What is the most effective way to “dispatch” a wounded deer?

[Fox]

This is is a slightly difficult subject but Important to know.. I had to do this on my first hunt ( not with a bow) and I cut the does neck. It seemingly worked but did take a minute or 2. It was pretty sad...


So what do you all think is the most effective way? With having only a bow and knife of course.


-Fox

[trad_bowhunter1965]

shot to the head if you using a gun.

[Woody roberts]

I love to hunt. Ive never liked killing stuff. I am a man who can do what has to be done. Ive butchered my own livestock and put down sick pets.
However I’m always thankful when I walk up to an animal Ive shot and it’s already dead. On the ones that are not, in my younger days I cut the throat. This is drawn out and not a pleasant experience for me.
A shot to the butt of the ear works well with a gun.
But you asked about a bow and a knife. Another arrow through the lungs will bleed one out pretty quick.
On butchering hogs. Instead of cutting the throat the way I saw most people do it my grandpa would stab them in the V where the breastbone meets the neck. Giving the knife a quick twist. I believe this severed the arteries above the heart and the amount of blood would be unreal. I can’t say how fast it killed since they had been shot between the eyes already. He always stabbed them after the shot but before they fell. This window is very short. I always had to butcher by myself and by the time I layed the gun down and got them stuck I didn’t get near the blood flow that he did.

[Pappy]

Arrows through the lungs and walk away for a minute or so is how I do it, don’t enjoy it but happens pretty quick. Pappy

[TimBo]

Luckily I have never had to deal with this personally, but I would definitely take the arrow route and not use the knife unless there was no other choice.  One of my friends told me about a very bad experience he had with cutting a deer's throat - it turned into something of a wrestling match and really shook him up.  It's well worth using another arrow (or bullet) to do things right.

[Hawkdancer]

Got to go with the lung shot!  If you are in a CWD region, the brain is needed for testing purposes.
If you hunt, sometimes you need to finish!
Hawkdancer

[Bad juju]

I have done both arrow to the lungs and cut the throat with a knife. I just do what seems best in the moment. I don’t care for either but you have to do something

[Eric Krewson]

I have dispatched several wounded deer that couldn't get up. My prefered method is a quick knife thrust to the rib cage. This deflates the lungs, they are dead within a couple of minutes. This has worked every time I tried it, I if I remember correctly, three times so far.

I slip up behind them, reach over the back an stab with my knife.

[Fox]

Arrow to the vitals seems like the least stressful method for the deer.

[Bad juju]

Can’t say what is less stressful for the deer but a knife can be quick

The biggest difference between the two is your safety. Getting close with a knife puts you at risk and you need to be careful. If I believe the deer is going to thrash I use an arrow. If I come up on a spinned deer that can’t really move I use a knife

Luckily this is not a choice I have had to make often

[bradsmith2010]

shooting the deer with arrow,, in heart or lungs,,

that way you are safe distance,,

[Eric Krewson]

On 2 of 3 of my dispatched deer I didn't have a weapon, one was a next day tracking job that I didn't expect to find but did, he was in pretty bad shape but could get up and move a few feet before falling back down.

Another was a road struck deer I saw hit in the opposite lane, it was paralyzed from the mid back down. I was actually coming home from hunting, saw the deer get hit, pulled it out of the road, stabbed it, backed up to it with my deer hoist in place, loaded it and took it home, perfectly legal where I live.

The other deer was a M/L wounded one, a doe. I could have shot it again but it could barely raise its head so I stabbed it.

I have found if you approach the deer very slowly from the back they don't feel threatened as much, a quick stab is very doable.

[mullet]

I just had to do this with the doe posted in the muzzle loading forum. I had shot the doe in the neck and it dropped instantly but was laying there with its head up bawling. I hate that so I dropped 25 grains of powder down the barrel and an unpatched ball and placed the barrel behind the ear when I pulled the trigger. From now on I think I'll carry a small two shot .22 mag derringer when I hunt.

[WhistlingBadger]

My dad used to always carry a .22 pistol for this sort of thing.  That's too heavy for me.  Rifle, I find a point-black shot to the base of the skull ends their problems instantly, and leaves enough head tissue for CWD testing.  Bow, I would definitely go with the arrow through the lungs.  I wouldn't use a knife unless there were no other way.  Those antler tines are pointy.

[mullet]

That afternoon I had only a real short bladed knife, and I thought that would be more inhumane put down. With a rifle I haven't had that problem since I use a #1 Ruger in .300 Win. Mag.