Hunter jumps out of his skin after nudging 'dead' deer in woods only for its eyes to open and it spring 3 ft into the air and run off

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A hilarious video shows the moment a hunter got the fright of his life after he nudged a buck he shot down - before it suddenly opened its eyes and sprang to its feet.

The footage, which surfaced this week, shows an unidentified American hunter leaving his tree stand in the woods and walking towards a deer on the ground.

'Got one,' the man can be heard muttering as he walks along with the camera pointed towards the deer. 'It's a buck too. I don't know how big it was but it was running.'  

Hit: A deer lies on the ground after it was shot down by the American hunter behind the camera

Wake up call: As he approaches the deer, it has its eyes shut, but he then nudges it with his foot, right

As he nears the deer, which is on its side, he notices it's still breathing.

Slowly, he approaches the buck from the front and the animal's eyes are firmly closed.

But uncertain whether or not he killed the animal, he nudges its legs with its boot - and its eyes open suddenly.

'Holy s***!' the man says. 'Its eyes are open!'

He screams in horror as the deer's eyes open wider and the animal suddenly bounds up to its feet.

With the camera still rolling, the watches as the deer leaps at least three feet in the air. The animal can then be seen running into the woods.

The video, which was filmed in November 2013 and shared to Liveleak, has been viewed 1.1 million times on the website.  

Fighter: The deer opens its eyes, and as the hunter expresses his shock, the animal jumps to his feet, right

Taking off: In a blur, the deer launches several feet into the air before running off into the woods

One viewer scalded the hunter for not knowing the deer was alive, saying it would have had its eyes open had it been dead, while others said it should have been left to bleed out.

Other viewers said they hoped the hunter managed to put the deer out of its misery. 

But others laughed at the video and admitted they had leapt almost as high as the deer.

'My co-workers are laughing at me for jumping,' one admitted.