Unless the deer you shot fell over dead right in its tracks without running a single step than you have not wounded a deer. If your deer have run off they were wounded. They can not be dead until their heart stops beating until that time they are wounded. If we shoot a buck with an arrow and it does not fall over right there and heart stops beating we have just wounded it until blood loss and shock take over.
How long do we wait to get out of the treestand? I wait 45 minutes or so to track the deer. Why? Because the deer could get up and run somemore if pushed. During that 45 minutes the deer was feeling pain it knew to lay down because things were not right. I hope I am making myself clear in saying when we shoot deer with our bow we wound it until the wound takes a large enough toll to kill the animal. If that were not the case we could hop right down and go look at the nice buck we just killed instead of waiting to claim the animal. The 99.99% of deer are not dead from the moment of broadhead impact!!! Do not be a hypocrite folks we all wound deer!
I have never heard it explained this way or have ever met anyone who viewed it this way. Wow![&:][&:]
I'd have to say you are in the minority.
Maybe in all technicality, yes that deer has a wound that proves to be fatal in a few seconds/ minutes...but to consider every deer you shoot wounded until you find it is absurd, and just not how I've ever heard it discussed in the archery world. A wounded deer is one that gets away, whether to live or die is most likely unknown to the shooter. One that gets zapped thru the lungs to drop in 35 yds isn't wounded, he walking dead for a few seconds.