| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name
 | Date | Lines | 
|---|
| 63.1 | One way... | LILAC::MKPROJ | REAGAN::ZORE | Fri Oct 23 1987 12:44 | 2 | 
|  |     	In one book I read the author suggested approaching from behind
    and above the animal and pricking it with a knife.
 | 
| 63.2 | Poke'em | BPOV09::JAMBERSON |  | Fri Oct 23 1987 12:53 | 7 | 
|  |      I poke the animal around it's eyes with either a stick or the barrel
    of my gun.  If there is any sign of life, I give'em another one
    in the neck.  Also aproach any "dead" animal from behind so if it
    does "reincarnate" it doesn't do a job on you with its hooves.
    Jeff
                 
    
 | 
| 63.3 |  | BAXTA::DANFORTH_DAN |  | Fri Oct 23 1987 12:54 | 17 | 
|  |                       ANOTHER WAY
    
    	
    
    	Check the eyes.......
    
    
    		If they are closed, shoot it again..
    
    
    
    		If they are open, the deer is usually dead.
    
    
    
    I live in Maine and have hunted here all my life, so far this method
    has never let me down.
 | 
| 63.4 | a few pointers | ELMO::HOLLEN |  | Fri Oct 23 1987 12:55 | 32 | 
|  |     
    re .0
    
      Like a previous note stated, the best indication is to "poke at"
    the deer's eye with a gun barrel, stick, etc. If the deer still
    has any senses to it it'll blink, or shut it's eye. If a deer's
    eye/s are closed PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
    
      Another indication that I've seen in colder weather is that the
    deer will start to "steam from the mouth", almost like a constant
    exhale. They are definitely dead when you see that. Another indication
    (boy I hope there's no squeemish readers out there :-) is that the
    deer's tongue will "become lifeless" and droop out of the mouth.
    
      From what I've seen, if it's not thrashing around trying to get
    up, and the only movement you see is involuntary in nature (like
    the legs kicking but the head flat on the ground) then you can be
    rest assured that the animal isn't suffering and that the best thing
    to do is wait till the movement dies down in a minute or two.
    
      When that involuntary twitching stops (and you know it's dead)
    start making out the tag. This should take about 5 minutes or so
    and gives you ample time to know that if you start the field dressing
    chore after tagging that it isn't going to get up and run away...
    
    
    Boy, that first field dressing chore will be burned in your memory
    for life!
    
    
    
    joe
 | 
| 63.5 | Never Too Cautious | MERLAN::GOGUEN |  | Fri Oct 23 1987 13:41 | 22 | 
|  |      You can never be too cautious when approaching a downed animal,
    deer or bear. One of the first things i look for is if the animals
    eyes are open or closed. I have never seen a dead deer or bear with
    it's eyes closed. Closed eyes could mean that the animal is in shock
    or badly hurt, a hasty approach could revive the animal. We all
    know what could happen if the animal was a bear. But a deer ! Well
    let me tell ya , a deer's hooves can and will do a lot of damage
    not to mention the damage his massive rack that he's bound to have
    will do.
     I tkink the best way to approach a downed animal is from the rear.
    You can start by just tossing a couple of small stones or sticks,
    this will usually get the animal ( if still alive ) to flinch or
    get up and run off, so be ready. If you can see that the animals
    eyes are open and the stones didn't cause a reaction it should be
    safe to slowly approach your quarry. A long stick, your gun barrel
    or something can be used to poke the animal. I usually kick them
    in the ass while keeping my weapon pointed toward the animal. 
     I hope you find this helpfull and with a little luck you can try
    it out. Muzzleloader season starts tomorrow here in N.H. and maybe
    I'll get a chance to use it again.
    						Good Luck,
    							  Bruce 
 | 
| 63.6 |  | LILAC::MKPROJ | REAGAN::ZORE | Fri Oct 23 1987 13:55 | 6 | 
|  |     	And on the eve of muzzleloader season comes this piece of advice
    from a first time BP hunter...
    
    Don't forget to reload BEFORE approaching your trophy.
    
    Rich
 | 
| 63.7 |  | TWOBOS::LAFOSSE |  | Fri Oct 23 1987 14:45 | 10 | 
|  |     RE:.0 is it obvious? depends, if you came up on the deer and it happened
    to be facing you and its tongue was hanging out, eyes glazed...that
    would be a pretty good indication.
    
    Obviously if it was moving, that would answer your question. one
    good way to check if a deer is dead is to pick up a stick and carefully
    approach the deer and poke him inthe eye, if he don't blink hes
    dead...
    
    Fra
 | 
| 63.8 | A Small point.... | SHOOTR::AHO | Uncle Mike | Mon Oct 26 1987 11:59 | 16 | 
|  |                                                  
       Another point was brought up in .7 that can make your
    trophy a little more "appealing". Once you've assessed that
    the animal is dead and you've done the necessary gutting, etc.
                                                           
      Take a few more seconds and open the mouth and shove the
    tongue back in the mouth... This may sound kinda stupid, but
    if you think about it, your trophy looks kinda "Gross" with
    the tongue hanging out.                                
                                                           
       Don't get the "wrong" impression from this, as I'm just
    trying to make the trophy look as "impressive" as it was/is.
                                                           
                                                           
                              ~Mike~
                                  
 | 
| 63.9 | ooops | DV780::WITCHEY | SHOOT'EM WHERE THEY'S BIGGEST | Tue Oct 27 1987 19:21 | 5 | 
|  |     Another little point. I was as proud as I could be when I dropped
    my first head of big game and one of my friends took a picture.
    The little point is that if you do that, MAKE SURE the gut bag 
    isn't in the frame. One good pic down the terlet.
    Bill
 | 
| 63.10 | A gut channel isn't gross | ELMO::HOLLEN |  | Mon Nov 02 1987 09:47 | 22 | 
|  |     re .9
    
     I disagree. I've taken many pictures of deer hanging with the 
    field dressing split showing. Doesn't gross me out in the least.
    In fact I like to see pictures like that so I can see how well the
    job was done...
    
      Last year we took a deer through North Conway. Heck, one lady
    that came out of one of the tourist trap shops up there screamed
    "Oh my Goddddd!" Made me wonder if she's ever eaten a steak or ham-
    burger before. If so, all the dirty work had been done by someone
    else, and she's nothing more than a hippacrit for feeling that way...
    
      I agree about the tongue. Poke that sucker back in there before
    transporting it home. Two years ago I got a deer straight in the
    nose. It made an absolute mess of the deer's head. When I transported
    it I covered the head with a large "dark green" plastic bag. That
    was definitely a case where you'd want to hide some of the "gore"
    from the general public....
    
    
    Joe
 |