Deer always kick up their back legs on a heart shot?

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
This is what I've heard today.... deer kick their legs up, only need to wait 5 minutes. If they don't, only lungs - you'd better wait it out.
 
well I'd take the saying with a few grains of salt:)

I've killed several deer, some went down like a wet bag of sand never a movement, some kicked and died, a few I never saw again, no good blood trail

now I just give em about 20 minutes peace and quiet then go looking, don't want any problems if I can avoid it. getting too old to follow em all over the mountains.
 
I will walk out on a neck shot without much waiting. The rest get an opportunity to slip away without my interruption. I helped a fellow camp member trail a gutshot deer a couple years ago. We gave him several hours after looking at the cud in the POI area. We never found him, but we found out latter the fella tried tracking him first and came back to camp after pressing him. That's the only time I've been a part of an unsuccessful trailing job. :(
 
I always wait the same amount of time, 15-20 minutes, unless I can see the deer down and know it is not getting up again. Of the deer I've shot through the heart, only one kicked up like you see on TV. The key thing to remember is that each deer is different.
 
Buck in the chest

I shot a buck in the chest with 30/30 leverevolution two seasons ago. Heart was split in half as discovered during field dressing. The bullet seems to have fragmented as well. Wasn't much intact at all in the chest cavity. He reared up on his hind legs and got about 2 or 3 bounds into the brush before collapsing. Of course that's probably because the muzzle blast burned his eyebrows half off (not really, it's an exaggeration. I was 10m away) So I don't know if the leg kicking theory stands up. It's possible there is some movement as blood flow is cut off and oxygen is used up and the brain is still trying to flee.
 
my wait

I usually wait 10-15 minutes for the crawlies to jump off. At somepoint in the past someone told me that if you walk up on your kill too soon the tick and fleas that all wild animals have will jump onto the next warm thing that walks by...meaning you.

Bloodsuckers react quickly when their host dies. I've killed rats before and within seconds the fleas start to hop off. It's actually really disgusting.
 
I read through all the posts and expected someone to throw this out, but here goes. If you have ever been around many cows or horses you may have seen them kick at different things that scared or threatened them. We'll my way of thinking is that the kick up on a deer in any situation is because they are surprised and trying to kick at whatever just "bit" them. I think a deer will kick anytime they aren't knocked down by a shot or generally surprised by the shot.

About this whole when to go look for the deer thing. I try very hard to hear them crash. After they bite the dust really good one time, they are usually done for. Watch a bow hunting video and notice what happens when someone puts a good shot on a deer and it falls on camera. Eventually you'll see it first hand though. I shot a 200lb+ buck at about 10 yards (kicked up) and he ran about 15 yards and just melted. graveyard dead. It's very hard to call what a bow shot deer is going to do though. I had a doe last year that I shot quartering towards me and the arrow went though the heart and managed to hit both lungs as well. She ran at least 200 yards and left a blood trail that looked like it was poured from a milk jug.

Shoot good broadheads. Mechanicals shouldn't even be considered.
 
You never know

I've seen them kick from a heart shot, a lung, liver, gut shot and a clean miss ( never seen that whith a bow) .
The best thing to do is give them a few minutes (15 to 20) and go check for blood. Unless of course you see them pile up. Still a good Idea to watch and wait a couple minutes.
 
Never seen it, I've shot several mule deer in the last few years through the heart some of them the heart came out in two pieces others the heart was almost completely vaporised. The .243 and .270 that I've used do a very nice job but I have never seen a deer kick. They do kind of curl up in reaction to the shot and then try to run but they end up face first in the snow.
 
My last mule deer did the jump kick thing after the bullet impacted. This was the first time I ever saw it happen. I've had a few just take off on a dead run and others have just fell over dead. I'll agree with everyone who said every deer is different.
 
Most critters will jump/kick/react in some way to being shot. Unless rain is in the forecast, i'll always wait 60-90 minutes before tracking an arrow shot deer, no matter where I think i hit it.
 
I'd have to say so. I've shot several deer through the heart with an arrow and have yet to see one kick out his back legs. I've seen it with a rifle shot, but even then I've only seen it once or twice.
 
I've thought about this for a few days. As near as I can recall, using a rifle, the few heart shots I've taken have had the deer either going to its knees (elbows?) before running 50 yards or so, or hitting the ground and then getting up to run maybe 20 to 50 yards.

Which is part of the "why" of my breaking Ol' Bucky's neck: He quits, instanter.

Art
 
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