Coup de Grace

[loki04]

Gentlemen,

I would like to anticipate a situation that I have not yet been so unfortunate as to have encountered. I am sure, that as time passes, I will wound a deer, and would like to finish it off quickly, so as to minimize the pain involved. I usually carry an Army Colt when I hunt, and I would rather avoid a headshot if I can manage it, as I do prefer to brain tan. If I use a head shot as the coup de grace, then I get very little brains for tanning. What other options are there for finishing off a wounded deer?

Regards,
Loki

 

[roundball]

Gentlemen,

I would like to anticipate a situation that I have not yet been so unfortunate as to have encountered. I am sure, that as time passes, I will wound a deer, and would like to finish it off quickly, so as to minimize the pain involved. I usually carry an Army Colt when I hunt, and I would rather avoid a headshot if I can manage it, as I do prefer to brain tan. If I use a head shot as the coup de grace, then I get very little brains for tanning. What other options are there for finishing off a wounded deer?

Regards,
Loki

Here's one possibility...I had made a hurried shot on a nice 8 pointer a few years ago and hit him high under the spine, paralyzed his legs and he went down laying on his side...but was still alive and trying to lift his head, didn't want to shoot again, etc.

I always carry a very sharp 5" belt knife when deer hunting, so I quietly stepped up just behind him with the knife in hand, blade pointing down and facing away from me, put all 215 pounds on the right side main antler beam that was down on the ground, and in one quick motion bent over, plunged the knife down through/behind his jugular & windpipe, and slashed it up/out/away slicing through them both...but that left about a 3" slice in the front of the neck if that's a show stopper.


Or, carry a little .22cal handgun...shouldn't mess up the brains much...but its pretty rare that you can wound a deer so bad you can get up close to him, that won't die soon anyway.

 

[longcruise]

Here in CO we must use a weapon legal to the season to finish one off. So, during the ML season it must be a legal big game hunting ml gun.

Not sure about using a knife. I have done that during a modern rifle hunt.

"Every animal has enough brains to tan itself"

Lakota Sioux saying.

 

[necchi]

I've done like roundball with the knife,, twice. Things don't always turn out like ya plan.

As grizzled as it may sound, I never gave it much of a second thought. I know meat with the blood out is by far better table fair. The term; "bleed like a stuck hog" has substance.

 

[Dave K]

Shoot the deer again, but in the heart or at least lungs. The quicker the better. A knife is very effective as well, but I know a guy who had the snot kicked out of him. Though the deer eventually died, it looked as if the hunter lost. One time I walked up on a friend who shot one and paralyzed it. I am not real squeamish, but waiting for the animal to die is not an option to me after seeing that. I asked him to finish it right now. You place a ball in the boiler room, you are not losing any meat in my opinion.

 

[rabjr]

Yup, don't think about, just put a shot through the lungs with whatever you got if you don't want to do a head shot. It's over pretty quick after that.

 

[paulvallandigham]

It depends if you want to mount the rack and head, or shoulder mount, etc. If you are not going for a shoulder mount, you can easily break its neck by shooting it again, with your rifle, just behind the skull, where the neck vertebrae and spine join the skull. Before the hunt, take a look at pictures of the anatomy of a deer, and its relative locations of vital organs, as well as where the vertebrae joins the skull.

 

[Rhett Griffith]

I have used a knife to slit the throat on a couple, but I am always a little nervous about catching an antler tip with my eyeball! :shocked2: When I was a kid, my dad was trying to slit a deer's throat, when it suddenly pulled both back feet up to its chin and kicked him right in the gut. It spun him around pretty good and left a big red scrape halfway around his body. So, this practice can be a little tricky. I usually carry a revolver and just give them a round to the head or through the lungs if I don't want to damage the head.

 

[roundball]

A knife is perfectly fine...its been used for lord knows how long...you simply approach them from their back side...never approach a dying hoofed animal at their feet & legs!
:nono:

 

[armymedic.2]

one thing i will tell you, a choke hold is not an option. trust me

 

[FishDFly]

The rule of thumb is after you shoot a deer and if it runs off wait 30 minutes to let it die prior to tracking.

Some folks do not hunt in the evenings so they do not have to track after dark...........

In the 30 minutes while a person waits, reload your rifle, should not be a problem to reload in 30 minutes, I would think.

Then you can shoot the deer again if needed if it is still alive, in the back of the neck. Do not place yourself at risk by grabbing the antlers to cut the throat. Grabbing a live deer is not smart, don't care how much a person weighs.

 

[Zip]

I begin to tell them my problems and they just up and die right quick. :grin:

 

[Robby]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
Robby

 

[FishDFly]

I begin to tell them my problems and they just up and die right quick. :grin:

Zip you are correct, no doubt at all, no agruement.

 

[silent sniper]

I have found a very good method of finished wounded deer, i have had to do it quite a few times, luckly only once was it actually my deer. you slowing walk behind the deer. find a log about the diameter of your fist or so and about 4-5 feet long. slowly walk up on the deer from the back side. when you are within 4 or 5 feet of it you prepare to finish it. I always appoligize and say a prayer before i coupe de grace it. take the log and hit it with all your might to the back of the deer's head or side of the head at the base of the ear. the deer's head will drop and it will instantly go into shock. this is when you use your knife to slit its throat. it is much more humane to knock the deer out with a blow to the head before you slit its throat. plus you have a much lower chance of getting wounded in the process. this is just what i have found to be a good way to humanely and quickly finish the deer other then shooting it. cheers SS

 

[nchawkeye]

I put a second shot in them...I always have 2 balls in my loading block with thinner patches...If I need a quick second shot, I can reload in about 20 seconds...

 

[shortbow]

With minimizing suffering as my paramount objective once I've shot an animal, I always use a head shot right between the eyes.

 

[lowcsp]

raising livestock all my life I have had to put down paralized cows, wire cut horses and dogs hit by cars it is the hardest thing there is to do but it has to be done a shot to the base of the skull severing the spine will get the job done humainly.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Upper neck just below the skull. If it is kicking around and appears soon to get to its feet I'll put one in the chest as insurance.

I make it a rule not to get close enough to slit one's throat if it's alive. One of my early hunting buddies caught a hoof just under his kneecap and it hobbled him up for weeks.

Or was a great story to get me to drag out his deer. :hmm:

 

[Britsmoothy]

The couple of times I have been in this situation I use a knife, no big deal, a stick to poke the head/antler to test their mobility. Foot on stick across the head/rack and knife between ribs and slice down. All done from behind and quick.

Then I say prayer :hatsoff:

Good question OP.

B.