HCU,
If you knew it was a gut shot.......You should have waited a lot longer than 2 hrs. I would wait personally minimum 6hrs. Preferably if weather/work allowed.... overnight.

A gut shot deer will die......I would never call the possibility of a dead deer 'A lost Cause'. The reason the deer stopped bleeding is probably that the wound has clogged with gut material.
You have 2 options.......wait a lot longer tonight and retake the trail with help. Even tho you've probably compounded the difficulty of the tracking badly by most likely pushing the deer, you owe it to the animal to NOT just give up because the blood trail ended.

Or wait until first light and try it then.....I would opt for that if possible.

If you are a hunter......a TRUE hunter......you'll go back out later tonight or even better tomorrow morning and try again. Take lanterns if you go tonight...or some bright flashlights and some help. Think like a deer, path of least resistance....probably level or downhill travel and possibly the animal will head for water.

"Lookin" doesn't mean heading home when the blood stops.

Keep us posted of your progress.


Edited by - Matt / PA on 11/04/2002 17:39:13