her" buck.

"That's my deer! That's my deer!"

"You're nuts, lady; I just shot it."

"It has my tag on it!"

They look. Sure enough, there's the tag.

"Oh, okay, lady. Anybody who can run that fast deserves a deer."
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That's great. Now, although that's a (possibly) true story, of course it reminds me of the old tale.....

Ol' boy takes his wife elk hunting; puts her in a tree stand with a rifle and says "OK, now I'm gonna go over there to hunt, but if you see an elk, shoot it". Hour or so later, the guy hears a shot, and walks over to see her arguing with a stranger on the ground and pointing her rifle at him ... she says to her husband "Honey, I shot one, but this yardbird is trying to steal it from me". The guy says.... "Look lady - you can have your elk - I just wanna get my saddle off of it, OK?" :)
 
Absolutely without hesitation. All it took was a one time learning experience for me to come to that shooting decision. And my Father's corporal punishment. That most assuredly helped change my mind and behavior and without doubt was instrumental in my decision making policy.
What do I care about another broken rib and some more bloodshot chest or even a bony shoulder. I'm after those loins and back legs. Be~~cause. "I don't like long night-time or day-time for that matter walks thru the woods concentrating on hoof marks." My ideal hunt. Shoot, rope the animal up to the ATV, drag it home, have a beer (?maybe?). Than get busy cleaning the animal up & quartering. If I miss supper time because of such behavior. No big deal I can afford to miss a supper's sitting occasionally. That's what micro-wave ovens are for. i.e. Johnny come to the table lately's.

Frankly the way I see this subject: Just because someone bought a license doesn't mean they have the Right to let a animal escape (wounded) that surely needed a second bump and its hunter had time to take that second shot but didn't. It's a dis-service to the land owner and to the animal being humanely harvested most of all. Being a hunting land owner. I have encounter on a couple occasions other hunters who have done just that. (purposely let or observed their animal get up and walk or run away without a second or third shot being fired.) I help find their animal. {honestly I have better things to do then having to track another's wounded deer for retrieval}_Then that hunter is told what he or she did wrong. I patiently listen to their excuse/s. But usually a stern decisive comment from me follows: Don't bother to ask for permission anymore. And I walk away.
A peaceful ending to a disappointing day for the two of us I'd say.
 
I think that most experienced hunters make that decision instinctively without any concious thought process whatsoever, while young or inexperienced hunters must be prompted to "shoot again". In time that young hunter will come to make that call automatically in most cases - in some cases the hunter is just inept and will need his butt powdered for him at all times.

In my book, a follow up shot is different than a finishing shot and are not used interchangeably.

A follow up shot is required for ambulatory non mortally wounded game, with the goal of acheiving the DRT status the first shot was supposed to acheive.

A finishing shot is required for non ambulatory mortally wounded game, with the goal of allowing me to field dress the critter in a timely manner without getting my face kicked off.

The only thing hair on the ground ever provided me was a sense of dissatisfaction at missing an opportunity and relief that a wounded critter need not be tracked. That deer is safe for a long time. In my neck of the woods we would call him "educated".
 
I shoot most of the large/medium game I kill in the lungs. I think the meat tastes better when they run a couple hundred yards and get rid of a lot of the blood in the system.
 
Most folks think that wild animals taste better with a "Dead Right There" shot because they don't have time to drop adrenaline, which (apparently) tastes bad.
 
Most folks think that wild animals taste better with a "Dead Right There" shot because they don't have time to drop adrenaline, which (apparently) tastes bad.
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That's what I've always heard.
 
Most folks think that wild animals taste better with a "Dead Right There" shot because they don't have time to drop adrenaline, which (apparently) tastes bad.
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I haven't tasted a difference honestly

I evne eat roadkill as I do alotta traffic recovery for the local municapility, but my own rule is that I only eat the ones I put down myself, not ones that are killed instantly even if I am on scenes within minutes

I have tasted no difference from animals hunted with dogs or just stalked/blind hunted either. and chased by dogs should riase adrenaline IMO, naturally old bucks, boars etc can have their taste but that is what sausage and dog meat are for:D


but then I hang all my meat, judging by american hunting shows this is not the norm? we like to keep the animal complete sans skin most of the time (is the entry wound a clean one you can keep the hide on) rule of thumb 40/by the degrees celsius the animal will hang in.

I keep my game cooler at around 8 degrees(celsious) just for ease of counting that makes 5 days but I often prolong it, the older the animal the longer
 
As I sit here eating a shaved tenderloin sandwich from the goat shot a week ago friday, I must mention the fact that the lung shot on him urged him into a 40 yd dash. Adrenaline dump? I dunno. Yummy? Yep!

All I can say for certain is the only nasty meat I ever have eaten was processed at the butcher shop (not my critter) and antelope shot on the first day of camp and stashed in the rocks to 'keep cool' for a few days (not my rodeo).

Without looking to pick a fight - I would suggest that adrenaline dump is a myth and so is bleeding out an animal. Of utmost importance is removing the hide promptly, cooling the meat and once butchered, a good double wrap to protect from freezer burn.

I also insist the critter dangle from the gambrel by his hind legs, the concept being that the large blood vessels will drain better with gravity and it also makes quartering more simple. That is a personal preference and no matter what orientation the beast hangs, I don't think it matters to the taste buds...
 
I never noticed a difference either. You can get a "Wild taste" depending what the deer was eating, but I started to bone everything out and I have not noticed a "Wild taste" since.
 
My doctrine on this was formed while rabbit hunting for pest control. If it's still moving after the first shot, hit it again if you can. Go on hitting until it stops moving. If it's going to get down the burrow wounded, try to put in enough wound channels to ensure that death comes as swiftly as possible.

Extend to larger animals as appropriate. If the first shot has a visible impact and it's still on its feet, shoot again at once if you can.
 
I'm always ready to put a second shot in. I especially don't mess around with elk, they usually don't run to a "better" spot to die.
I've seen elk soak up multiple hits from stuff like 300 and 338 mags in vital spots and go half a mile. Even if I'm almost 100% positive that it was a good shot, if an elk is still on its feet after the first shot I keep shooting till its in the dirt.
Even on smaller critters, if it's still moving around on the ground for more than a few seconds I put another one in if for no other reason than to bring a quicker end to any pain or suffering. I can't stand the shows where they put a bullet in something and not only don't try and shoot it again as it runs off, but usually has "pretty sure you got him" mixed in there somewhere.
"Pretty sure" wont ease the pain of a gut shot or a marginal lung shot that may hours to be fatal.
 
Most folks think that wild animals taste better with a "Dead Right There" shot because they don't have time to drop adrenaline, which (apparently) tastes bad.
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I don't know that this is the case. I know DRT tastes better than tracking but the key word in that is TRACKING. time spent finding the animal is time that the bacteria in the animal is already feasting and spreading rot. on hot days, a couple hours lying in the sun while you're trying to track deer is enough to really mess with the flavor of the animal and lowers the amount of time you have to get it butchered and in the freezer before it spoils.

nothing to do with adrenaline, everything to do with bacteria.
 
Lactic acid builds up in the muscles during periods of exertion. I don't know what it tastes like or if it tastes bad. But, it is a big deal if you want to sell a Blue Fin Tuna to the Japanese for sushi. So, you leave the fish alive along side of the boat while it cools down and cleans the lactic acid back out of the muscles. They take a core sample and check for it.
 
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