Time to wait after a poor shot placement (gut)?

[DuckHunt]

I arrowed a nice buck this morning with about a 18" spread. I didn't see many points so it may have been just a big 6 point.

The deer ran off downhill with its tail between its legs. It acted hit. I watched it run for at least 75 yards and never heard it fall. I waited about 45 minutes before climbing out of the stand. Once I hit the ground I immediately got the feeling I overestimated the distance and shot a bit high. The deer was about 25 yards out and I figured 30. My first scan of where he was standing and down the trail of tracks returned no sign other than turned up leaves. It appeared that he was hitting the ground hard with the back legs digging in the ground hard. I returned to the point of the shot and found the arrow.

Crap, literally. The arrow had some red near the broadhead, but the rest of the arrow was screaming classic gut shot. I followed the tracks again and finally found first blood about 40 yards downhill. It was very dark red. I found very little blood in all, less than a half cup over 100 yards. Some spots I could tell were not all blood, but not big stomach contents (acorns, corn, etc) either.

The blood got real skimpy about 125 yards out as the deer headed into a deep ravine where it gets quite thick. Since it had only been about an hour, I decided to pull back out and return after an hour or so to take my dog for a walk. He's a specialist in these situations.

About 2 1/2 hours after the shot I returned armed with nothing but my dog on a leash. I took him to the point of the hit and got him on the trail. A dog's nose is amazing. We took off walking directly down the path of travel briefly stopping to smell spots of blood. Getting to the edge of the ravine took about 2 minutes. At the point where things got skimpy to me, my dog wanted to veer left instead of entering the ravine as I had expected based on the direction of travel. My dog was convinced to go left and was tugging hard on the leash as if the deer was VERY close. Close enough that he wanted to run. I pulled him back toward me to try to calm him down and slowly proceed. He was having nothing of it. The scent was overwhelming to him. He started barking looking down the hill. I wanted quiet so as I grabed for him to silence him the buck jumped up out of a tree top not 20 steps in front of us and headed down into the ravine. Dangit.

At the point where I had stopped trailing I was standing well within bow range of the buck all along. For at least 15 minutes I was within 25-50 yards of this deer while tracking it. I watched the buck run down into the ravine and immediately reversed my course. I pulled back out again and will let the buck lay down again.

I would have, and should have, waited longer to go back after the buck but we have a storm front moving in. That is part of the reason I was up a tree. Between now and mid-day tomorrow we have a 100% chance of rain and expect 1-2" total. Since I should wait at least 4-8 hours, I will end up waiting until the weather clears before trying to locate the deer again. The area I am hunting in is rather small (<20 acres) and I have a very good idea of where the deer was going to bed up. I'm confident if I don't push it, I can recover it with my dog even after a rain. Especially given that the deer should have a less than favorable aroma. Todays temp is 45 degrees and it should stay that low until the weather clears. My only question is how good the meat will be given the poor shot and a lengthy hopeful recovery.

I guess my luck ran out on this one. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to recover him in the end.

[wabi]

From Woody Williams' advice on trailing deer:

* A gut-shot deer is probably the most difficult to recover because of the poor blood trail and the hunter's impatience to wait him out. A lot of bowhunters want to hurry up and find the deer. Since the liver and stomach are close together, it is possible that the deer will go down and die quickly if the shot also penetrates the liver. If the deer is dead in an hour, he will still be dead in 4 hours. Have patience, he will not go anywhere. Wait him out for at least 4 hours. Wait overnight if the deer is
shot in the evening.

