I can remember more than thirty years ago stalking Sika with my wife. A small group of Sika were in an almost unstalkable position with no cover what- so- ever to use. So we decided to try an experiment, I went off in a huge circle so as to approach them from the rear, leaving my wife to remain where she was, about three hundred yards from the deer. She had a pair of binoculars and watched my progress and as I reached the flat area on the far side of them she got their attention by waving a handkerchief, all of the heads went up and they all turned to watch this strange white object waving in the heather. They continued to watch and al- lowed me to walk up behind them to about fifty yards. I eventually shouted at them and even then they were reluctant to realize their mistake, on this occasion I decided not to shoot. Per- haps I thought I was cheating!!
Most of us are used to reading body language after the shot but it is worth reiterating. Where you chose to hit the animal will often be dictated by the position or situation at the time. The relaxed animal should be taken through the top of the heart, severing the main blood vessels and usually drops the animal instantly or very soon afterwards. A mid or low heart or lung shot usually allows the animal to run a distance often up to several hundred yards. I consider this to be the most humane shot as the animal is usually dead by the time you get to it. One strange effect that I have noted in large red deer is that a perfect heart shot is often met with indifference, no reaction, the animal just looks back in surprise and as you line up the animal to correct your error he just drops dead. The animal that is hit too far back usually runs with a humped action and can often take time to secure. Although a properly executed neck shot will drop the animal instantly it can often fail to kill, leaving the animal paralysed and con- scious. Head shots should NEVER be taken as this shot can risk hitting too far forward in the face of the beast leaving it in its full faculty and very hard to recover only to die a long and lingering death. Also the game dealer will tell you that they would prefer a properly taken heart shot, not damaging the shoulders, this creates very little damage to the carcass. A sur- prising amount of valuable meat can be recovered from the neck of the beast. The spine should not be a deliberate target for several reasons. The most valuable part of the carcass is the saddle but for humane reasons it is not a killing shot only a paralysing one. If you do get into a situation where the animal drops like a stone and you feel that it has been spined watch carefully to see if the back legs are kicking, if they are it will tell you that the spinal cord is not broken. I would advocate taking another shot immediately to confirm it. I have seen an animal apparently killed with a spine shot only to recover a few minutes later and dash off into the forest and lost. In this situation the animal is probably not badly injured, the bullet having grazed the spine temporally stunning the beast.
I would also like to mention the body language of the stalker himself. In many parts of our country deer are well used to hill walkers and farmers appearing at all times of the day. Deer will often allow groups of walkers in brightly coloured clothing waving sticks and chatting, to approach to within quite short distances, but should a camouflaged person, on his hands and knees, be so much as glimpsed at five hundred yards, the deer are gone. I can remember many years ago walking through a flock of sheep in deep snow in the Wicklow mountains and after the flock parted looking back at the snow covered beasts noticing that several had antlers!! Probably because we behaved like walkers they ignored us?
Take note and remember this!
http://www.irishdeersociety.ie/
I Shoot and Fish E-Zine March 2012
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