7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Courtesy of "The Man" - Rob/PA Bowyer and edited by the HNI staff.

One of the biggest reasons why many animals are not recovered after being shot is that all too often bowhunters take up the trail too soon, simply bumping the animal away never to be found again. What you do following the shot can make or break a successful recovery.

When mortality wounded 90% of deer will bed within 250 yards of the shot. If an animal dies beyond this most likely some outside factor pushed the animal. Think about all of the animals you've taken, found or lost. You've probably found at least one if not mutliple beds within this distance.

Now I' m not proclaiming myself the ultimate tracker/hunter but I can testify that my hunting partners and I have not lost an animal in many, many years and several of these recoveries were because of waiting for the right moment to trail the animal, rather than the initial shot placement.

I'll give you an example of an animal that I made a poor shot on because I neglected to stop the animal and shot him on the move. At 25 yards I placed my arrow too far back on the buck...seen here at www.rivervalleygamecalls.com under Team River Valley. As soon as I saw the arrow hit further back than I wanted, I knew immediately not to take up the track until at least 6 hours later. I shot this animal at 7:30 am and got out of my tree at 11:00 and left the woods. At 3:30 I returned to the woods and found my buck not 50 yards inside a woods at the last point I saw him. Had I not waited, there is a very good chance that I wouldn't have found him due to the standing cornfields surrounding the woods he was bedded in.

In this particular case I also glassed the animal immediately following the shot to verify the hit. One important note I always make is that binoculars are invaluable for archers not only to glass an animal post shot, but to watch for his movement once he moves off. Quite often we as hunters get caught up in the heat of the moment and become unsure of our arrow's point of impact. A good set of binoculars and some quick thinking can help you verify your shot placement and help you formulate the proper game plan for recovering your animal.

The following is a list of several tips that I feel are invaluable for bowhunters to use when deciding what to do both before and after the shot. In the past, many members of the HuntingNet.com Message Board have helped to tweak and add their own priceless tidbits of information as well.. Hopefully one of the tips here or posted herein will aid you in a speedy recovery this hunting season.
[ul][*]Use bright fletch. You need to be able to see your arrow in flight, in the animal, and on the ground afterward. Dark arrows don't do you any good if you can' t see them. If bright fletchings aren't enough, try using lighted arrow nocks for better visibility in low light conditions.[*]Binoculars - use them post shot! They may be the most important tool you have after the shot.[*]Watch the animal after the shot. Quite often an animal's body movement will help indicate to you what type of shot you got. An animal that jumps straight in the air and bounds off out of sight is most likely mortally wounded and will not travel far. However, if the animal hunches up and walks off or moves off slowly there is a good chance the hit was too far back and you need to wait at least 6 hours before taking up the trail. [/ul]"I hit him, now what?"

Here are 7 surefire steps towards recovering your animal safely and securely:
[ol][*]Unless you witness a double lung pass through, I firmly believe to let an animal go for a couple hours rather than the common misconseption of half hour wait. Too many times a half hour isn't enough. The only shots that put an animal down quickly are double lung hits and heart shots. If you don't see your animal fall within site, your best bet is to wait it out.[*]If you are not 100% sure of your hit, simply put.... wait!!! The animal isn't going to go anywhere, he's dead, why hurry? Sit back, collect your thoughts, replay the shot, the hit, and where the animal went. Also, this gives you a chance to listen and relax. If your arrow was a pass thru, get down and get the arrow and study it and wait. Mark the direction but don' t pursue, if you wait, he'll be there or he'll live another day.[*]If you think it' s a single lung hit because of angle, wait at least 4 hours. This includes shots that are just under the spine and because of the angle you might have caught the second lung but missed the first. Wait and let him expire. Many people belive in "the void" which they claim is an area between a deer's lungs and spine where no vital organs reside. This is a myth - if you place an arrow under the spine, you will catch at least one lung.[*]If you think you caught the liver wait and the animal will bleed out. Wait at least 4 hours to take up the trail - the animal will not go anywhere if given the chance to expire. Jump him and he may go forever.[*]If you catch the guts only, you're in for at least a 6 hour minimum wait with 8 hours being more preferrable and overnight being the best case scenario. In case of rain or snow you should get down, find your arrow, find the blood trail, and wait for the next morning. If you know your property, you' ll find him close.[*]Coyotes can and will give the location of your animal, if your worried about them, get down, listen for the them and move on them if you know they are on your animal. IF they are there, your animal won' t be so move on the coyotes and they may lead you to the animal.[*]Whether your shot hits lungs, liver,or guts the key to a successful recovery is to wait. The animal is going to die just wait him out and your blood trail should be adequate a couple hours later. [/ol]Let' s recover the animals bowyers, we owe it to them, we owe it to each other, and we owe it to ourselves. Good luck out there....