[crazyfarmer]

for gut shot deer, it could take anywhere from 3-10 hours... I usually leave them overnight if I know its a gutshot and know where the deer probably is.

suks cause the chance of blood trailing wont work for us this weekend.. rain rain rain.....

this is why I didnt bother going today or tomorrow. I dont wanna risk loosing a deer in this rain.

as for the meant.. I wouldnt et it since the weather is gonna be low 50's. A wet upper 40-low 50 degree day probably isnt the best for the meat. Atleast try to cover the deer and maybe the antlers. Other than that, its nothing you can do. Thats hunting:)

oh and if he hunched like that with his tail between his legs, thats gut shot sign right there

[Grizzly Adam]

Here's a different thought:

I don't know what kind of dog you have, or if hound hunting is legal in your area ... but if you ever get in that situation and it's still shooting light, and if your dog is a good trailer and aggressive to boot ... I'd consider turning the dog loose on it. Many badly wounded deer will not run too far in front of a hot trailing dog, but will bay in a thicket or tangle. It's not too tough to get to the scene for a finishing shot, in most cases. You can easily hear the dog.

Of course, it's a judgement call. I know many readers on this forum are probably entirely unfamiliar with hound hunting deer ... but in VA that shouldn't be the case, so I'm sure you get my point.

It's always possible that the deer might take off, and that you might lose it your dog. You know best about the dog, but I can tell you chances are good that the deer would bay if it's really seriously hurt. No absolutes, of course ... but hunters here use hounds to bay wounded deer all the time, and usually end up dispatching them cleanly.

Thought it was worth suggesting, anyway.

Best of luck in recovery,

Grizz

[Partikle]

Wait for a long time. My buddy did a gut shot 3 years ago in the evening. He had snow for tracking so it was easy to follow but the buck was still alive the next morning and got up and ran when my buddy got near. He did not find him dead until noon that day, 20 hours after he was shot.

[Hoss]

I would not try to find it until it youve given it plenty of time to die...If the lungs are still working and the dog jumps it up you may never find it..Adrenaline is a powerful drug...I dame sure wouldnt let a dog thats never done that before loose on it, like adam said heck he could chase that deer for along ways and you may never find your dog. He will stink just as bad when hes dead and if you dont find it sorry about that but there is plenty deer left for you to harvest...good luck

[Grizzly Adam]

It was only a thought ... and maybe not the best one, but like I said, that's a judgment call. Nothing is certain when trailing deer with dogs anyway. Believe me, many a hound that's done it dozens of times before chases deer out of the country and gets lost, so it's not necessarily a matter of the dog having done it before. I catch up deer and bear hounds that have been lost in the Hollow Ground Swamp for weeks every year ... and some of these dogs belong to big-name hound hunters and are worth thousands, and have years of experience. They're usually chasing deer that aren't wounded, or are only lightly wounded, though.

It's not a breed or type consideration, either. The best wounded deer trailer I've ever known or heard of is a bitch JACK RUSSELL TERRIOR ... and if the wounded deer is to be found, Cindy will find it. She also bays deer that are badly wounded sometimes. We never knew she could do it until we turned her loose on one, and she's helped find numerous deer for my outfitter buddy now. We've only lost two, and they had muscle wounds, not gut wounds.

Like I said, lots of badly wounded deer do not leave the country, but bay pretty quickly with a hot dog on their trail, and stay put until the hunter gets there. I've been in on it many times, so I'm not speculating. Besides, around here, if you have to leave it overnight, you're not going to get it period ... so that's why I said it was worth thinking about, and maybe worth a try.

Again, nothing is certain. It's an individual call. Your dog, your situation, your decision. Sometimes it can pay to try something different, though.

Note: Dog hunting is a longtime tradition here, and is not thought unusual or risky. We all have different perspectives.

Grizz

[crazyfarmer]

im with grizz, usually a deer thats gut shot or hurt badly will stop and stay, then the dog bays the deer.

as far as finding the dog, we hunt with dogs here so they are usually pretty easy to find. Almost everyone now has tracking collars on them also which helps alot

btw, did you ever find the deer DUCKHUNT? Thw weather broke today but its 70's out

[DuckHunt]

I found it. I waited until the weather broke this morning and went out with the dog. At first the wind was calm so with all of the rain we would have to stumble right up on it. I made about a 200 yard circle of the area I expected the deer to be in but my dog never picked up anything.

I returned to my starting point and shucked some gear. I wasn't expecting it to be so warm out. By then the west wind picked up a little which would work perfectly in this case. We started back out and as we walked up the trail just west of the thicket my dog got that pep in his step and did a left turn into the wind right up into the thick stuff. The buck was about 50 yards up in a thicket.

