Anyone ever shot a deer and discovered it had previously been shot before?

[grendelnubi]

Last year I was processing a deer I killed, nice 8 point that was in full rut, and after pulling the front right shoulder out of the ice chest, I flipped it over on the table and out fell a 6mm projectile. The best I tell is the projectile was sitting freely between the right side leg muscle and the actual shoulder of the deer. The projectile weighted 62 grams and had a .48" mushroom.

There was absolutely no sign of an entry wound, either side (see right side pic) and no observed damage to the meat or bone of the shoulder.

I personally used a 120 Gold Dot from my 6.5 Grendel to harvest it and the shot placement was high neck area with a complete pass thru.

For me its hard to believe a deer can survive a 243/6mm with no apparent damage at all. He must have been carrying this for sometime.

2022 deer.jpg243.jpg

[mtnlvr]

Nice, you finally put him out of his misery.

I took a smaller buck with a 44 mag 629 only to find he had been stuck with a crossbow earlier that same year. The bolt was at a severe quartering awat angle in his left back strap. He seemed plenty capable when I saw him, although that was only for a few seconds.

[Double Naught Spy]

Not a deer, but I have shot several hogs that previously had been shot. Of those that come to mind, two were shot "behind the ear" and had healed/mostly healed through and through wounds. Another hog recovered had another bullet in it that wasn't mine.

[Harpoon1]

I bowhunted exclusively for about 30 years. And in that time I killed two deer that had broadheads in them. One was actually imbedded in the spine just above the shoulder, the other one was basically in the same place but, below the spine and above the lungs. Both arrows had broken off right behind the broadheads and were completely healed over. Both animals looked and acted fine, normal, and I had no idea either broadhead was there until cleaning them.

[Old Bob]

I was hunting with my dad in northern NM. We were sitting on the south rim of a narrow canyon glassing the opposite benches & rim. I spotted a buck laying down at the top of the rim. After I shot at it, I could see it try to rise but it could only get its front legs up. It was trying to drag its hind quarters which were apparently paralyzed. I fired another round & it went down. So I hiked down to the canyon bottom & up the other side. When I found the buck it was still alive so I gave it a "coup de grace." When my dad caught up to me we gutted it & dragged it down the canyon where there was a two-track road. After reaching the canyon bottom, we hung the carcass in tree & began to skin it. We found only two bullet holes in it. One was in the chest which I believe was my second shot. Pretty sure I missed my first shot. All it did was alarm the deer which tried to run off but couldn't because of its broken back which was probably caused by some other hunter who couldn't find the deer after shooting it. Blood around that wound had dried up some. The only other hunters in the area that we knew of were in our group & none of them shot at any deer that day. The deer may have been laying there more than a day. Surprised coyotes didn't get him.

An interesting thing about that buck was it still had velvet antlers in November. The antlers were also thin & mis-formed (non-typical). Most likely cause: No cajones! Yup, it was missing its testicles! There was a scar where they should have been. Wonder how that happened?!

[bmash]

[vaguru]

Killed a couple that I can remember. One was a small 4 pt buck that when skinned had what looked like #2 bird shot just under the skin on one side. Skin was healed over, and showed no indication of the shot. The other was during bow season and when skinned there was a 22 lr bullet in the back strap just forward of the left rear haunch. That one was fresh, and the loin was starting to get infected.

To both of those idiots that shot those deer, you're slobs!

[603Country]

[kmon]

quite a few deer and Hogs over the years. # deer I never ate that had bad infected wounds, one was a 135 8pt that came in on a string to less than 10 yards looking for a fight. 3 that had been shot in the neck and healed over including a low 120s 10pt. 2.5 year old 8pt that scored 129 and had a hole in his hide about 3/4 inch from a high shoulder shot with no hair around the hole for about an inch with a cavity above the back healed over with gristle including bone fragments. one last year 140lb 3 year old spike with buckshot in the rump and neck. Hunting where they run dogs in Mississippi, I have killed 5 that were still bleeding from fresh bullet wounds.


