Lots of good answers above.
I'd say an hour is more than plenty if you are confident that you hit it well.
I hunt over open farm land and most of mine have gone down within sight so I only wait 5 or 6 minutes and that's just to give myself time to calm down and pull myself back together so I don't fall out of my tree!!
Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.
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In all of my yrs hunting i have had 3 liver hits, 2 layed right down & in couple min were dead. The other one walked 30/35 yds staggered abit & piled up dead. I have had 2 ponch hits & were 200/250 yds from my shot & i let them alone fer about 6 hrs. Dead when i arrived.
There is an excellent book on finding wounded deer that was written by John Trout Jr and it is titled Finding Wounded Deer. I included a link to it on Amazon but you can find it for less if you look around. t is a well written analysis on different methods to find a wounded deer depending on the hit and behavior of the deer. It is a great read and I think that it should be provided as part of the basic bow hunters education for new bow hunters. Even old hands may pick up something new.
There is no "cookie cutter" answer for every hit as deer are individuals and each have their own idiosyncrasies but there is a lot of good info to be found here.
ive had same results with liver shots vixen, i will aim for liver if given the opportunity, they bleed out quickly being the liver filters blood , think if the oil filter on your car was shattered wouldnt take long to run out of oil mwould it, never had one go more than 50yds . double lung well had a friend last year shoot one double lung it went 400 yds , when we went down to get it , as we approached it popped up in like a milisecond and ran another 80 yds , so i do purposely go for liver if i can .
In my experience a poor hit (not heart, liver, or double lung) made after noon means a feast for the scavengers that night.
A good hit (heart, liver, or double lung) and the deer is down within a few seconds, and dead in less than 5 minutes.
If I'm 100% sure it was a good hit I'll give it 5-10 minutes then climb out of my stand or blind and slip quietly out of the woods to get the equipment to field dress it & haul it out. (I'm lucky enough to hunt where I can use the farmer's tractor to haul 'em out) By the time I return to the area the deer has usually had a minimum of 30 minutes to expire, so I park the tractor and take up the blood trail (unless I saw it fall, then I just go to it). Been lucky the past few years and saw or heard them go down, so it was easy to find them.
My advice - always wait for the perfect shot and it makes things a lot easier 90% of the time. The other 10%?
............. things can still go wrong like the deer deciding to move just as the claw releases the arrow, or the arrow can deflect on an unseen twig.
In both those cases I found part of the deer the next day, but there wasn't anything left I'd want to eat.
With all due respect I have to disagree with the liver hit always being fatal in seconds. A liver hit's level of fatality is directly related to where in the liver the arrow penetrates. The liver is lobed and I have clipped the liver, or tracked deer for other hunters more than once in this condition, and had the deer live several hours. I have pierced it dead center, severing large arteries and had the same results as a lung hit with a little longer death run.
Often is the case, a liver hit also means a gut hit. The holes will plug easily with fat and stomach debris and the deer may bleed more heavily, but internally.
A liver hit is never subject to any given rule of thumb. A heart or double lung hit will rarely if ever see a deer make it past 100 yds, more often 40 to 60 yds is the norm. Basically the deer suffocates with either of these hits and goes about 4 to 7 seconds. Lack of oxygen being the true cause of death. (more/less).
But a liver hit, even a heavy bleeder, will often allow the deer more travel time and often leave less blood on the ground. And, in the case of a peripheral hit, the deer will live several hours before it expires. Ive seen this time and again. Every deer Ive ever tracked for myself and other hunters, I always, always take note of the shot and damage to the organs. I always, always open the stomach and take note of the deer's food sources.
i can believe that, ive been fortunate to have 5 or 6 deer live hit eithe drop or not go far, can just relate my experiences , but its good to know ifi liver hit one they can still go, ive had lung shots drop and lun g shots take off long ways , each shot scenaio is different , patience and a good shot selection is the key , best percentages for a quick clean kill, i do know this university michigan did study on single lung hit deer was shocked how many survive if hit with sharp clean broadhead , they are tough animals
I reck'en I'll give my 2 cents on this - I've work in EMS for many years & have seen some GSW's (gun shot wounds) & trauma, & have killed more then my fare-share of deer over the years, with vert-bow, rifle & smoke poles, (but this will be my 1st year with a crossbow) - Heart, lung, liver, stomach, intestines, etc. are fatal for a deer. What damage is done to the organ & to the blood vessels in & around that organ, etc. & the determination of that deer (the biggest buck does not always win the fight) & a few other outside forces, will determine how far a deer will go after being hit. on avg. it takes 4-6 min. with no oxygen/blood flow to the brain for true death starts to occur.