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

"If you think you caught the liver wait and the animal will bleed out. Wait at least 4 hours to take up the trail - the animal will not go anywhere if given the chance to expire. Jump him and he may go forever."

I agree. I shot a nice 8-pointer (my 1st deer with the bow) in 1998 and had a complete liver pass thru. 50# Bear Whitetail 1970's bow, 125-gr Thunderhead tipped 2117. The deer ran off...
I got down from my TS and recoved my arrow and decided to wait some time. I had read a copy of Trailing Whitetails by John Trout Jr. and his instruction in a liver shot was to wait like 6 hrs.

My brother-in-law and I decided to get right outta the woods and go get breakfast. We came back about 4 hrs later. At 25 yrds the blood trail STOPPED. I starting making increasingly-bigger and bigger circles looking for the deer. After a little while my brother-in-law said "You have a million to one chance of finding this deer" and headed off to do some farm chores. I however never gave up.

Forgetting where I thought the deer decided to run and just keeping with the circles I stopped to overlook the large field and scracthed my head confused on why I could find this deer! In less than a minute I turned my head and spotted the buck laying on his side as if asleep in a water drainage culvert about 10 inches or so deep. There he was!

Learned a lot from that deer. Such as:

*Never pressure a deer.If in doubt - WAIT! Like you said "He isn't going anywhere" if he's severely wounded.

*Get out of the area! Too many over-eager trackers spoil their own success by smelling up the area more or destroying what blood trail or evidence there IS. LEAVE! Slip out as quietly as possible in a way to stay away from the direction where the deer ran off into.

*Be PATIENT! Your mind is going to play games on your during that time. If you planned on 4 hrs - STAY OUT for 4 hrs (unless rain has come in and weill ruin any blood trals).

*Read that book! Its GREAT!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Weird, so I have been here seven years.

Woo! :D

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

I love this kind of information. I jumped the gun on waiting last year. I shot a big doe at 8 yards sitting on a pale on the ground and got a complete pass through. She however just kind of wandered off down hill. I immediately went and found my arrow covered with blood and dark chunky stuff. I figured liver and maybe even guts. I ended up giving chase right away and lucky for me I didn't find her right away. I called up my buddy and he came over to help me out. Over all I think she lay for about 45 min (i know i know not enough time) but I lucked out and she tipped over as we stood on the trail looking at her from the back. I gut her out and sure enough, liver shot. I was real lucky that she never took off on me. I agree with the when in doubt back out motto. I'd rather have a long day/afternoon or even a sleepless night and finding my animal rather than not finding it at all. Awesome post!!!!!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

As always, a great post. This is probably one of the most important aspects of hunting and yet it is probably the most often overlooked.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Great information for a first-timer! It will be hard for me not to take off after a wounded deer like I did gun hunting. I've been conditioning myself to the "half-hour wait" but after reading this I'll probably go back to the house and put on a pot of coffee and wait a while longer. Patience is not one of my stronger points.....we'll see.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

rtread,
After you have lost a deer of two you'll 'learn' the art of patience.

As a ICU Cardiac Tech and RN Student I can tell you that death by hemorrhage takes time. Only when major arteries are severed would the animal bleed out quickly. If only veins are cut it will be slower. Now imagine if fat, muscle, organs, tissue, etc.occludes the artery or vein closed and you have a situation where death may be longer. Now a wound to a non-vital organ (liver, gut) will certainly take much longer than if it were the heart, lungs, brain, or spine.

Its a issue of anatomy and understanding how an arrow kills. Remember, in the deer's world time means nothing. It is in OUR world that we are so concerned with time - or lack of it. In their world they have nothing but time. They have no place they need to be at any particular time. their lives are not governed by a clock as ours is.

Gut shot can take up to 24 hrs to kill an animal until severe dehydration or sepsis sets in. Just thin of what you do when you have a bad stomach ache or feel ill - you go lay down and rest and you don't wanna move. Same for the animal. They are not sure just what is happening but they do know they don't feel well. To continue to keep pushing a deer in this state is foolish and the deer can travel - albeit pressured - for miles.

You need to read John Trout Jr.'s book...

Hope this helps...

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Scoobiedoo....thanks...good info! I did a search on John Trout Jr. and found a variety of subjects and books...do you happen to know name of book?

