Relaxed and or "wired"

[charlie 01]

Something I've noticed over the years and will pass it along, and wondered if anyone has noticed the same. At the start of each season, I hope my shot chances are on a relaxed deer,(not having any idea of my presense). I find that a relaxede deer is less likely to duck an arrow. Also it will travel less of a distance when a good killing shot is preformed. On the other hand when a deer is "wired",on edge, or just plain knows something is not right is more than likely to duck an arrow. And will travel at times a greater distance of a relaxed deer with the same killing hit. When the deer is wired, the adrenaline is starting to build, and it seems to give it added endurence to vacate the area. It hasn't happened all the time,But enough to make me take note of it. Most of this observation has been on ojder bucks, say 4 1/2 and up. Don't know if this may just be an occurance with older mature deer or not. Although, a fellow hunter once shot a 2 1/2 yr. old buck thru the heart (complete pass thru) as it was trying to sneek back the way it had come from after winding him. Wired he was and went 130 yds. which I thought was far for what the hit was. With all the blood along his trail, we expected to find him a lot sooner. The pictured buck was wired and a 10yd. lung hit. He went over 175 yds. through some 80 yds. of heavy brush, jumed 2 fences, and expired in a field where pic was taken. He was a Dec. deer and it was 11 degrees as I sat waiting in the dark of the morning. Another wonderfull memory. Then another 4 1/2 yr. buck of a relaxed heart hit with pass thru went 60 yds. Maybe just coincidences? But I cannot help to think not. Some of the "mishaps" that occure are not from poorly placed shots, but from the reaction time and spit second movement of the deer. Most of the time unoticed by the naked eye. There has been times when recovering a deer, that it was hard to believe how the arrow entered and exited, when knowing well that was not how the animal was standing when I shot. I once was watching a Drury Bros. hunting video, when Mark grunt stopped a buck for the shot. Which I think was a mistake,(inthis instance). The deer was just walking along in a relaxed state and looked to be an easy shot. With the grunt stoppage though, the deer went on full alert and focused right on Mark. He shot and missed. I thought boy, these guys are usually pretty good shots. I played the shot sequence back in slow motion, then frame by frame. In actuallity he missed, but technically the arrow was right on. You could clearly see that the buck dropped down to gain momentum to run off. I say if he hadn't have grunted and alerted the buck, he would have had the deer. So it happens to the best of us. Some things are ment to be and some are not. Any thoughts?   

[charlie]

Great buck i beleive your right with the theory about older deer and being wired .
I lost a deer last year i made the same shot on a younger deer the older one went mucher further .
and the younger one dropped in 50 yards.

[scottflesher]

Agreed and to add to it, I think that some animals have a stronger "will to live". I know it sounds crazy but I believe it's true.

I know a registered nurse that has worked in most every facet of nursing. She was an ER nurse and on several occasions she's told me about how someone who was clinically dead, was still talking and basically refused to die, until they either saw a loved one, or said something to the medical staff who would relay that message to their loved ones.

I don't think anyone of us (or deer for that matter) look forward to death, but some may just have a greater sense to survive than others.

[Woods Walker]

Those big bucks can take a lot of killing for sure. I have my own tales of the same experiences, including a mature buck I hit with a shotgun sabot that was hit in a lung (based on the sign we saw several times where he bedded in the snow that we tracked for almost two days. He not only kept on going, but he fought off a pack of coyotes to boot!!!

I also agree wholeheartedly about deer being on "alert" status, and with a bow I try to avoid those kind of shots as much as possible, which is one of the reasons why I don't like to use scents. I like a deer that I shoot an arrow at to be completely relaxed...ideally while feeding and in the midst of taking a step. That can buy you another nano-second of non-reaction time when the arrow is loosed, and will help insure that your arrow goes where you are aiming.

[mightyfofaad]

Practically every (gun) heart shot deer I've ever seen or heard about; drop where they stand. With reasonable power, that causes quite a bit of shock to the system. But, I've "heard" stories about deer that do run.

However, it's simple biology. Muscles need oxygen to work. When the heart stops pumping, the oxygen in the muscles is quickly depleted & the animal must stop within a short distance. But why does one drop & another one will run? It would probably require a scientific study where under controlled conditions, they shoot at least 1000 deer to determine that.

IMO deer do not know they're being hunted at the beginning of the bow season. But by the time you get to gun season ... they're hyper. But I do not believe that "that" will give a deer the ability to run just because they know there is danger about.

Without a controlled study, I don't think we will ever be able to answer that question. BTW: That's a hellava buck!

[charlie 01]

I often wonder, if attempting a abroad side shot on a deer that is wired, if it would be benificial to aim a little lower to anticipate the deer ducking the arrow. I can see where it would have worked at times for other hunters. But, would it work on each and every wired deer. I'm just not so sure of that. I guess I'd say they're just not that predictable.  

[mightyfofaad]

ORIGINAL: charlie 01

I often wonder, if attempting a abroad side shot on a deer that is wired, if it would be benificial to aim a little lower to anticipate the deer ducking the arrow. I can see where it would have worked at times for other hunters. But, would it work on each and every wired deer. I'm just not so sure of that. I guess I'd say they're just not that predictable.  

Well, I can't argue with your knowledge & experience ... but if you can ever figure out which deer will duck & which ones won't; you deserve your own TV show ... and I'll be watching! [:D][:D]

[JPH]

I use bait piles laced with Atavan.

[Woods Walker]

You da man, J'per!!!! [;)]

[Deebz]

I think you're right on with the adrenaline idea, Charlie.  Just like the stories of the little 90 lb lady who lifts the car off of her husband like it weighs 10 lbs, under extreme stress the body's physiological response (flight or flight) is to dump loads of adrenaline into the bloodstream.  Adrenaline acts as an amazing stimulant to the system, supplying seemingly superhero strength/endurance.  I'd say a deer that is more relaxed only begins to release adrenaline at the impact/sound of the shot. However, a deer that's already "on edge" will likely already have a higher than normal amount of go juice in his veins, which is only increased by being shot. 
 
My wife's uncle has a story about shooting a big mature doe with a 30.06 out in South Dakota.  I believe he got 3 rounds into her from a pretty far distance.  As they followed the blood trail they found organs literally laying on the ground where they had fallen out as she ran.  I believe he said it was something like a 250 yrd blood trail, the last 100 of which she made without a stomach...