whitetail_obsession
Active Member
My rule of thumb is if I don't see the deer fall or hear an audible crash after what I felt was a good shot I immediately back out. Grab the arrow if possible but definitely back out. Unfortunately I have had a few poor shots (4) in the past 6 years (probably need to practice more but excitement probably also played a role). I recovered all 4 deer but gave each one a minimum of 14hours and slipped out as quietly as possible. For learning purposes I will describe each scenario as to help others who may experience it in the future. Deer #1 was hit in stomach. Gave deer 14 hours (cold night). Tracked him the next day and thankfully had snow. Found him in the 13th bed but about 200yds from the initial shot after backing out immediately. Deer #2 I thought I hit back after looking at video evidence. My brother who was with me agreed and we gave the deer about 14hrs again. Found the deer 80yds from the shot. Deer was hit in one lung and was likely not dead right away but I could have tracked him sooner than I did but I wasn't sure and as was said in an earlier post a deer that is dead now will be dead in the morning still. The deer was dead in his first bed. Deer #3. Felt deer was slightly quartered to even after looking at video. Shot looked like it possibly hit lung. Went in about 3 hrs later and found arrow with dark blood on it. Should have known to back out then but rain was supposed to be coming and I wanted to get a sense of travel direction. Tracked deer about 70yds and found a bed. Was searching with binoculars when I saw the deer bedded in thick stuff by a creek/drainage. Observed him for 45 min and watched him slowly walk off. Returned the next AM after backing out the previous night and found him 300yds from the initial shot. Deer was shot in liver and did not appear to be dead for more than 4-5hrs (deer found approximately 26hrs later on a freezing night). Deer #4. Could not tell where deer was hit but thought it was a good shot but deer ran about 60yds and did not fall over. She bedded and had 3 bucks come in and try to get her up to no avail. Waited 45 min and slowly climbed down and backed out. Returned the next AM (15hrs) and found the doe about 80yds from the bed the previous night in the water. She was quartered away more than I thought and I hit guts and one lung. Deer had ice on her so I assume she had died after about 4hrs. Bonus Deer #5 My brother shot but felt the shot was high. Despite not wanting to go after him my Dad and his friend thought he should. Ended up jumping the deer and the deer ran another 100-130yds before expiring. Deer was hit in only one lung (no guts) but was almost not found due to rushing the recovery. The key take aways I've learned is when in doubt back out and give the deer plenty of time. Be quiet when taking up the blood trail and don't bring a huge group unless its a body search and no more blood could be found. All the deer I found that were liver/guts went towards some sort of water and were in very thick cover (they avoided open hillsides). A deer shot in the guts is a dead deer but you must give it plenty of time to die. Usually they won't be more than 200-300yds if you don't bump them. Finally, often with excitement we think a shot is often better than it was. A lung/heart shot deer isn't going far and you will likely hear or see it crash. If not I would start to question if the hit is really as good as you thought and at least give it a little time before taking up the trail. Hopefully others can learn from my experiences although I hope to not have to experience them very often.