I had a vert-bow dual lung shots ( high & back in the lungs, seen broadhead cuts in back/upper part of both lungs) 160 pounds dressed deer, go well over 200 yards * 1 lunger, spike horn - 92 pounds, dressed, close to dark, (low shot, from high up in tree stand only hit the right lung) still alive next morning (could stand but not run, needed 2nd arrow). * Dual lung shot, both lungs were in pieces, with 50 cal smoke pole, large 9 point 198 pounds dressed, go over 175 yards, in deep (for us here in Mich.) snow, never stoped running till it dropped. In fact last years 4 pointer with smoke pole, the deer turned just as I was shooting (sometimes things happen). the round entered right shoulder & exited just in front of the left rear leg, one lung, the liver, & guts, even though I knew my shot was off, because of the snow storm, I push the tracking, found about 12 places were he was laying down in the mile or so I tracked him, after over 4 hours of tracking, found the deer laying down, but still alive, to weak to get up & had to finish him.
Yes, most deer I've killed or tracked for other, where down for good with-in 100 yards. But please don't belive all lung, liver, heart shots. are down with-in that 100 yards or dead in 2 mins., or think that while tracking, if you don't find it, in that distance you have missed those organs.
When to track or let them set for awhile, as we all know, depends on many things, weather (snow, rain, temp, etc.), yoties, hunting pressure, etc. etc. After awhile now, I know if my shot was good, as soon as I pull the trigger, that & cond. is how deterime to track or wait.
Sorry for the long winded post, & hope I did not upset anyone, it was not my intent at all. For me, I'am just totally anal about wounded deer. One of the many things I like about this here group of people, is we all seem to think about, hunting, tracking, shot placment, all year long.
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Great answers guys! Wayne good info for I believe most of us newbies forsure!
You all have convinced me my 1st kill with my xbow will be in the morning! I'm to used to shooting them with the rifle and watch them fall in the scope! I practice hard with my rifle and am going to practice even more with my bow! I also hate to hear of wounded animals.
Bill
one other thought..
I lost a deer years ago becuase it was right at dark and raining..shot it at 10 yards with a 30-30 //had a hand full of bone hair and blood ..and even some of the lead..but that dang deer took off like a rocket and because of the heavy rain i couldnt find anymore blood or tracks..i knew it was a 4 or six but wasnt sure till a 6pointer was found a few days later.. i was sick and said never again ..then last year i shot a little buck with my cross bow in the eve with light rain..I just knew i had made a good shot and would find it easily. I got some help cuz the rain was afalling and i was losing the trail..we gave up after about 2 hours ..blood was all washed away..so i said lets make a pass where i think he could have went and we walked right up on him..but alas we had all but give up and wasnt paying attention,,the deer got up moving..found him a week later..Ive replayed that a hundred times and i wish i had left till the morn..lesson for me ..first ..shooting in the rain ,is not good..not saying dont do it ..but its risky..second ..dont over push ..third..
somtime things happen we are trying our best and using all we know but those dang deer can do some crazy things..
I dont think ill be shooting in the rain from now on.
i shot a large doe one eve , after about 10 mins it started raining , was miserable tracking 130 yds about, , only way i found it was disturbed leaves and some tracks in soft spots, id hesitate to shoot in rain, but i must say, i do see alot of deer move when it starts raining, i wouldnt hesitate in eve tho some peroxide in a spray bottle really works well when it foams upon contact with blood , always carry it with me
it's been asked before, but none the less a great topic. i say it depends on the hit.. i've been lucky that a majority of my kills have been within 25 yards. i judge based on the deer and where /how far they run.. if i feel i can get down slowly and quietly to find the bolt, i will, just to observe the blood on the arrow. i will normally wait about 10 minutes before doing this. i'll get down, go to where i hit the deer, look for the bolt, check the blood and see if there's an immediate blood trail.. after that, i will tie something in the tree branch above where i hit the deer ( usually a plastic glove, marking tape, something noticeable) and come back in a few minutes with help to track.
I avoid hunting in the rain even drizzle with by bow. Many a time I've come home early because of rain. Now gun season is another story. I have windows and a roof on my gun stand
i was sick and said never again ..then last year i shot a little buck with my cross bow in the eve with light rain..I just knew i had made a good shot and would find it easily. I got some help cuz the rain was afalling and i was losing the trail..we gave up after about 2 hours ..blood was all washed away..so i said lets make a pass where i think he could have went and we walked right up on him..but alas we had all but give up and wasnt paying attention,,the deer got up moving..found him a week later..Ive replayed that a hundred times and i wish i had left till the morn..lesson for me ..first ..shooting in the rain ,is not good..not saying dont do it ..but its risky..second ..dont over push ..third..