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

One of the, if not the most, important thing to tracking I have learned over the years is to walk next to but not in the blood trail. If you are off to the side and mark the last spot of blood with toilet paper (biodegradable) you can easly go back to the last spot you found blood. If you walk in the trail and don't mark it you may destroy the trail and lose the deer.

SF

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

I've been waiting for this to come up. I loved last years, I still remember most of it, but Im going to re-read this one. If it wasnt for this post, me and my cousin wouldn't have found one of his deer last year. It was a gut shot, and he only wanted to wait for an hour before going to find it, but I told him I think we should sleep on it. We found it the next morning. Thanks to you guys!

Thanks!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

I think it was called 'Trailing Wounded Whitetails' or something like that. It had a tan cover with an autumn scene on it.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

This IS a VERY GOOD POINT! Many hunters in their excitement and haste make this blunder and it costs them dearly! Stay off the blood trail!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Oh yea...I believe Trout Jr. suggests 12-24 hrs for such hits. You want to give the wounded animal time to bed down. Once done they begin to stiffen up. Sometimes they tend to bed down for awhile, then get up, move a short distance again (in an effort to try and get comfortable) and then bed down again. Blood in each bedding area will prove this. But, it really takes a while. The ONLY exception to this rule is impending RAIN that would wash away the blood trail.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Rob/PA Bowyer,
GREAT post man! Right on!

1) Bright Fletch - this IS a biggie and often overlooked by many bowhunters. I shoot feathers because I shoot my bows off the shelf (yes, my compound bow too!) - and I use bright orange and white feathers. In G. Fred Asbell's book entitled 'Instinctive Shooting' he states that he uses 3 of the same colors on his arrows since having the cock feather (or vane) a diff color gives the arrow the appearance of not flying right. I don't seem to have any issues of such so I use 2 orange feathers and 1 white feather. I use Easton GameGetter shafts because I do not like camo shafts. Why? because I want to be able to SEE my arrow in flight and FIND my arrow after the shot! camo shafts make that very hard to do. I used to love the Easton XX75 Autumn Orange shafts when they were still available.

2) Coyotes - is I am worried about coyotes in my area (yea, we have 'em) - I'll simply leave something behind - such as a handkerchief or piece of clothing I can live w/o if taken by someone. I'll take this item and rub my face with it. If I have been sweating I'll mop up my perspiration with it in an effort to leave as much as MY scent as possible on this item so as to deter them from the site.

But, this is an excellent post by Rob/PA Bowyer!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Scoobiedoo,

Thanks, I wrote this thread several years ago and I usually get requests to bring it back every year. I brought it back this year and what I didn't realize was HNI took my post and edited for better reading and HNIJustin reposted it and I am flattered. Everyone always adds great tips as well and if it aids someone to find their animal when they otherwise may have not, it's certainly worth it.

Other posts that we're waiting on are Matt's Quality Photo thread and Franks, Trophy Thread....these are annual thread that are always great....

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

About 5 years ago I shot a doe at about 15 yards. I was about 2-3 inches further back than I expected. It was a clean pass through. The deer walked about 10 yards into some brush and I watched as about another 15 deer came to the same water hole. The deer stood there for 18 minutes until its head started bobbing and down it went. Right there. If that deer would have gone 75 yards away and I would have purused quickly I am sure it would have run off and who knows. I also think all of the other deer hanging around the staging area kept the deer in place.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Thanks again for this thread. I read it and re-read it last year. This is what helped me to recover a nice 8 pt that my father had shot with his crossbow. It wasthe first deer he ever shot with a crossbow. Not a very good shot, but a very good lesson learned. #1 just because the poundage is high doesn't mean it has the knock down power of a rifle.[:-] #2 don't give up. There were also lots of great tracking tips. Thanks again everyone for sharing such great information!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

that book by John trout is titled finding wounded deer. I have it here on my computer desk and it is a must have for any hunter!

