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Shot a Buck at < 10 yards with a Slug - and I hit shoulder... and he ran off is still alive. (Question)

S

Sigz

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
43
Hi gang,
I’ve been pretty bummed since yesterday after wounding a buck with a non lethal shot.
Long story short, opening day of gun season here in WI I took my 12g Mossberg 500 with an IC choke shooting Remington 2 3/4" 1560 FPS Slugger Rifled Slugs out to hunt.

Right at daybreak a huge 8 pointer came right to basically the base of my tree. I watched him come down the hill the entire time and was ready with my shot gun.
He was standing basically broadside but maybe after replaying it over and over may have had a slight quartering away shot. Regardless at < 10 yards it looked like a perfect shot opportunity with his position.

I put my scope (2x) on what I thought was the sweet spot right behind the shoulder and let the slug fly.
The buck ran off and I was surprised that that’s how it ended. No reaction, no mule kick, he just ran off like he was spooked.

I spent the better part of that day tracking him. Blood wasn't found until about 30 yard away - I then unfortunately kicked him up a few times as well. He ran onto some neighboring properties and I door knocked and got approval from 6 different neighbors to continue my search. It was a very uneasy feeling going up to their door at times, especially with no trespassing / hunting signs posted. But I HAD to do it because I owed it to the animal.

Last evening one of the neighbors called and told me that he saw it and bumped him in his back woods when he was walking around, and also saw him bed down close by.
He was clearly shot in the shoulder yet still moving, but not the greatest. He told me he "could use a bullet" and was hoping that overnight he would stiffen up as it was going to be pretty cold going into Sunday.

Sunday AM the nice gentleman called me back and told me that he went to assess the buck, and he was gone.

I spent the majority of the day searching within the area I got approved to access to look for sign and blood, and then later I sat out hoping he would make an appearance but never did.

Going through this has really turned what was an awesome year in hunting for me as during archery I was very successful (nice healthy doe in Sept, and a public land 8pter at the beginning of Novemeber) into a blemished year due to this gun hunt. I decided to stop hunting the WI gun season, and not pursue any other bucks due to this. If for some reason he shows up on my trail cams or if the neighbors spot him I would pursue HIM, but otherwise I can't stomach it knowing I wounded him....

But I still can't understand- how in the world can a < 10 yard shot from a 12g shotgun with a slug not roll a deer over from what I keep reading and watching?

My range for shooting slugs on the land that I hunt is within 75 yards. I checked my sight/POI a few days before and I was on at 50. But I wasn't taking a longer shot... He was right under the tree at probably 7 yards. I just don't get it..

It baffles me that a shot that close wouldn’t cause more trauma. Why is that?
Looking back at it I probably should have aimed higher or let him get a little distance from my tree - but I still can’t understand why a slug wouldn’t tear through a shoulder or stun the deer?

I’ve been fortunate to have arrowed 6 deer with my bow in my young archery hunting career and have watched them all fall in sight within 30-40 yards or less.
But this? I’m just shocked and pretty beat down.

Hopefully another hunter has or will put the buck down. I just hate the feeling of knowing he’s suffering.
Thanks.
 
If I bump a deer once from a bed my go to rule is back out immediately. Give that deer time. Bumping a deer multiple times tells me he is injured and just needs time to lay there and expire.

Sure sounds like it wasn’t a perfect shot but that’s ok. But next time you bump a deer from his bed back out and come back a min 4 hrs later depending on the shot
 
Man, I hate to hear you had this happen. My guess, and this is all it is, is that the slug hit the deer low due to the close range of the shot (you didn't mention how high up you were) and the bore to sight difference. On a gun, the centerline of the bore to the centerline of a scope will often be about 2 or more inches. At very close range the impact point of the projectile will be about that distance low of aim. The bullet has to rise in relation to the bore (say a 100 yard zero) it might be 2 inches low at 20, 1 inch low at 75, dead on at 100 then starts dropping again out past 100.

My guess is that the slug cut the brisket and some ribs. If the buck lived this long, he will likely be OK. A slug to the vitals at that range would be fatal.

I hope you get another chance at him.
 
If he is shot again this year. most likely want be able to eat because of infection, let nature take it's course.
 
iamcorey said:
Have you shot paper with that setup at 7 yards? If yes, what’s the result?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.

And no I didn't shoot through paper at 7 yards.... yet.

But two days before gun season I was checking my sight/POI and was on at 50 yards.
 
Hall17 said:
If I bump a deer once from a bed my go to rule is back out immediately. Give that deer time. Bumping a deer multiple times tells me he is injured and just needs time to lay there and expire.

Sure sounds like it wasn’t a perfect shot but that’s ok. But next time you bump a deer from his bed back out and come back a min 4 hrs later depending on the shot
Click to expand...
Yeah I should have known to have waited... especially from my archery experience and knowledge.

I bumped him at least twice, once from my property to the next parcel over... and then from that parcel to across the roads to the neighbors.

