SHOT TO THE HEART

Why in the world, when you hit to your game right in the heart it falls on its hind-quarters first?

not all game dose that

Bicholui,

My friend , its not always the case, when its a good heart shot, the nervous system gives away instantaneously and so the blood supply is severed & the hind quarters being on the heavier side tends to collapse first. But I have seen animals like cape buffs, & zebra, even after taking loads of lead do trot away for couple of miles.

Monish

Monish:

My Shikari friend, I did not have the honor to hunt a cape buffalo yet. But it has happened to me with other plain game and american big game and I have seen on video with the BIG5, that when the ambush is perfect and you got your quarry calm, unaware, distracted, without that rush of adrenaline in its body, and your shot placement is also perfect, to the heart or to the brain…. it drops just there and usually it falls on its hind-quarters first.

And I wondered....why they did not fall from the front-quarter or on 4-legs at the same time. It is just a biological curiosity.

Regards.

Bicho

I am just guessing. It must have to do with the nervous system that the back collapses first. It could also be that a heart shot reacts like a major heart attack which jerks the animal backwards. But I have also seen many heart-shot animals that take off at full speed just to collapse about 100m later.

Thanks for your comments!
A veterinarian told me last week: - “what you saw was not a heart shot, was a spine or some sort of vertebral shot”, which makes sense.

Originally Posted by Bicholui

Why in the world, when you hit to your game right in the heart it falls on its hind-quarters first?

I have heart shot several different animals and seen a variety of reactions. One wyoming pronghorn dropped in it's tracks years ago while another in the same herd ran in a big circle before succumbing. An 8 Ft Alaskan Brown bear shot through the heart became quite perturbed at the notion and required a second shot in the spine to keep her anchored. A Texas Whitetail shot in the heart jumped straight up and was dead when it touched back down after a heart shot. I don't know why they reacted so differently. After the Bear I understood why other guides always advised breaking a shoulder or leg to keep them from scratching you up.
ECHIV

Personally I love it when the back quarter goes down first! That usually indicates that the animal is not getting up again. But with African game you always have to be sure as it is the dead animal that kills you!

Regards,

in my experience when I had shot ungulates in the spine most of the time they bend the four legs at the same time almost, especially if the spine is broken at the shoulder junction, but have never seen a head first drop.