I've darted hundreds, and never hit here before. In the process of darting a 2 yr old buck today, I hit him very low in the gut. Low in the gut one inch back of where the rib cage ends. So low that if I'd been an inch lower I'd have missed him. He went down as fast as though he was hit in a major muscle. If I perforated a gut, will it be a small enough hole to close on its own? The length of the needle on the dart was 3/4 inch. I of course gave him 2cc of draxin, and plan on giving him a couple more doses via dart(only not in the gut,cheeeez!) of draxin. Anyone of you had this happen to you? What was the result? and can/should I do anything other than what I have planned? Appreciate hearing anyone's experience or opinion of treatment! He bolted on me just as I was past the point of no return on pulling the trigger!
Bad Hit With Dart...What Can I Expect?
- Thread starter Sandridge Whitetails
- Start date
I hit a doe about like that this year doing A.I. but hit her higher up in the gut, the doe died on me about two week's later.
RLA...Oh oh! I was hopin i would hear something different. Although that is what I would expect if the buck is too die, is for him to die days/weeks or maybe even months later due to the small hole, hence a slow/small release of ''poisen''. Did you continue to give antibiotics to the doe?
It sounds to me that the placement may have been far enough back not to cause damage. Just keep a close eye on him and if further attention is needed address that as it comes.
Joined May 2009
1,166 Posts | 0+
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
What if you sew up the hole and glue it together where it won't leak? Bad hits like that usually die. Might be worth a try. Then give alot of antibiotics
When we bought our first deer one doe was shot in the gut (not by us) and she died a few weeks later. The hole appeared to be closed but the damage must have been inside.
If your lucky with that short needle you may not have poked the bowels !!! Thats when you run into trouble when you hit a bowel !! The infection caused by the perforated bowel is the major issue. Lets just hope that didn`t happen. Just keep a close eye on her for any signs of illness !! Just a Pollocks 2 cents.
We are new to deer farming (2nd year) we also use 3/4 and have used 1inch needles (which now know is too big) and I hit two does square in the guts. Gave them nuflor at reversal and they both were fine. I thought for sure they wouldnt make it but I guess I didnt hit anything too vital! Good luck I hope He wasn't punctured to badly!
No it was not an overdose as I am sure nick new what doses to hit her with before he put her down.....more than likely hit the bowel witch in turn caused an internal infection....nasty stuff!
Thank you everybody for your responses. Piers like maybe he'll die and maybe he'll live. Maybe i got lucky and didnt hit a bowel but because it was low, where the guts lay, and with some downward pressure from the guts above, afraid I am gonna definitely need some luck, or intervention.I will continue with Draxin as well as prayer. Thanks again, appreciate everyone's time, will post the outcome.
Mitch you are right, the worry is from a punctured bowel. Same way a deer dies when we shoot them through the guts with a bow...septic poisening, or us with a ruptured appendix. I have 2 questions for both Nick Biser and RLA...#1-Did you continue with antibiotics after the bad hit? #2-Did the animals go down in a timely fashion as though you hit them in a major muscle, or did they go down very slow or have to get darted again? Thanks in advance. Thanks in advance-Mark
Our doe had to be darted again. We didn't use alot of antibiotics after the bad hit it was some of the first deer we ever moved and just didn't know what we know now. The guy who darted her in the gut said she would be fine and we took his word since we had no experience with deer before. I think you might have better luck than we did since you hit your's low and your pooring the antibiotics to him. Best of luck.
Thanks Nick. That news of you having to dart her again sounds encouraging. My vet said that since my buck went down quick/normal, he felt that was a strong indicater that the dart probably did not perforate a bowel otherwise it would have discharged into the bowel hence slowing or erradicating the effectiveness of the dart. It's been a roller coaster ride of thinking he might make it...he might not make it...and now from what you have shared...I'm back on top again. 
Thanks again!!
Thanks again!!The doe that I had die on me was not given any antibotics, I didnt know that I had a problem with her untill two week's later then it was to late. I hope to never hit a deer there again. I am not 100% that the bad hit caused her death but I realy think it did.
Hey sandridge i hit a doe exactly how you explaned low and back in the gut area she went down faster than any other deer had before i was afraid of the same thing you are she was fine. i hit her very low though. she was kind of a nut and would freak out any time i came into the pen so i was forced to take a long shoot from the outside i was sure she would have died but i was wrong i hope your buck has the same outcome.
Thanks RLA and Trigger. Starting to feel a bit more optimistic about the whole thing. Man I don't know about anyone else, but in my pens if something bad happens, its almost always going to happen to the best, like in the top 10% of the herd, and often within the top 5%...gets pretty frustrating. With the economy affecting the retail end of this business, and with corn skyrocketing, I'm trying to hold on but am beginning to question my wisdom in it all. But thanks again everyone for takin the time to help me out. I figure if he is ok after a month, he'll probably live. Will post the outcome.
Well, it will be 3 wks tomorrow since I hit that buck in the gut with the dart. As I type this, he is doing fine. I have darted him twice with draxin(once a week). I do believe he was ailing that first week because he lost his appetite and lost some weight. Instead of darting him again tomorrow with draxin, I'm just goin to wait and watch him. My fear is that his weekly doses of draxin have been enough to counter the slow release of poisen from what would be of course the very small puncture from the dart. Question is, will that hole, if I did indeed put one there, ever heal shut??? Don't know if the inside of a body is designed to be able to seal a hole shut or not.
Joined Aug 2009
629 Posts | 0+
Winnsboro, LA
Pen deer will die faster than wild ones! I think yours will make it just fine. If he's eating and been two weeks he'll be fine. With wild deer you can shoot the leg off one, lodge an arrow in one lung, spine and he'll be around next season. A Pen raised deer invents ways to die!! I've seen one of my bucks a few years back horse the feed down so fast he dry choked and could not get any air. He literally was in a bind and I just happened to be there. I kicked him in his ribs kinda like a semi Heimlich! It worked!! CRAZY DEER !!
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