First one on public land heard a shot from across the creek and a small 4pt came from that way that I could see had been gut shot, after it passed me I dropped it about 45 minutes later saw a man and young boy trailing the deer, just hollered t them and told them their deer was over here. They came over and the Dad looked at it and said that is the deer they were trailing and since I killed it it is my deer. I ask who shot it ad the boy said he did. I said it is your deer then and proceeded to field dress it for them and helped them drag it out about a half mile. Was the kids first deer. We had a good talk and the kid learned a lot as did his dad who had never hunted much.

Those are a few of them, there have been others.

[kmon]

quite a few deer and Hogs over the years. 3 deer I never ate that had bad infected wounds, one was a 135 8pt that came in on a string to less than 10 yards looking for a fight. 3 that had been shot in the neck and healed over including a low 120s 10pt. 2.5 year old 8pt that scored 129 and had a hole in his hide about 3/4 inch from a high shoulder shot with no hair around the hole for about an inch with a cavity above the back healed over with gristle including bone fragments. one last year 140lb 3 year old spike with buckshot in the rump and neck. Hunting where they run dogs in Mississippi, I have killed 5 that were still bleeding from fresh bullet wounds.


First one on public land heard a shot from across the creek and a small 4pt came from that way that I could see had been gut shot, after it passed me I dropped it about 45 minutes later saw a man and young boy trailing the deer, just hollered t them and told them their deer was over here. They came over and the Dad looked at it and said that is the deer they were trailing and since I killed it it is my deer. I ask who shot it ad the boy said he did. I said it is your deer then and proceeded to field dress it for them and helped them drag it out about a half mile. Was the kids first deer. We had a good talk and the kid learned a lot as did his dad who had never hunted much.

Those are a few of them, there have been others.

[EastTNHunter]

Several. 2yr ago I shot what I thought was a7-8pt buck. Dropped him in his tracks through a small hole in the woods. When I got up to him I found that he was a 5pt, with his right side antler being deformed. Upon skinning his skull for a euro, I found a 22 bullet at the base of the deformed antler.

I shot a doe on a draw hunt that had been shot through the throat, but seemed to be healing up ok.

Others have had scars that appeared to be gunshots or arrow wounds, with one actually having a broadhead in the shoulder. Wild animals can be tough

[GooseGestapo]

[EastTNHunter]

Yep. Shot a funky 6 point a couple years ago. One side of its rack was only 2 points, deeply forked from the base, and grew at a weird angle. When I skinned it for a euro I found a .22lr/wmr bullet at the base of the antler and a scar up the back of its neck/skull.

Also shot a doe one time that had been previously shot through the throat on a ml hunt 1-2 weeks prior, and was starting to heal back

[Redraider]

WOW!!!! I hope to not offend anyone here, but here goes..........the above stories are blatant proof that there are way too many people hunting that shouldn't until they are taught how to ethically take game animals, and the BEST way to do so humanely (that should read sub-effective rifle calibers, and arrows)!!! My father and grandfather taught me how to do things correctly, and I feel sorry for those that didn't get that from their Dads.

Redraider

[grendelnubi]

These things happen. The good part is, they seem to manage pain pretty good. Here is a link to a trail cam video of buck with his hide missing. You can see his scapula and muscles in plain site and he didn't look stressed at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBm4AI9JhNM

My first bow kill I ever made was doe walking down a trail that went right in front of my stand. I shot her at about 15 yards. She never skipped a beat, kept walking like nothing ever happened. I thought I missed her, so I frantically tried to knock another arrow but she just kept walking down the trail. Even stopped for a second and looked bad over her right shoulder before proceeding down the trail. When I got down and found the arrow, it was full of blood. I walked to the last spot I saw her and there she laid, another 30 yards down the trail, laying like she fell over dead while walking. She didn't go 60 yards....