Heart shots drop deer instantly?

[Marbles]

There is no way to consistently do it, other than high central nervous system. A shot that catches the heart at systole (the point when blood is being pushed out and blood pressure is highest) appears to cause a massive spike in pressure inside the skull resulting in injury to the brain. So, by chance, a chest shot becomes instant CNS incapacitation.

My guess, is the brain injury is not lethal, but results in unconsciousness prior to death by circulatory collapse. Massive head trauma can also result in a process that will rapidly become lethal without intervention, so that guess is complex.

 

[Marbles]

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

That is an interesting thought. I don't think it would have to do with not being able to inhale (asphyxiation takes a few minutes), but an exhale would give a denser chest cavity. As air is highly compressible, it absorbs energy, so having less in the chest cavity should result in more energy being transferred to the great vessels, which could then transfer that energy to the brain via incompressible blood.

 

[Durran87]

I just lung shot a deer that acted like I spined her—I think as others mentioned that it’s pretty easy to shock the spine and drop a deer in it’s tracks.

 

[35WhelenAI]

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

Can't disagree with it, have heard that other places as well and pondered it myself.

What I'm reading in this thread warms my heart by golly, as it's showing massive expansion or controlled expansion tends to result in the same dead animal, and some drop in their tracks and some don't. 'Preciate the candor.

 

[Whitey Fisk 88]

It's because its a Creedmore isnt it?

If you gotta ask, then you already know...

 

[Seeknelk]

You can never predict how a deer will react when shot with a rifle. I had the same result with a mule deer a couple years ago. 139 grain SST right through both lungs. No bones hit. Dropped dead in its tracks and the exit wound was only the size of a quarter so I know the bullet didn't "blow up."

I've heart shot a few deer with a rifle and had them run hundreds of yards.

Every single one is different.

Or that small exit wound was just a fragment that passed thru. Just a thought to keep in mind.