I hope this never happens to me or anyone else, but if you spine shoot a deer, what should you do next? I think it would be hard to shoot them again while laying on their side. Do you let them die, and if so how long does that usually take, or do you walk up and shoot them again or take out your knife and try to put them out? Thanks in advance for the suggestions and what you have seen work the best.
It all really depends on the situation. If I have a gun and I have a clear shot to vitals I will put a second bullet in the deer. More often then not when I have spine shot the deer it doesn't live to long so you could probably just let it die. But there are those cases where the deer is still alive and you need to try to get an angle for another shot. I wouldn't go use a knife if the deer still has a lot of energy. If you do decide to go up to it with a knife try to approach it from the back side and you better make it quick because that deer can still thrash around and seriously hurt you.
Only ever spine shot one deer. It was with a shotgun slug. I walked up, and put another one through her head at 15 yards. She never felt a thing.
If you spine it w/ an arrow, its probably going to drop right there and thrash around. Hopefully you have an angle to get a 2nd shot immediately. If not I might get out of the tree asap and try to get a 2nd shot in.
If it's still conscious... by all means put another arrow/bullet into it! Don't just watch it flop around and hope it expires soon.
I've never done it with a bow but, had to finish several deer (couple spine shots from slugs and a couple hit by cars) the best way we have found was a direct heart stab from a 6 or so inch knife.
Your duty as a hunter is to be ethical, always put them out of their misery one way or another. As stated if ya can't get a second shot in from the stand get down an take em out. I've never spine shot one thank god but I would never just let it thrash around like a fish outta water.
Unfortunately, I shot a buck in the spine last year. His back legs weren't working and he was thrashing around, so I knew I hit him in the spine, but there was blood spraying out also. I sent another arrow his way but he was really thrashing around and I missed. With only 1 arrow left, I got down and took another shot from 10 yards and missed again because he was going crazy. I decided at that point to back out and give him a little bit of time, as there was blood everywhere in a 10 yard circle and I could see it spraying out the side. I figured he would bleed out quickly. I went home and got the cargo carrier and when I came back 4 hours later he was still alive and thrashing around. I couldn't believe it. And I felt terrible that I had let him lay there for 4 hours. He was so juiced up from the rut that he was still grunting. Several times he looked right at me and lunged at me as if I were another buck that he was attempting to do battle with. I had to lasso his antler with a rope and pin his head down by tying it to a fence post and put a knife into his lungs. Even after stabbing him thru the lung (there was a huge amount of blood bubbling out) he continued to breath for another 10 minutes. He managed to flip himself over to the other side and I was able to stab his other lung. He passed within minutes. I still feel very badly about that whole situation, to the point that I've passed shots on does this year because I have been feeling bad about shooting them when the moment presents itself. I would also caution anyone attempting to stab a mature buck to do so very carefully and to get help from friends or families, if possible. A mature buck has a tremendous amount of strength and an even stronger will-to-survive. We talk a lot about treestand safety, but approaching a wild animal that has been wounded is far more dangerous than any climb into a tree.
I have shot my share. The phrase I use is: "I missed it so bad I killed it." Gun - Shoot it again in the vitals a.s.a.p. Bow - Climb down and shoot it again a.s.a.p. (If you are 100% sure you can hit the vitals from the tree, shoot again a.s.a.p.) A pure spine shot is not lethal by itself. Using a knife is insane, I might try it.
Only time I've had this situation was using a shotgun. Luckily it wasn't thrashing around much and I didn't want to shoot it again. I always carry a larger knife, k-bar to be exact, so did my best to slowly walk up on her and ended up putting one knee in her chest and other near head and cut the throat. Bleed out pretty quick but not sure if I'd do it that way again thinking back, a lot coulda went wrong. Especially since was alone. Probably best bet would be to shoot it again.
My buddy spined a deer last yr and he couldnt get another shot off so we climed down to finish her off with a blade and he couldnt do it so I cut her throat for him. He since then gave up hunting because he dowsnt have the heart for it lol
For everybody that is advising to cut the throat I might advise to try a heart stab in stead. Much cleaner and safer in my opinion. No risk of ruining the cape either.
This may sound cruel but if you can not put an animal out of its misery because you FEEL BAD you should quit hunting. The animal should not have to suffer because you cant or wont finish the job!
Got to put it out as quick and as humanely as possible that is your responsibility as an ethical hunter It's happened to me I had climb down and use my side arm A friend of mine tried to sneak up behind it and got horned in the arm 17 staples the close it need to be very carful with a wounded buck could end badly Good luck be safe
