"It's the Dead ones that kill you"

Fred Gunner

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Arkansas hunter dead after deer he shot apparently gets up, attacks him.
A hunter in Arkansas died after a deer he shot turned the tables — and reportedly attacked him.

Thomas Alexander, 66, is believed to have been killed as he was hunting in Yellville, an area roughly 102 miles east of Fayetteville, on Tuesday at about 6:30 p.m., officials said.

Alexander shot the buck using a muzzleloader, Keith Stephens, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, told Fox News.

"He apparently went over to the buck and it got up and attacked him," Stephens said.

The 66-year-old was able to call his wife, and he was transported to the hospital after 8 p.m. He was going to be air-lifted to the hospital, but Alexander stopped breathing on the way to the helicopter, so he was driven there in an ambulance.

Alexander was pronounced dead at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Stephens said. It wasn't clear whether Alexander died from the deer attack, or due to other medical problems, like a heart attack, but hospital officials said he did have puncture wounds when he was admitted. The spokesperson said he doesn't believe an autopsy will be conducted to find out how the hunter died.

Stephens told KY3 that about four years ago there was a similar incident, during which "somebody was struck by a buck's antlers" — but survived.

He said hunters should make sure to wait 30 minutes after shooting a deer before approaching it, as "it may not be dead." Stephens said Alexander "may have done that, [but] we just don’t know."

https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/arkansas-deer-hunter-attack-dead
 
if its eyes are closed its still alive, I have seen thousands of killed deer by firearms and not one had closed eyes. I have put a second shot into a deer that was still moveing into the neck close to the head.

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"Insurance shot", then wait...
 
Take no chances.
 
My father used to say "Make sure his lights are completely out". :whistle:
 
Eye tap test with the end of the barrel from behind. If it moves pop it again
 
Terrible situation!
Years ago a buddy took a long shot at a nice mulie. Went down instantly. He got to it, lay his 308 on it and backed off to take a picture. Suddenly the buck raised his head! My bud grabbed his rifle and shot it again.
On close examination, there was a perfect .30 caliber hole in one of the bucks antlers! Apparently he hit the antler which nocked the buck cold!
 
As Kipling wrote of the Fuzzy Wuzzys, An' 'e's generally shammin' when 'e's dead.
 
We very seldom wait any time before walking up to a buck, but then quite often it takes us a while to get to it. But even when we are within rock throwing distance we just go up to it, but we also make sure that it dead before placing our hands onto it.

I have a friend that straddled a elk to take some pictures and had the elk stand up under him. From what I heard it was a comical sight with him trying to bail off of that elk and the elk going crazy with him on it and holding onto the antlers before it went down finally.
 
@wyatt
"I always wait 30 minutes before I leave my stand after the shot."

Every reasonable hunter does that,minimum one cigarette length,non-smokers also know this measurement, especially when it's out of sight after the shot.
Only in Africa they immediately run after like the stupid ones.

I know a PH in Zimbabwe that was seriously injured by a supposedly dead impala. Similar story as here.
I've great respect for dead impalas and colleagues .

When I think about how often our hunters look for wounded pigs at night...........
Carelessness .

In the end the hunt is a craft.
And in the craft accidents happen.
Foxi
 
I've made the mistake once.
Long ago when my daughter was about 14 she shot a small muley very close to the truck. As it was small and nearly dark we decided to drag it over without gutting first. We made it about 10 yards before both of us getting yanked backwards as it got up and started trying to pull free of us.
She ran back to the truck to get her .243 and finish it but it was an exciting couple moments.
 
