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Dispatching deer using a knife through the Atlas joint


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I use this method to great effect.

but you must angle the long thin blade upwards slightly so it is going into the animals cranium and into the brain.

a quick cut accross the base of the ears to find the joint(i to practice on dead deer) then the point through the atlas and up into the brain.

A very dead animal in about 11/2 seconds.

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Whats wrong with cutting its throat? If done properly and cleanly it quick and bleeds them out well.

Used this technique this weekend on Red Deer calf to good effect. Knife has to be at least 6" long though, which is illegal...that's the problem methinks ;-)

 

 

Just picked this bit up from the thread, just to let you know a 6 inch knife isnt illegal, for it to be illegal it would have to be on the prohibited items list...You are safe to use a six inch knife when stalking as you are using it for that purpose,even if you forgot and left it in you pocket to pop into the paper shop and were stpped by the police you still have a very good defence that you were stalking forgot to take it out of your pocket. BUT..if you were to get changed then walk into the shop ..ie in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt...clearly not stalking then you would have no defence. Hope that makes things a bit clearer for you as I know alot of folk think they have to use a tiny knife non locking knife for stalking.

 

Regards

 

Pete

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i have always used this way of doing the deed even on a red stag once that was not easey to get hold off i can tell you! like its been said use a strong thin blade hold their ears up and push the knife in to the joint and up give it a realy good push and it will go into the brain. i dont like the idear of cuttung its throat at a RTA that whould look soo bad to police and bystanders. it can also contaminate the meat with stomch comtents. i ha d a shoot day to ords the ned of the year their was a young roe had run into the fence and buggerd its self the group that as their hadnt a clue what to do i i walked down and done the deen all the guns and beaters where amaised how discreet and fast it was. ive also been trained a butcher so can find joints quite well

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The sticking a knife in the back of the head method is called "abnicken" in German, was taught a long time as a great method and all but the opinion changed during the last 10-20 years. It is quite difficult to find the correct spot and apply the blade on a dead animal, if the animal is still alive, it is even harder. To illustrate the method:

 

nicker_2.gif

nicker_1.gif

the wounded animal is in distress and I don't see why you would want to increase that by poking around and ending up like this:

1180018624_5.jpg

 

methods like slitting the throat are just shit and in my opinion unethical as the animal suffers longer than needed.

 

Best and easiest (remember, keep it simple) way is to open the thorax, pin the deer, preferably one foot on the hip, one hand grabbing an ear (NOT AN ANTLER!), then stick the blade (slightly angled, pointing towards the animals head) high behind the shoulder, use your weight and cut down along the rib until you hit the breast bone, tilt the blade 90 degrees, wait.. what happens is, that you damage at least one lung, causing it to collaps, you probably severe main arteries and you damage the heart.

this is a buck I dispatched after it was hit by a car and left in the ditch with a broken hip and broken hindlegs, it was over in a few seconds.

dsc03091s.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are situation when you should not use your gun, for example the deer may be on flint ground or tarmac, you wouldnt want a high velocity bullet coming back at you. Also the deer may be in someones garden and who carries there gun on them at all times, you might pass a deer RTC on your way to work for example.There is nothing wrong with using a knife if it is needed.

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i was a skinner at belvoir fox hounds as a kid then butcher and slaughter man at a traditional butchers when i left school.

i would think i would go with a sharp knife from behind the voice box cut all the way out cutting towards the chin then tilt the head hard back and cut towards the spine and snaping the head back to break the neck , sounds complicated but its all one movement and would be done in the blink of an eye .

leave the meat well bled and better for it .

 

having said all that a shot to the head would be better followed by sticking the throat to bleed out .

i did this to a yearling fallow this winter and although visual to my friend who had not seen it before , he could not argue it was not efficiant and clean .

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  • 3 weeks later...

during my dsc1 course 10 years ago i was told the only lawful way of using a knife on a deer was to cut the throat and the best way of doing this as described was to use a knife similar to a filliting knife and to cut the main arteries in the neck by first passing the knife through the neck of the deer then out through the front. not the most humane way of dealing with a moving beast by any stretch of the imagination.

