darting a hard to dart buck

Just wondering how you made out? In my experience, it is better to hit a deer like this with a stronger dose so as to reduce stress on the animal. No two deer respond exactly the same to sedation. There are a number of reasons why this happens including the animal itself, shot placement and delivery, outside conditions, stress on the animal prior to and after darting, the amount of drug being administered and the potency of the drug based upon quality and the mixed ratio.



I use regular strength xylazine (only because I cannot find the stronger stuff) and telazol. I never used a mixture in excess of 5:1. I prefer a stronger mix (5:1, 4:1, 3:1) and focus on a more accurate dosage based upon the weight of the animal and some of the factors I mentioned above. A deep yet safe sedation definately lessens stress on the animal.



The other guys who responded brought up a very good point, you must make sure that your xylazine is still good.



These comments are based upon my experience and are not meant as advice in lieu of consulting with your veterinarian prior to administering any drugs to your deer.

I agree Daniel. Not only better to hit a deer like this with ''enough'', I believe that to be true when darting all deer. I used to have a tendency to back off amounts to save a dollar and/or thinking it was better on the deer to have them just barely go out(which may or not be true, but in doing so and finding that line you can run into problems).

I now give that extra 1/2 or whole cc extra to make sure that deer go down in a timely and safe fashion...quicker IS better...on the deer and us.

I always use a 4-1 on my bucks. they seem to go down much quicker for me. and when messing with a buck i want them to be OUT. Ive had a few start to wake up on me before and its no fun. I also always mix up my downer the night before (if i know im going to be doing it the next day) it seems to work much better than when mixed an hour before.

Has anybody tried BAM on these bucks, I done 1 hard buck and he was out in less then 10 minutes. The on his feet under 5 after reversal.

I absolutely love BAM! We started using it two years ago and will never go back to xylazine/telazol mix.

What is the price for Bam compared to the T/X mix ?

Price of BAM is 3 to 4 times the price of Xyl/Tel cocktail. I have found (the hard way I might add) that when darting a deer that has more tolerance to the Xyl/Tel cocktail the KEY to getting him down sucessfully with one shot is hitting him when he is calm. If he gets one ounce of nerve in him before that dart hits his metabolism is already fighting it off and your further ahead not to shoot. Try to get in a location where he cant see you or feels comfortable and just wait him out and when hes not expecting it shoot him. If the meds hit him unawares it dont matter how much he tries to walk it off, its already affected his central nervous system BEFORE it was amped up, and he will go down. I have had "does" when amped up take over 5cc's of a 6 to 1 mix. and still staggering. Same deer when hit unawares 2cc's and their snoring. Just my experiance.

BAM is 225. 00 for a kit. That will knock down and reverse either 5 bucks, 11 does, or 22 fawns. I have found it's actually cheaper than telezol / xylazine mix and MUCH more effective.

Bam is wonderful..they go down very fast and will reverse very fast with no side effects. the body temp does not raise..We have used it for two years with no problems. does will go down with one cc usually and bucks with two cc..the calmer they are helps greatly..good luck

How long after mixing bam is it good for?

If the life is similar to XYL/TEL mix and you only needed to dart one animal and had to throw the rest out it would be alot more expensive.

I hear you can freeze xyl / tel .....so you do not need to throw it away......not sure if you can freeze bam?

I have frozen it and won't anymore. It seemed to me that the Telazol lost potency and the XYL was what was left doing the work. Just my bad expeirience.

ddwhitetails said:

I hear you can freeze xyl / tel .....so you do not need to throw it away......not sure if you can freeze bam?

Click to expand...

no need to freeze BAM.



I've used the home brew equivalent of BAM for eight years, stored at room temp. No problems, ever. I darted one buck three times in four days, have darted him 30+ times with it...no probs. Quick down, quick up.



I'll never use xyl/tel again.

I've had BAM mixed for a year, stored at room temperature, and it worked great.

Hmmmmm sounds like when my stash runs out ...I just might have to switch to BAM.......never to proud to try a new thing....especially if it's working for everyone!!!