deer shot by a bow

[black martin]

In most of the posts or statements from hunters deer shot well with a bow seem to waite half an hour to one hour to start tracking there deer, even though most say they hear there deer pile up at a average of about 75 yards. Being new to bow hunting and only hunted with a rifle I would like some insight and tips on tracking there deer shot with bows.

[Tom]

Why wait to track the deer is a very simple answer. It is to let the deer expire close to where it was hit. No matter if you use archery or a gun, it is best to let the deer expire before you follow or track it. The reason behind this it that the deer wil think that it has got away from the danger and then lay down to die (if it is a good hit) but if you follow or track too quickly, the deer will get up and run and basicly keep running to get rid of the danger. Thus you will have a real long tacking job.

With archery, arrows kill by hemerage and not shock like with bullets. It takes time for them to die, but you still should wait after hitting a deer when gun hunting. What I normally do after a shot is to prepare to recover the animal. That is I go back to the truck, drop off everything that I do not need, regroup with other hunters for help, pick up everything I might need (lantern, larger flashlight, ropes & pullies, ect) then go back to get the deer. Doing this makes sure I do not interfeer with letting the deer expire, and I would need the extra stuff anyway.

Hope this answers your question.

[CRASHCOSBO]

Dad told me when I first started gun hunting that he used to light a cigarette right after he shot a deer and then when he was done his smoke he would start to track...so when I shoot one now I normally pop a werthers candy in my mouth and wait till its done before I start tracking....gives you a good 10-15 min window.... just my two cents

[JCB]

black martin: I am not going to retell the story--because I don't want to experience it again--but if you don't want to lose your deer, even your mortally wounded "definitely gonna die deer", you need to wait longer than a few minutes for the deer to bleed out, stiffen up and die where he is lying at a spot relatively close to where you shot him. I would recommend waiting an hour or two, so that you don't spook him up again.

Most of the time, you could just walk over immediately and find a dead deer--but one of those times--if you don't wait long enough, you will find only the place where he was lying and was dying...until you spooked him into the next time zone!

Anyway, it is not an experience you want to have.


Wait for him to die!

[ecoaster]

I arrowed a buck this year who ran 100 yards and fell to the ground in tall grass. I saw him fall over and I didn't jump out of my tree and go get him. I very slowly pulled out my binoculars and tried to see him. I couldn't see him with my naked eye but in the glasses I could see he was down, but his head was up and he was looking for what had hit him. After 20 minutes that buck got up and walked away. We found him dead over a kilometer from where I hit him. The broadhead hit lung, liver, intestine, and made a complete pass through. If that deer had seen me move or walk toward it, he would have bolted out of there and I would not have his picture on my posts .

In short, yes I've heard deer "pile up" and I still give them 15 minutes to 1/2 hr before I very slowly and quietly track them. Read up on how a deer reacts to being shot in different vital areas. You can usually tell how good your hit was by how they run away right after the shot.

If they are dead in 5 minutes, they will still be dead in 5 hrs.

[MichiganBill]

I have different methodologies depending on the circumstanses. That said, all the advise given here is rock solid. It is better to wait tnan to push a wounded deer.

My "exceptions" to these rules , if you can call them that, is (1) the time of day I shot the deer, and (2) the weather.

First, if I shot a deer in the afternoon and it is predicted to rain, I will go after the deer after just 20 minutes regardless. Some may disagree with this practice but without a blood trail, it is a significantly different task to find a hit deer. Rain washes away blood. Plus, the other factor is, no mattter if it is raining or night; If I don't recover that animal that very same evening, there is a 100% chance that the coyotes will.

All that said, if I know also that they are predicting heavy rain, (I rarely take an afternoon shot at a deer, for all the reason I just stated. However, sometimes in the fall, these crazy rainstorms come out of nowhere and so I go right after a hit deer for fear of losing it to the yotes.