What shot makes a deer kick up hind legs?

[older042]

is a deer kicking its legs up when shot a sign of a good hit or a poor shot or a miss/?

[coyoteman]

In my opinion it is a hit in the liver or near the liver area. This is just an opinion.

[Deerthug]

I respectfully disagree. My last buck last year kicked like a mule. When I recovered it and processed it, I saw that I got a double lung and heart shot.

[the blur]

Ever see a deer take a crap on impact ?

[hunter]

I have been told it's a sign of a heart shot and the deer in question when dressed was indeed hit in the heart among other organs.

[hb270deermanager]

I have seen deer hunch up and buck up in both

cases I feel its a matter of the animal.I have also seen

deer drop as low as possible to the ground with a heart

and double lung hit.I have seen deer drop and just lay

down on a gut shot I really feel it depends on the animal.

[Deerthug]

I have seen deer hunch up and buck up in both

cases I feel its a matter of the animal.I have also seen

deer drop as low as possible to the ground with a heart

and double lung hit.I have seen deer drop and just lay

down on a gut shot I really feel it depends on the animal.

Come to think of it, I think you are right. My first deer ever was a 120lb doe I shot with my 30-06 at about 125 yds away. I put my cross hairs just behind her shoulder, squeezed the trigger and all she did was trot off toward some pines. When I went down to look for her I found her with a bullet hole right behind the shoulder. Turns out I hit both lungs clean through. She didn't even twitch when I shot her. I really thought I missed.

[loworange88]

I respectfully disagree. My last buck last year kicked like a mule. When I recovered it and processed it, I saw that I got a double lung and heart shot.

Agreed. I shot a buck with my rifle 2 years ago, back kicked like a mule, ran about 20 yards, piled up dead....I hit him low, right through the heart.

[BucktheBuck30-06]

Dude when i shot a doe with my 30-06 all she did was trot to heaven lol she dropped right in her tracks!!

[biggamefish]

I have actually seen a doe do a back flip she reared up and fell right over on her back dead. weirdest thing I ever saw.

[Deerthug]

Dude when i shot a doe with my 30-06 all she did was trot to heaven lol she dropped right in her tracks!!

I wish my buck dropped last year. I shot him with the 30-06 at 150ish yds and he ran into the woods. I didn't see where he ran into the woods and it took an hour for me to find any blood. After I found the blood trail (looked like a crime scene) I figured he was dead before he hit the ground with the amount of blood I saw.

[MuzzyLoader]

I have actually seen a doe do a back flip she reared up and fell right over on her back dead. weirdest thing I ever saw.

I've had three deer flip over backwards after being shot. One did a little 'tippy-toe' dance before flipping over backwards - weirdest thing I ever saw... she must have gone 30 yards like that.

[jks84]

I have actually seen a doe do a back flip she reared up and fell right over on her back dead. weirdest thing I ever saw.

I shot a buck last year, heart shot, that did the same thing. It reared up on its back legs and fell over backwards.

[tughillhunter]

i think its a heart shot as well

[SteveNY]

Everyone has their own opinion. I have heard a ton of info from all over, everything from hind legs kicking in the air is a good shot, to deer getting low to the ground and running with tail between legs is a gut shot, and everything in between.

One of the first deer I ever shot was with a 30-30 at about 30 yards, standing broadside looking right at me. I shot and she just stood there. I thought I missed, I couldn't believe it. I slowly ejected the spent casing and loaded another one in. I raised the rifle to take a follow up shot, put the bead on her, just about to squeeze the trigger, but then... SHE FALLS OVER DEAD! I was like "What the hell was that?"

When I dressed her, it was a double lung shot. Go figure.

[wildcat junkie]

On 11/6/2011 at 4:44 PM, Deerthug said:

I respectfully disagree. My last buck last year kicked like a mule. When I recovered it and processed it, I saw that I got a double lung and heart shot.

 

On 11/6/2011 at 5:04 PM, hunter said:

I have been told it's a sign of a heart shot and the deer in question when dressed was indeed hit in the heart among other organs.

 

On 11/6/2011 at 5:58 PM, loworange88 said:

Agreed. I shot a buck with my rifle 2 years ago, back kicked like a mule, ran about 20 yards, piled up dead....I hit him low, right through the heart.

I have seen the mule kick and it usually means a heart shot. I seen it with a broadhead too. However, I have seen the same thing with a brisket hit from a CF rifle.

[wildcat junkie]

On 11/6/2011 at 6:24 PM, biggamefish said:

I have actually seen a doe do a back flip she reared up and fell right over on her back dead. weirdest thing I ever saw.

I had one run around the head of a draw as she approached a big oak tree blowdown laying on a saddle. The deer had worn a hole through the branches with constant use of the saddle crossing. I could see her hindquarters bounce into view intermittently as she bounded my way so I was ready when she hit the opening about 5 yds form me and froze. I had the frizzen cocked and I let the rock fall as she pulled her leg up to stomp.

 

I hit her with a .535 round ball at nearly 2000 fps on a downward angle, high, just in front of the shoulder. She flipped onto her back, blatted loudly & kicked for about 3 seconds before she died.

Edited November 8, 2016 by wildcat junkie

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I have seen then buck kick with boiler room shots and liver/gut shots. In my experience, the shots I have witnessed kicked more with the latter. 

[stubby68]

                I think it is all the way the body reacts to the hit. Some kick, some run,some drop dead, flip drop low,some just do not react at all and just walk away. Not every deer reacts to a hit the same way as others. Even with same shot place meet you can have different reactions from 2 different deer. One guy makes heart shot says deer just ran. Thought he missed. Another guy makes a heart shot says deer kicked fell to ground then got up and ran 40 yards. Two deer see shot different reactions.

[bartman9]

I have no experience here, but I suspect it depends on how the deer is standing when shot.  Weight forward, it is probably more likely to kick with rear legs.  I would think it is pretty random from our perspective.

[Uncle Nicky]

A full fledged mule kick is USUALLY a heart shot.

[Buckmaster7600]

The only thing that you can tell about a shot when a deer kicks up its legs is that you hit it. No deer acts the same as another shot he same way.


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[chas0218]

I never had a mule kick but have had the body hunch. It was when I hit him right behind the shoulder. It was 355 yard shot  he went about 4 leaps and piled. Management buck with a bum leg, He was really struggling walking through the snow. The bad leg had next to no meat on it.

[Otto]

On 11/6/2011 at 5:04 PM, hunter said:

I have been told it's a sign of a heart shot and the deer in question when dressed was indeed hit in the heart among other organs.

The one time I saw a mule kick was a shot right through the heart.

[turkeyfeathers]

11 hours ago, chas0218 said:

I never had a mule kick but have had the body hunch. It was when I hit him right behind the shoulder. It was 355 yard shot  he went about 4 leaps and piled. Management buck with a bum leg, He was really struggling walking through the snow. The bad leg had next to no meat on it.

 

Nice poke at 355.