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

These are the kind of tips that make me glad I found this forum. I have few hunter friends, and no family that are interested in hunting. As a result I always hunt alone. And being from NYC not too many people I know have hundreds of acres of land for me to hunt. Needless to say I have to learn things on my own.Sometimes painfully
My last deer was shot a few inches back and bolted right into the thickest tangle of brush I have ever seen. Cedars, briars and thickets in an ungodly tangle. I needed one hand to peel the thorns from my face and clothing and the other hand to cut the branches with my clippers, progress was slow. Now I did initially wait 40-45 min and I thought that was enough. Wrong! I traveled 50 yards on a good blood trail when she upped and ran. Stupid me...Kept going and found her bloody bed. Now is when the light should have went on ...but it diddent. Kept going.....slowly...I went from spurts of blood, to spatters of blood, then drops of blood and even to specks of blood. Eventually, and 4.5 hours later I confess that after being bruised, scarred and now loosing more of my own blood than I was finding of hers I left the trail. I started walking back to the truck when I got a burst of determination (I have a lot of those) So I followed my GPS right back to the spot where I left the trail and picked it back up. I needed to do a lot of backtracking, and I had resorted to turning the boughs of the cedars up and looking on them for blood deposits as she brushed past them. This helped but eventually dried up too... Doing my honest best to recover game, and having no special tracking abilities I gave the footprint method a try..tough stuff. I tried to sort out her tracks from the others by the gait. She was wounded and I assumed she was the one dragging the hoof. Another 50 or so yards now .43 miles from the shot I stood up to take in the big picture and saw her laying under a young cedar about 25 yards away. 5 hours later and she wasn't dead! Now seeing how the terrain was with the briars and all and how I needed both hands to navigate there is NO WAY I could have possibly brought my bow along for the recovery mission. So I waited. She knew I was there but I just sat on the ground and quietly waited. Looking at her through my binoculars. Waiting....Waiting...waiting. Eventually she made one last attempt to get up and move, took one last big breath and that was it...silence, stillness. but while I waited I thought about a lot of things. The excitement of the shot, the long odds of the track, and how bad I felt that I couldent ease her pain at the very end. In retrospect I know I made mistakes, taking up the trail too early, continuing to track after a push. I do feel good however that refused to give up and eventually found a deer that many hunters would probably thought of as lost. Needless to say, some trophy rifle hunters out there won't understand, but that Doe,shot from the ground with a bow followed by that track and recovery will always be one of my most memorable kills, and a lot more of a trophy than if I had gone and paid a few G's to a preserve to kill a fenced animal...no matter how big the antlers. After all, no matter how long you cook'em you still cant eat the antlers!!

So.. my contribution to this discussion is
1. wait
2. dont push(wait some more)
3. Dont give up..
4. If you have to fill in the blanks...go towards water

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Thanks for sharing Woodman 454. I too share a similar story.

I congratulate you on your effort invested.

Your a 'true' hunter in every sense of the word.

A Preserve hunter just wouldn't understand...

PS Where are you from?

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

This post is a big help. Saturday will be my first bowhunt. Like you 454, I am from near NYC (Bethpage LI actually). I now live in West Virginia and like you all my longtime friends are back in NY and do not hunt. I am fortunate however that my 13 year old daughter has taken up the sport with me. During gun season last year (our first) both my daughters and my deer were double lung shots and they never went too far. It's very hilly here and it makes me a little nervous to have to chase a deer. This post has made me think that I might not have to if I wait it out long enough.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

