Girl's deer turns into wolves' dinner

[Fishmasterdan]

Well, the young lady made a couple mistakes I hope she learned from.

First, at 50 ft, a good kill shot should have dropped the deer in it's tracks. She needs to work on her shot placement.

Second when you're hunting in an area frequented by predators,  waiting 45 minutes to follow your wounded prey is asking for trouble. The smell of blood will draw them in. Especially bears, wolves, and coyotes. And if the prey died soon after being shot, crows, ravens, camp robbers, and other birds will be on them quickly and the fuss they make will also draw in predators that may be upwind from the downed game.

Third, she could have had a wolf tag and didn't. While that may not have saved her deer because of the long wait following up her shot, She'd have had a chance of a nice wolf pelt for her wall or to use as a rug.

That's the breaks when you don't make a good first shot and choose to wait to follow up.  There's always something hungry opportunistically waiting for an easy mark for dinner. Predators and scavengers clean up a lot of game that gets wounded and lost by hunters.

This is why some should step away from the keyboard.

[KFhunter]

First, at 50 ft, a good kill shot should have dropped the deer in it's tracks. She needs to work on her shot placement.

That is one of the more ignorant comments I have read recently.

 


I was about to go on a rant, glad to see it was well in hand 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

really?  because the shot was 50 ft the deer should have dropped?  i've seen deer with only two legs and no heart cover almost 100 yards!  i'd bet her shot was placed well for meat preservation ie heart/lung area, the bigger/better target as taught in almost every hunter education class.  and the 45 minute wait?  also recommended, so you don't bump a deer that might otherwise lay down and die if your shot wasnt perfect.  and it sounds like she didn't know wolves were such a big problem, given her not applying for a tag!  dang, man, give the gal a break!  she did what she thought was best given her education! 

You're right. And now she has a bit more education.

As for that 45 min wait time, that's what those TV archers do.  Where I usually hunt, (brush and rain) you're just giving them more time to lose you. 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

First, at 50 ft, a good kill shot should have dropped the deer in it's tracks. She needs to work on her shot placement.

That is one of the more ignorant comments I have read recently.

Bob, if you're in a stand and have an unaware deer at 50 feet and you can't drop it with one shot, you have a problem.

One of the biggest causes of lost game I see is from people either taking a bad first shot, or making a bad first shot. Taking one usually either involves shooting at a range beyond your shooting abilities, or at a moving target, or through brush, or not compensating for a steep angle. Making one is usually from rushing a shot, not focusing on where you're aiming, or not getting enough target practice or making sure your gun is sighted in before hunting.

Your first shot is your most important shot, make it count.

[Bob33]

First, at 50 ft, a good kill shot should have dropped the deer in it's tracks. She needs to work on her shot placement.

That is one of the more ignorant comments I have read recently.

Bob, if you're in a stand and have an unaware deer at 50 feet and you can't drop it with one shot, you have a problem.

One of the biggest causes of lost game I see is from people either taking a bad first shot, or making a bad first shot. Taking one usually either involves shooting at a range beyond your shooting abilities, or at a moving target, or through brush, or not compensating for a steep angle. Making one is usually from rushing a shot, not focusing on where you're aiming, or not getting enough target practice or making sure your gun is sighted in before hunting.

Your first shot is your most important shot, make it count.

Sitka Blacktail, in spite of what you might read animals are not robots. They don't always behave as you may have read. After you've shot a few, you might realize that sometimes a perfectly shot animal does not die in its tracks.  I've had animals shot through both lungs and shot through the heart run 100 yards or more. Yes some have been shot at less than 50 feet.

If you don't believe it, perhaps you might find this study of 493 deer kills of interest: http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ballistics/game_study.html

"Those hit in the heart (14/224, or 6.3 %) traveled an average of 39 yards, those hit in the lungs (152/224, or 67.9 %) ran an average of 50 yards, and those struck in the abdomen (presumably hitting an artery or the liver, as opposed to only stomach and intestines) (58/224, or 25.9 %) ran an average of 69 yards. "

Quit blaming the girl.

[KFhunter]

I do not reccomend bailing out of a tree stand right after the shot, especially when huting with kids. 

Take a few minutes to discuss things, talk about the shot, how they feel, give them hugs and high fives, walk them through unloading the firearm properly, make sure they've tied the gun properly to a rope and lowered it down safely, give them more hugs, take a picture or two.

This could easily chew up 30 minutes, now it's time to coach them in tracking the deer, finding the spot of impact, finding signs of blood and assist them in following the deer to it's final resting place - this chould chew up 30 minutes easy....

enter wolves and we've got a news story.



I find not a damm thing wrong with what that girl and her father did.

[Kola16]

i've seen deer with only two legs and no heart cover almost 100 yards!

  This is what happened to the very first deer I shot!

[high country]

Sitka, the girl was shooting a rifle, not a net gun. Critters only go DRT every time with a CNS shot. I would not encourage that shot from most hunters and never from a youth. I additionally find the theory of hot pursuit interesting. Do you know if she was near property boundaries or if she had concerns of a possible paunch hit? I have zero issue with waiting a while to begin tracking unless bad weather would make in less productive than waiting. I think the issue is not that the girl did anything wrong, but that the wolves are mighty brave in her area.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Sitka Blacktail, in spite of what you might read animals are not robots. They don't always behave as you may have read. After you've shot a few, you might realize that sometimes a perfectly shot animal does not die in its tracks.  I've had animals shot through both lungs and shot through the heart run 100 yards or more. Yes some have been shot at less than 50 feet.

If you don't believe it, perhaps you might find this study of 493 deer kills of interest: http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ballistics/game_study.html

"Those hit in the heart (14/224, or 6.3 %) traveled an average of 39 yards, those hit in the lungs (152/224, or 67.9 %) ran an average of 50 yards, and those struck in the abdomen (presumably hitting an artery or the liver, as opposed to only stomach and intestines) (58/224, or 25.9 %) ran an average of 69 yards. "

Quit blaming the girl.
[/quote]

That's quite funny actually, you Implying I have no knowledge of shooting game and only get my info from reading about it. I've killed more game than I can count and have plenty of experience to make my own judgements. And again I'll state, the first shot is the most important and you want to make it count. Too many people are more concerned with shooting an animal than making a clean kill. They don't plan their first shot to make it count and many times just want to "get lead in it".

In my mind, that is disrespecting your prey. 

Yes bad shots happen, sometimes without apparent explanation, even to me although it's been a while. When a hunter makes a bad hit though, he owes it to his prey and to himself to to replay events and go over them in his mind and see what he can do differently next time to make himself a better shot and hunter. And that is all I was suggesting this young gal do, to learn from her experience so she doesn't have the same experience the next time. I actually appreciate her attitude. She was fairly philosophical about her loss.