I was helping my brother-in-law follow up a deer we knew would be dead when we found it. He had put an arrow through the chest 2 hours earlier, and there were large puddles of blood, complete with chunks of lung. The fact it might still be alive didn't occur to us until we shined our spotlight into a little patch of woods to see it lying right along the property line with its head up looking at us.

To make a long story short, I ended up on its head, with a knee on each beam, and Billy on its back with a knife. When he stuck the knife in that deer, it decided it was going to stand up, and almost succeeded. Things got kind of exciting for a few seconds.

A wounded deer is extremely dangerous...deer attacks kill more Americans than bears...

Unless it is clear the animal will not live more than another minute a pistol shot from behind at the base of the skull is appropriate....

.22 is plenty for that.....

Please note that I am not adverse to danger...do plenty of dangerous stuff that really is unneccessaray....still....I like to know what I am getting into, the deck stacked and pick the battles real carefully....just don't walk up flat footed....

No stabbing deer...unless that is how you are hunting them.....

Some years ago, Mr. Linebaugh told me about hunting big boars in the South....they ran them with dogs until they came to bay and then waded in and stabbed the pig to death with a Bowie knive...John said it did not get any more exciting than that...

Byron