Cool as it would be to have the final word in this debacle i realize that I probably wont. I havent even bothered to read all 170 posts but will rather catch on the waiting or not waiting discussion.

In general there is no hurry to go after a wounded deer. If the deer is fatally shot it doesnt matter what you do, from a suffering point of view.If you wait long enough there will likely be less suffering for the deer. An early start keeps the deer from lying down wich it will do if left alone. An early start will more likley scare the deer since it is still pumped up with stress hormones and thus more alert. Left alone it will slowly begin to get into chock and be even more easy to get to. The chock prevents small blood vessels from retract and the strain on the heart increases. Often this leads to a shortage of blood supply to the brain and the animal appears drunk. The stress hormones usually keeps pain at bay for at least a few hours, so from that point of view suffering will not be affected much during that time.

So in short: By waiting the not fatally wounded deer oftengets drousy and easier to get. The stress of getting shot tends toprevent pain for a few hours.

Legally you can appearently search for the deer but not do anything but watch it run away into the night. Once it has begun to run again the drousyness wears of and pain sets in.

The end..... not likley?