mule kick questions

[luvhuntin]

does a deer mule kick if not hit at the sound of a gunshot?

took the nephew out yesterday & he shot at a decent buck i watched the deer mule kick hard but could find no sign.

i ran out of light last night, went back this morning but another vehicle was parked at the location, i was hoping it was just bird hunters and i could go look but after waiting 45 minutes and hearing no gunshots I did`nt dare go walking up to the spot. again the way this deer kicked i was waiting to see him drop.

i`m going to go out later and look again just wondering if this scenario is possible.

[Woods Walker]

Well, considering that deer can't read ANYTHING is possible. But if I had to make an assumption I would assume that the deer WAS hit. Unfortunately it may also have been hit further back that what you are hoping for too....liver or gut hit. Usually (and again I strees "usually") when they are hit in the chest cavity with a firearm they usually take off on a dead run...and the "dead" part is literal!

Keep us posted.........

[luvhuntin]

Well
after an exhausting grid search over the roughest 10 acre food plot in Iowa, I have come up with nothing on the Buck that narrowly escaped with his life. no hair, blood, or entrails i also walked the tree line he ran along making his escape five times hoping to find something but did`nt. My guess is either he has a bald patch somwhere along his midsection from a close shave or the slug whizzed by close enough to give him the heebe jeebeze.

I`m disappointed for the lad i feel totally responsible for costing him that buck. I saw him come out of the timber and got a good look at his right side that had 3 very nice length tines then disappeared below a small rise in the field we were sitting on the edge of. he asked me if i was going to use my grunt call & after some internal debate i gave in and gave it a few rips, next thing i know there are four heads coming over the same rise in the field three out in front and the buck in the rear, (of course!) the does were curious as could be and by the time the biggest doe got nervous before the shot, she was 15 yards in front of us. so I got him the chance at a buck but cost him the buck at the same time.

WW I know now why you hunt on the ground, it was so warm yesterday I took two chairs and one of those turkey blinds thats 3 ft tall and steaks in the ground that`s it.
the food plot has alot of weeds in it this year and a great section of it on the timber line, ten minutes after we were set up a doe walked right out of a hole in the timber not 5 yards from us looked our way for a few moments and proceeded to feed her way through never thought twice about us, the boy could hardly contain himself, what a rush!

[Woods Walker]

YUP! That's what you call "up close and personal"!!!

Too bad about the buck. Get that youngster out again and keep the fire burning!

[charlie 01]

I agree with W.W., that deer was hit somewhere, that somewhere had to have been low and back of midsection. In all hopes, a graze, but there is no telling of that. If it was a gut hit, it would be pretty hard to detect in that overgrown food plot, and your search of a 10 acre field and I don't know how far of the tree line, would not be hardly enough of a search for a gut shot deer. He could go miles, especially if some coyotes got after him. Sorry to say, it just dosen't look good. Either way that buck will probably not be back. Do you know the surrounding land owners? You could put the word out to see if anyone does find it, they could at least let you know. Sometimes driving around the area and seeing buzzards and crows low in trees and close to the ground is a good indication of a dead deer. I know you feel bad about the situation, but you shouldn't, "things" happen, they have happened to us all, and as hard as we try, could easily happen again. A young hunter in all the excitment, could easily be off in the shot ( though not to blame, we all had some kind of mishape when starting out), it is a learning experience. One more reason to emphasize the importance of accuracy.
Three years ago had the same thing happen. Nice 10, early season bowshot and mule kick, no arrow, 2 drops of blood, looked for 2 days. Found him in Jan. while shed hunting. Knew it was the same deer, my arrow was there with the bones.
Look at it on the bright side, a grazed hit, which it could be just that. Time for him to get back out there.

[luvhuntin]

I have called the local DNR officer for the area and let him know, i also stopped by the houses around there hopefully it won`t end up dead in their yards if it was hit enough to be fatal long term, i spent 4 hours sunday afternoon looking for even a piece of hair and found nothing he ran along a tree line for 150 yards because it`s so thick i`m not sure a rabbit would even want to try and get through it. if he was gut shot i know of a great spot a deer would go to water but i can`t get to it this time of year it`s just flat nasty deer hiding habitat we`ll be out there enough the next couple of weeks we should notice and abnormal scavenger activity.

I`m mad at myself more and more for using that grunt call though. it would have been wise not to alert the deer to our presence and hope they worked over to us. if they noticed us then it probably would have been too late and a much more relaxed shot. oh well he gets a doe tag out of the deal the weather is supposed to be much cooler this week so it will be easier to get deer out of the field and home with less worry, and he has to keep that buck tag till the last weekend of youth season just in case i get a phone call.

so you know what that means,,,,, next weekend we`ll see nothing but nice bucks