Do not forget to wait after the shot'

[tracer]

Dropped into the local hunting shop today to here that on two separate occations, the archers did not wait at all before climbing down from their tree stands to pursue their deer after THE SHOT. The deer heard the hunters coming, got up and took off never to be found. The one guys excuse was it was getting dark fast. Wait one hour after shot before leaving your stand or blind. At that point if its getting dark, mark beginning of blood trail, find your arrow if possible and resume search in the morning.

[BigUgly]

I must agree with you but I will admit that I will get down and look at the area where the deer was shot. This is not to start tracking but to study the area for hair, blood, and bolt. I will also mark the spot where the animal was hit and go back to where I shot from to give myself even better barings for when I do start tracking. But you are right wait as long as you can then another 59 minutes.

[Grizzly Adam]

You make a good point, Tracer. Often it is wise to wait a while, particularly if you're unsure of what shot you made. However, there are many times when an experienced archer knows where he hit the animal, and when the animal crashes in sight or hearing distance. There isn't really a need to sit for an hour before you go to a double-lunged deer that went down in sight of you, or a heart shot deer that crashed right in front of your eyes, unless you just enjoy the afterglow of the shot. Now, a deer that LAYS down in sight of you is another story ... a deer that lays down often gets up ... but when deer crash and do the death dance, that's all she wrote, 99.99% of the time, and you can go get your critter.

In no case, where I live, do you leave a deer overnight. If you do, the bears will be eating venison, or, if they aren't nearby, the red wolves or coyotes will do it instead.

I guess it depends on where you live, what you see and hear when you shoot, and how much experience in killing deer with archery equipment.

In general, I agree with the principle that it is wise to wait ... but I don't think an hour is always necessary, unless you just prefer to.

In any case, your interest in recovery is commendable. That's the right attitude, always. Good for you, and good advice.

Grizz

[Martin]

I do agree with waiting a period of time after a shot, however I believe that it depends on the animal and shot placement. I was recently on a kangaroo hunt in which we nailed a few. I was using a exomax, while my mates use 200lb hortons. The roos that i shot dropped within 5 metres, in which case there was no point in waiting at all. However, one of my mates shot a roo from 30-40 metres and the bolt placement was not optimum. Needless to say, the roo did not die. In fact the bolt had lodged itself in the hind leg (solid bone), the roo was pinned down, but not dying. As it was large roo, and bleeding very slowly, this roo obviously in pain could have stayed there for hours or even days before dying of infection. I believe that it would have been wrong to leave it there in obvious agony for an hour or so before approaching it. Needless to say, within seconds after the initial shot, we shot the roo at point blank, putting it out of misery. There have been countless occations in Australia that roos have been spotted by the public bouncing around with arrows hanging out of them, for days and even weeks. I kid you not! I am not sure how this relates to deer, but I imagine that it is a similiar story. My opinon is such, the hunter has to use common sense when desciding who long to wait, if at all. I know that the last thing that I would want to see, is one of the animals that I shoot sit there and suffer needlessly for an extended period of time. Ultimately, it should be one shot, one kill.

[ecoaster]

Wait. If you hunt in the afternoon/evening you should have a flashlight with you anyway. Two of the 4 archery deer I've taken were tracked after dark. No different then following a blood trail in the daylight. You might have to go a bit slower, but you can follow it. Mark your blood trail with orange flagging tape and you can get a good idea on the deer's direction of travel.

[wabi]

Where I hunt I often leave my trailing tools (light, spare batteries, etc.) in my truck if I'm going to be within a few hundred yards of the truck. That way if I shoot one I can give it 10 or 15 minutes then slip out quietly and return to the truck to get what I'll need. This forces me to give it at least a half hour before I start trailing. A lot of time I get my equipment, then get the landowner's tractor and hitch up his small wagon which adds even more time. I have lost one in the past by hitting the trail too soon because rain was on the way. Learned not to shoot them if a downpour look likely!

[crazyfarmer]

I must agree with you but I will admit that I will get down and look at the area where the deer was shot. This is not to start tracking but to study the area for hair, blood, and bolt. I will also mark the spot where the animal was hit and go back to where I shot from to give myself even better barings for when I do start tracking. But you are right wait as long as you can then another 59 minutes.

same here, I usually let 5-10mins for everything to calm down and then ease my way to the shot area. I mean a step every 1-2 mins so you dont spook anything looking for the bolt. Once I find the bolt or blood I back off and back out of the woods. Depending on the weather and if I heard the deer drop I then head back or start slow tracking the deer. Again, taking my time and a step every min or so. Look up ahead also with binoculars to see if you see the deer also

If I know I made a really bad shot, gut, then I wont track for awhile. But it seems no matter where Ive hit deer they dont go far. I hit one in the hindquarter(hit a limb on shot) and that deer dropped instant and ive never seen so much blood in one place from a bad shot also! Deer have always gone less farther for me on a bad bow shot than a good shot with a gun

[sumner4991]

First day of gun season last year . . .on the way in(got a late start) my buddy and I spotted four doe 250 yards up on a ridge. One large doe was standing broadside and I decided to give her a try with my .270 . . .I shot, the deer stumbled and took off like a bat. I knew I didn't hit her good, so we decided to continue our a.m. hunt and track her in two hours. It was a cold clear a.m. , so no problem with the meat going bad. We met back and started tracking . . .we tracked that deer 300 yards into the thickest briars and brush . . .got so bad, I gave my gun to my buddy and crawled another 75 yards to a thick stand of very young pine trees. There she was . . .still breathing!!! Yes, doe is still alive and I have no gun!! Took my buddy 20 minutes to get down there with a gun . . .he had to leave his gun, no way to carry two guns in this brush. Anyway, after recovering the deer, we found the first shot hit her too far back. She was slowly dying . . .she actually jumped up and ran another 15 yards after I found her. I've killed crow at 300 yards with my .270, so I knew it was off. Sure enough, the gun was off 7 inches to the left at 200 yards. I had been using the gun for 12 years . . .aways on the mark. Somehow, it got knocked off between seasons. From now on, I will take a couple of shots before I head out . . .no matter what the track record.

Anyway, point of the posting is this . . .it's all about POI . . .the better the shot, the less time you need to wait. I think the one hour rule is for all the bad shots. Normally, I recover my deer within 40 yards of the hit and within 30 minutes, the majority are pretty much dead on contact. If I know I made a solid hit, I go ahead and get my deer . . .otherwise, I wait at least an hour. I should have waited another hour with the doe last year . . .might not have needed another shot and I took the chance of losing her, if she had left my sight in that thick brush, she could have been lost.

[tracer]

To Sumner4991 your point is right on- the better the shot,the less time you have to wait. Very good info by members on this subject and good luck to all this hunting season.