Unfortunately it had expired quite a while back and with the warm temps I didn't want to consider processing a deer that already had begun to smell. Chalk this one up to poor shot placement on my part. I hit a bit high as I expected, but well back (~8") of where I intended to hit. I tossed an arrow when I got home to check my gear. It was a tad off (~1" low @ 20yds) but not enough to cause this hit.

These are the situations that all of us dread will happen. But it does occasionally to most of us if we hunt long enough. To make matters worse, shave 4" off of my spread estimate. It would have been a 7-pt, but a broken beam on one side made it a 6-pt. It was a nice deer though.

[Grizzly Adam]

Don't ride yourself too hard, Duckhunt. You did everything you could do.

When it comes to trailing wounded deer, there are two kinds of hunters: Those who have made the wrong decision and pushed the deer too soon, and those who have yet to. You're not alone; we've all goofed it up. It's part of hunting ... and you don't have to keep second-guessing yourself. No one makes the right decision every time, and if you talk to someone who claims to have, they either haven't been hunting long, or they're dishonest.

No predator recovers the kill every time; animals don't, and we don't either. Sometimes the prey escapes. In our case, sometimes we don't find a kill at all, and sometimes we find it too late. That too is part of hunting.

You acted responsibly. You followed it up. You tried again. And you found it. You have the picture to remind you of what it means to do your best when you've made a mistake, and that's a worthwhile memento in it's own right.

That buck will not be wasted. Your loss will be the gain of a great many creatures. His flesh will feed animals and insects and provide them sustenance. Their droppings will nourish the soil that will grow browse that feeds another deer. Don't think of him as lost or wasted, but rather used in another way.

As for you, chalk it up to a learning experience, and consider it a common bond shared by all of us who hunt a lot. Respect yourself for trying to recover the deer, and teach others how to be responsible like that.

And give that dog a treat!

Grizz

[DuckHunt]

Thanks for the kind words Grizz. You summed it up well.

There is no doubt my dog would have caught this deer if I let him after it. What would happen at that point is anyones guess. He is pretty agressive, but that buck had a 3:1 size advantage. Also, since we have no dog use in this area of VA I was unarmed so that would only mean trouble. Also since my hunting area is a small private lot (<20 acres) surrounded by many others equally private, I really can't afford to let a deer travel too far and chance leaving the property.

My dog got his reward right there on the spot. Most often he doesn't get first choice. He was a bit surprised that I let him get his fill. So far I've used him three times to recover a deer. He has a 100% recovery ratio. Unless you want the two additional deer he recovered while looking for my three. In that case he's 5 for 3.

[ch312]

the deer doesnt look bloated....i would have at least tried eating the rear quarters

EDIT: how are you going to deal with the tag issue? r u going to cut up your tag or shoot another deer? id say u already shot a deer so you should buy another tag if you plan on shooting another deer.

BTW...how could u manage to gut shoot a deer at 25 yards!?!?!? i know poeple make mistakes but thats really bad...

[Grizzly Adam]

Chris said:

"BTW...how could u manage to gut shoot a deer at 25 yards!?!?!? i know poeple make mistakes but thats really bad..."

C'mon, Chris ... what kind of comment is that?

I suppose you never make a mistake, or do anything less than perfectly?

Way to encourage your fellow hunter. If you can't say something helpful, why post anything at all?

Duckhunt didn't deserve that low blow.

Grizz

[pphoenix]

I'm Glad you found it, i know the felling of losing one.

[vapredhunter]

Good job on the recovery Duck don't feel bad most guys would have given up. I shot a buck with a double lung shot two weeks ago that ran 700 yards left very little blood he had me second guessing my shot and I saw the bolt hit him in the chest. Nice buck Chris,

ch312, The ground is 50 degrees here air temp 40 to 50 even if one side did cool down enough on one side the other would still spoil because the ground is still warm. Tags are not an issue here in VA we're allowed 6 deer per licence