 

since this time i have been called to many rta incidents often by the police in built up areas and still find the best method is to take a second shot where praticable with whatever you deem to be safest. usually a .22 rimfire.

 

i have on numerous occasions had to use a knife and found the easiest method is to cut the throat as deepyou can ensure blood flows freely not to be carried out in the area of bystanders also wise to have on hand somethig to catch the blood such as and old towel

 

what ever method is used with a knife it is often more difficult due to the animal moving about a shot to the back of the head is always preferable in my opinion. learing how to use a knife to dispatch a wounded animal is some thing that yoiu dont just learn from a diagram or video as previously stated praticing on a dead beast is all ways preferable.

 

atb muddy

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Why wouldn't you insert the knife into the heart? A decent blade inserted between the ribbs and twisted. Would have a similar effect as a bullet, no?

The animal would no doubt flick and kick putting you in danger from hooves and antlers.

The atlas joint severs the spinal cord thus rendering the beast unable to move.

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Hello bullmastiff!

 

I to have had issues with the atlas joint on the past....and your right, it isnt "always" instant...end of story! As previously mentioned you have to change the method according to the situation.

 

When I went on my first impala hunt in Africa I was faced with a VERY lively buck (the one as my profile pic as it goes), I managed to avoid getting severally injured (god knows how, I was so inexperienced back then) and straddle the buck so I could use a knife... when I stuck it, it only seems to anger the beast even more! It quickly turned in to a "buffalo bill" and the wild west show! :whistling:

 

Anyway, the end result was a going for the heart, and to be honest I think I will always go for the heart in future.

 

Hope you and the family are well! Had a good night on the rabbits last night, 31 in and hour and a half.

 

Speak to you soon mate.

Edited by langouroux
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I learnt about this from watching a video years ago, on Youtube. The video was made by a trained stalker who was called upon to deal with RTA's involving Deer for the police and he said he found it was the quickest and cleanest method to dispatch them.

The demonstration was obviously done on a dead deer so you see the exact place to push the knife through.

It left me believing it was an 'instant kill' method for using on shot and wounded or RTA deer by severing the spinal column from the brain stem. Resulting in massive shock to the brain and causing instant lifelessness or shaking jerky movements as the body twitched it's self out.

Either way - Dead....

 

I then practiced on dead deer in the larder whilst removng the skin/head until I was confident I could find it quickly (it's not hard to find with a bit of practice as it's the only place the knife will slide cleanly and easily through between the spine and skull)

 

Here's the thing though, when I actually had to use it on a deer for real, I found it didn't work??? their still blinking, breathing as if nothings happened? I've tried it twice and on both occasions it didn't give the required result.

 

Fearing I was doing something wrong, I obviously stopped trying that method and if the need arose I'd keep them pinned quietly and cut the heart through the soft opening were the neck meets the chest. This has been as effective a method as any and results in a quiet death within a maximum of a minute of two.

 

This was all years ago but recently I was out with a friend of mine who has done their DSC training and when we came across an injured deer he promptly stuck it in the Atlas joint as he had been shown by his instructor. It had the same effect it had done when I had tried it. He too had been led to believe that it would cause instant death.... He then stuck it through the heart as I would of.

 

So I guess this is as much a cautionary tale as it is a question.

Have any of you that have trained to find the Atlas joint during a stalking trip, DSc course etc. actually had to use it to dispatch??? and if so did it actually work as described to you?

 

I realise when stalking, a deer thats been shot but run on, seems to usually be left to bleed out from the wound or have shock set in so as not to chase it any further, then tracked and finished with a follow up shot, so using a knife to finish isn't usually required.

 

Are there other more effective ways of dealing with deer, with just a knife that have been involved in Road Traffic Accidents?

 

 

Sorry this has been a bit long winded but I look forward to any info.

 

ATB

 

Used this technique this weekend on Red Deer calf to good effect. Knife has to be at least 6" long though, which is illegal...that's the problem methinks ;-)

have to agree with you

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