Heart shots drop deer instantly?

[whoami-72]

Alright, I’ve always heard about deer dropping as soon as they get hit and not moving anymore but never actually seen it. I usually bow hunt but decided to rifle hunt this year to try and get the wife into hunting. Long story short, I shot a fairly mature mule deer buck with a 6.5 creed shooting 143gr eld-x hand loads. It dropped as soon as I shot it and never moved again. I know for a fact I didn’t spine him and I used the gutless method to get him out. I tried looking for heart but didn’t have time to dig beyond looking through the ribs because I was worried about meat spoiling. The chest cavity was also full of blood. The entry and exit holes looked like I could’ve hit the heart but I’d never dug into a deer to find the heart before. Anyway, now that I’ve explained the situation….

Is there any way to shoot a deer and have it drop instantly without it being a heart shot assuming it wasn’t spined? Both in this situation and in general?

 

[Fatcamp]

Eldx blew apart and shocked the system with massive trauma.

That's a guess on my part having had a couple act similar.

 

[whoami-72]

Eldx blew apart and shocked the system with massive trauma.

That's a guess on my part having had a couple act similar.

I actually was thinking the same thing. It was a 75 yard shot and I’ve heard the eld-x can grenade at short distance. My only dillema is when looking at the exit hole it didn’t even look like the bullet expanded. I’m gonna check it again though now that I’ve gotten it cleaned up more.

 

[manitou1]

I have shot many deer and antelope that have dropped dead in their footprints. More often than not. I suppose it is the shock (wave)? Some were through both lungs, some in the heart.
A good bullet helps. I always use Accubonds.

 

[SoloWilderness]

I typically shoot a 150g Nosler Partition from a .270 for mule deer. Heart/ lung shots of anywhere from 20 yards to 300+, rarely had them walk more than a couple steps, most drop in their tracks. This seems fairly typical for Mule deer, from my experience.

 

[Tmac]

Just another observation to add to the above. It is not uncommon for a heart shot deer to show almost no reaction, except to run off. We always called it a death run. If you see it a few times it is just a little different from their regular gait, at least to my eye. I’ve had mature MD bucks go quite a ways with a fatal heart shot, including with almost no heart.

Just so many variables there are really no hard and fast rules outside a CNS hit.

 

[wapitibob]

The only way to I know to get them to drop instantly is to cut off the CNS. They can run till their brain run out of oxygenated blood.
This buck ran about 20 yards Monday morning. Partners buck ran about the same with the top of the heart shot off.

 

[FLATHEAD]

It's because its a Creedmore isnt it?

 

[Rich M]

Most of the deer i have shot have been DRT and just fall over. Surprises me when shot deer run actually. They kick and roll around sometimes but usually bang flop.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Most deer that I've heart shot took off full speed for 50-100 yards.
I prefer a bang/flop and now try to make a high shoulder - base of
neck shot. These are bang flops, even with a .243.

 

[kpk]

The only ones I've had drop DRT have been shoulder shots. Most of the heart shot deer/antelope I've had didn't really show signs of being hit. They've ran off at full speed and then crash big.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’ve found that animals are similar to humans in regards to willingness to survive and general “toughness” (not saying deer are tough.

An explosive vital shot on one deer may result in a instant drop and no movement. Same exact bullet and shot on another deer and it runs 20-30 yards before it dies. Depends on the deer.

 

[jedi]

I actually was thinking the same thing. It was a 75 yard shot and I’ve heard the eld-x can grenade at short distance. My only dillema is when looking at the exit hole it didn’t even look like the bullet expanded. I’m gonna check it again though now that I’ve gotten it cleaned up more.

more than likely that was just a fragment of the bullet coming out. i have yet to find an exit hole while shooting eld-x out of a 7mm. they just grenade

 

[Fatcamp]

I’ve found that animals are similar to humans in regards to willingness to survive and general “toughness” (not saying deer are tough.

An explosive vital shot on one deer may result in a instant drop and no movement. Same exact bullet and shot on another deer and it runs 20-30 yards before it dies. Depends on the deer.

My exact thoughts. One little thump upside the head and some people drop, others can take massive damage prior to losing consciousness. Same with deer.

 

[ClearCreek]

I’ve found that animals are similar to humans in regards to willingness to survive and general “toughness” (not saying deer are tough.

An explosive vital shot on one deer may result in a instant drop and no movement. Same exact bullet and shot on another deer and it runs 20-30 yards before it dies. Depends on the deer.

I have a friend that believes the difference between those deer that drop and those that run when shot through both lungs is the deer that runs has just inhaled and has lungs full of air and the one that drops has just exhaled and can't inhale after the bullet goes through the lungs. Kinda like getting the air knocked out of you.

I am not sure how to prove him right or wrong, but he may have a good theory.


ClearCreek

 

[Hoosker Doo]

From my experience/observations a heart shot animal will travel anywhere up to 100 yards and very rarely drop. 3 of the last 4 animals my wife shot were heart shots. An antelope doe ran 30 or 40 yards and then stood for 10-15 seconds. A forky mule deer made it 20-30 yards downhill. And another young mule deer buck ran 70-80 yards toward us before crashing over

I have a friend that believes the difference between those deer that drop and those that run when shot through both lungs is the deer that runs has just inhaled and has lungs full of air and the one that drops has just exhaled and can't inhale after the bullet goes through the lungs. Kinda like getting the air knocked out of you.

I am not sure how to prove him right or wrong, but he may have a good theory.


ClearCreek

This is a very interesting/plausible theory. My first elk I ever shot as a youngster was a lung shot on a 5x6 at 250 yds with 150 core lokts out a 30-06 and he dropped like a sack of potatoes and never twitched, but all those hearts I've seen ran afterwards.

 

[ognennyy]

Is there any way to shoot a deer and have it drop instantly without it being a heart shot assuming it wasn’t spined? Both in this situation and in general?

Aside from shooting them in the head, not likely.

 

[Rich M]

Ive tracked maybe 8 deer out of at least 80 shot w 3006, 243, 350 legend and 357 mag rifle. Most of the deer were inside 100 yards. The 3006 w 150 gr pro hunter just drops em. 357 mag w 158 gr xtp just drops em.

Its the bullet and the placement. Shoot em about 4 inches over the heart and stop tracking.

 

[yellowbeard]

I had a black trail drop immediately this year, hit liver and lungs only. Kind of a high hit, I wondered if the shockwave broke the spinal cord despite the bullet not hitting the spine. I hit the heart of a mulie this year, and he went about 20 yards.

 

[long hunter]

Even good shot placement is a must, think kinetic engery upon impact and bullet travel in wound channel dispersing the energy imparted from the bullet througout the body of the animal not only organ destruction but the shock that dis-places other organs during impact, watch a video of bullet impact on ballistic jell you will see the actual shock wave and development of wound channel and how things sorta go back together in the wound channel.