This is most unfortunate. It brings back a few unpleasant memories .
In 1981 , in Bangladesh , my former Shikar partner , Karim and l had visited a village during a mouse deer hunting excursion . The villagers were having problems dealing with an aggressive bullock which had gone mad. My partner had a Brno auto loader rifle in .22 Long Rifle calibre and shot the bullock in the head , where the hair parts . It dropped " dead" and the villagers were getting near it , when it suddenly jumped up and tried to attack a villager. My partner shot it in the head again , and this time , had another man immediately cut it's throat as a precaution . Upon examination of the bullock's skull , it was discovered that the first shot had only stunned it .
Very recently , my good friend , Captain Newaz came to Sylhet to deal with some problem causing boars which had come from the Maulvibazaar forests and were menacing the local tea garden workers.
He was using a 12 bore side by side John Dickson box lock shot-gun loaded with Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ( eight pellets ). At a mere distance of four feet , he shot a boar between the shoulder blades , and it dropped . In a second , it got back up again needed two more shots to stop it from escaping .
When l was a professional Shikari from 1962 to 1970 in Darjeeling , India , we once killed half a dozen crocodiles near the Buri Ganga river for their skins ( which used to fetch a great sum back in those days ) by shooting them to death.
We left the corpses near the river bank and went back to the town and sent three coolies to remove the skins from the crocodiles . When the coolies came back , they told us that there was a problem . One dead crocodile was missing . What was even more night marish was that we had even taken photographs with the crocodiles thinking that they were all actually dead.
Some animals can be extremely tenacious of life and should either be given an insurance bullet or have it's throat cut , as a precaution immediately. This applies even more so , if the animal's eyes are closed ( which is a good indication that it may not be dead yet ).
My prayers for the poor hunter who lost his life and his family.
 
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Tragic story. Quite often animals seem dead but aren’t really. If you shoot a Boar above the shoulder blade and just above the spine you hit the extended part of their vertebrae. Typically this will knock the animal out and it will drop down as if brain shot. Some time later, a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes it will get up and run off as if nothing happened and without much blood trail. Even well trained dogs are unlikely to find it. Now, if you were to start handling such an animal when knocked out and it then come to, well...Ouch!
 
Tragic story. Quite often animals seem dead but aren’t really. If you shoot a Boar above the shoulder blade and just above the spine you hit the extended part of their vertebrae. Typically this will knock the animal out and it will drop down as if brain shot. Some time later, a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes it will get up and run off as if nothing happened and without much blood trail. Even well trained dogs are unlikely to find it. Now, if you were to start handling such an animal when knocked out and it then come to, well...Ouch!
Opposite Pole
Why yes. You described that with very good accuracy. Boars in Bangladesh and India here can be quite resilient as they can weigh up to 300 pounds and with their sharp tusks frequently threaten our tea garden workers during the winter. As October will end soon , l will be getting ready again with my friends to hunt them , this year again.
 
Some years ago I shot a wild bull Yak. This massive beast looked like it weighed a full ton to me. I shot it in the chest with a 300 Win, and it fell down. Upon approaching, it sprung back to life and made a determined charge. I gave it two more x bullets, hitting it somewhere up front in a howling wind. and it fell. However, on final approach, it sprung up another time! I had foolishly failed to reload the only rifle we had (mine). But fortunately, it singled out my Pakistani interpreter, Murat, and attempted to have its way with him. I loaded two more rounds from my pocket at shot them into his right shoulder.(the yak's, that is) I talk with Murat from time to time. He remembers this event less romantically than I do. But it is the only time I have ever seen an animal arise from the dead twice! This thread serves as a great reminder to us all, and kind thought for this poor soul...........FWB
 
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A man from the Northern Territory was telling me about his friends and his episode with a buffalo.
They had shot the buff for meat with I presume a small caliber.
Went to the downed buff. Tapped with a knife and .. omg it stood up.
Mick ran and climbed a tree but he lost sight of the buff.
Only when he heard the thump of the buff hitting the ground did he dare climb down from the tree.
Interesting !!
 
there was a good time here at a local butcher shop years ago when a very large bull(1300-1400 lbs) was shot in the head with a .22 magnum only to come alive when two were hooking it to a lift to gut and skin it, it tore holy hell out of the that room and two men some how were able to climb up the walls to escape until it was shot with a .222.
 

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