The neighbor then bumped him (without looking when he was just doing some work in his woods) once from his area to the back of his woods. And then he possibly bumped him Sun AM when he went to assess the buck.

4 times being bumped.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
Man, I hate to hear you had this happen. My guess, and this is all it is, is that the slug hit the deer low due to the close range of the shot (you didn't mention how high up you were) and the bore to sight difference. On a gun, the centerline of the bore to the centerline of a scope will often be about 2 or more inches. At very close range the impact point of the projectile will be about that distance low of aim. The bullet has to rise in relation to the bore (say a 100 yard zero) it might be 2 inches low at 20, 1 inch low at 75, dead on at 100 then starts dropping again out past 100.

My guess is that the slug cut the brisket and some ribs. If the buck lived this long, he will likely be OK. A slug to the vitals at that range would be fatal.

I hope you get another chance at him.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment and reply.

I was in my saddle about 18-20ft up.

Thinking it over, I probably did shoot low (just as I would if I were using my bow).

Darn, I wish I could take it back and have a shot again. I haven't been hunting the longest time (three years), but it was just so cool to be a part of the hunt - from the minute I saw him to the mere 15 seconds he came nose down to my tree. It was literally like what you'd see on TV or Youtube, and I really haven't experienced something like that before.

It sucks that I messed up.
 
Don't beat yourself up to bad, it happens. I've been hunting for 10 years and my first 7 were almost perfect. But 3 years ago I had the same think happen. Put my sights on vitals with my rifle but he was so close I think I shot low. Ever since then I have missed a few deer and made two bad shots that ended up in a harvest. I think for me I spend to much of my effort to get an opportunity to shoot a deer, but not enough effort executing a shot sequence. I will be bringing my shotgun to my buddy's today, and because of you're story I will shoot a 10 yard shot.
 
I missed a buck at 15 yards several years ago. He was so close I thought there’s no was I missed but he stood there just staring at me. My next shot I actually held about 10 inches low and put it right behind his front shoulder. I had a ballistic chart taped to my stock that went from 100-500 yards but nothing closer than that. I’ll always take a shot at 35 yards now just to see where I’m hitting. BTW I suck at math and geometry! Hang in there brother.
 
im sorry man. I really hope you get some closure by finding him or seeing him on trail cam etc. I quit using my slug gun for same reasons. Seemingly inexplicable misses and/or no blood trails. Not to mention no one wants to practice with a slug gun cuz slugs are expensive and straight up punishing to shoot. Powerbelt muzzleloader bullets had similar results for me. Where I hunt I can only use a slug gun, but they allow us to also use a muzzleloader too. I switched to a smokeless muzzleloader and use very modern expanding bullets. No deer lost since because the bullets are doing their job. Most old school MZ bullets and slugs punch a quick hole that gets closed back up very quickly and make the deer hard to find and also prolong the bleed out.
 
My brother and his FIL cut up a lot of deer for friends and family. I sometimes help.

While skinning, maybe a few times we've found slugs in "shoulders" just beneath the hide.

Can't explain it.
 
Slugs are very “soft” malleable lead. I wonder if a a twig or stick was right there that you may have not noticed with the magnification of the scope and deflected it just enough or took most of the slug out and just some pieces hit your buck?
 
They can absorb a lot of lead and be fine. I remember reading in one of John Eberhart's books about a buck he nicknamed "the Wheezer" that when he finally killed the buck and dressed him out, he found a 12-gauge slug, several buckshot pellets and a big mechanical broadhead that was healed over. (Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails, Pg, 99)

I also seem to remember Dr. Ashby saying he was offering a local deer processor a reward (maybe $5 or $10 per broadhead) for old healed over broadheads recovered from deer that people brought in. I believe he said he had to stop since it was becoming cost prohibitive.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
They can absorb a lot of lead and be fine. I remember reading in one of John Eberhart's books about a buck he nicknamed "the Wheezer" that when he finally killed the buck and dressed him out, he found a 12-gauge slug, several buckshot pellets and a big mechanical broadhead that was healed over. (Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails, Pg, 99)

I also seem to remember Dr. Ashby saying he was offering a local deer processor a reward (maybe $5 or $10 per broadhead) for old healed over broadheads recovered from deer that people brought in. I believe he said he had to stop since it was becoming cost prohibitive.
Click to expand...
Plus, deer are just plain tough animals. I marvel how they survive so effectively.
 
Thanks for the replies and words of encouragement.

Not here to have sunshine blown up my you know what to make me feel better, but it's a good place to talk with other people who "get" this situation - and I do feel better coming here and talking with you all.

Thinking about it more and more - I probably did hit him low. I know there wasn't anything in my way as it was an open area, but I likely didn't account for the close distance and me using my scope.

Knowing that he was bumped multiple times - I think/hope he'll be alright. But just for my sanity, I am closing my hunting season down (unless I somehow do manage to find him on a trail cam or via a sighting from a neighbor).
 
This one was shot with a bow (60#) bout a mile from my place , we searched for him and 2 days later he shows up on my cam. Yep they are touigh.
 

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