This is a great thread, this alone could be the best advice on getting your deer. The first thing I do after the arrow releases is try to watch or look for that little piece or flicker of white which is my veins to determine where I shot the animal. Some times we get excited and don't really watch where the arrow hits. This will give you a ball park idea. So it is good to have light colered veins and maybe white cresting around your arrow. Second, before anything I watch the animal run away marking spots in my head where I saw him last. Third I sit back down and try to calm down your excited at this point , the last thing you want is to fall out of the tree. Fourth , I listen just to hear the direction he went and maybe hear it fall. This could be third if you wanted. Fifth, I look at my watch to determine what time it is, very important to know when you shot it. Sixth, I gather my gear together piece by piece, I have a little note in my pocket to remind me of what I brought into the woods, in all the excitement I've lost more than my share of gear. After that I make sure I have it all and then lower my bow and them my pack down to the ground slowly, just killing time at this point. Next I carefully climb down from the stand. I always back out and go back to my truck or call my buddy on the radio and tell him to meet me at the truck. This also kills some time. I never go after a deer in my hunting clothes, I have a set of tracking gear that I have , different boots, jackets, pants, spend to much money on scent-lok to get it bloody, plus all my field dressing equiptment is back at the truck, kind of gives me a excuse not to go right after the deer, so I leave it there, more time involved , which in turn give the animal time to die. After I put on my tracking clothes, my flashlight , my knife, and other gear, I double check everything so I don't forget any thing, Then I walk back with my friend, just 1 friend because the more people you have the more chance you have of contaminating the blood trail or disturbing it, so limit the number of people tracking. Next I go right to the stand and look at where I shot the deer, because it dosen't always look the same from the ground, so that's why you pick or mark the spot in your head low to the ground. Then we look for the arrow, The arrow is probably the single most important clue on where you hit him, analyze the blood and determine either to move foward or back out. If there's bubbles you hit lung, also try to remember what side youshot him on it might come into play later on tracking. Dark blood could be liver , bright blood could be lungs,muscle or heart, so it is important to not only see the blood and where it lays on the ground put how it is placed there, such as spraying, drops, little or alot at the hit sight, or where it stopped , such as a pool of blood. Also figure out if the deer is bleeding out both sides and determine where the entrance hole and exsit hole might be, you can do that by looking at the ground and at trees , the scene is 3 diamentional and evidence can be anywhere. Make sure that the most expierenced trackers is first, and let no one go ahead of him or you, contamination of course.If there is no arrow to be found, undersatand that it may not bleed as much, due to the arrow blocking things, remember this with type of hit less blood at the beginning is very common, but does not mean it not dead by this time, just be patient and follow clues. Try to be as quite as possiable as you track, if for some reason it's not dead, you don't want to jump it, or if you do jump it back out for a while. Many say 3hr or 4hr, bottom line if your unsure, wait at leat 6hr on questional shots. One thing I forgot to mention , on less than perfect shots, aalways smell the arrow, if it stincks then you have got some stomach and need to back out for a while unless there is tons of blood sprayed everywhere, be for warned the exit hole on a gut shot will clog up due to the intestines , so even if you have good blood and it stops, to just a drip every few yards, back out, give him some time to die. All of this takes years to develop, patience is your best chioce. Read books about diferent blood types and what to look for, go on tracking jobs with your friends as much as you can. While I may not have the best techniques, I find what I do effective, and that's why all my buddies call me, even people I do not know call me, to help track downed game. I break it down completly and look at all the scenerios. I'm not the best, and some of my techniques are questionable, but as long as your are willing to learn and understand the process you will be fine. I did forget one thing, when you loose blood, do small circles until you find more and mark your spots as you go. Like STAN POTTS says, WHEN IN DOUBT, BACK OUT. Hope this helps. lou-lou

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Lou-lou,
Thats some serious info here - thanks.

He touches on some very important suggestions, techniques, and methods.

I esp like the idea of leaving all your field dressing gear back at the truck! Reason-enough right there not to be able to commence tracking immediately!

Many of these methods are covered in John Trout Jr's book as well.

Great stuff...

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Finding Wounded Deer; John Trout, Jr
copyright 2001, Woods N'Water, Inc. and Bookspan
ISBN:0-9707493-0-9

I have his first Trailing Whitetails but it is out of print and nearly impossible to find. You can find Finding Wounded Deer; John Trout, JrFinding Wounded Deer; John Trout, Jr at Outdoorsman'sEdge.com.

No bow hunter should be without it.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

I agree. It should be required reading for any states' Bowhunter Education Certification Course.
I have found copies of his first book occasionally used at www.amazon.comIn fact, I just purchased a copy of it last week for around $13 in good used condition.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

What's up Scoob- I'm from Staten Island, New York City But I find it easier to hunt in NJ. I pay more for the license but instead of having to drive 2-2.5 hours to a good deer wood I drive a half hour away into NJ and see more deer than I ever did in NY.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Great stuff guys really interesting thread with great info. If anyone is looking for Trout's book amazon has them used for 10.13 or a book by RichardP. Smith Tracking Wounded Deer and Trout's book Finding Wounded Deer combo for 27.32. Hope this helps anyone looking for a copy.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

This is kool I love sharing experinces. You can learn so much by listening to other people. One thing I do is mark every spot of blood I find with tolit paper. That way if you loose the trail you can look back where the deer has been an kind of figure where he is going. Plus it makes you slow down while tracking. I stand at the blood and don't move until I see the next and then mark it and so on. If you have friends with you let some one lead the way and keep everyone in single file. Too much help is sometimes worst than no help at all. If you lose the blood trail get right down on your hands and knees and slowly look at every leaf stick rock exct. If you hunt long enough you are bound to loose one and I can tell ya it feels awful and it takes a long time to get over it. So just wait go slow and look real good. Lots of luck this season MIke

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Mike,
Been there - done that. I lost my first deer (doe) to a lost blood trail and a hit too far back. I hung up the bow for a year over that one. What do you do? Get better. Thats all I can offer. I vowed to learn all that I could to hopefully not go thru that again.

Thats why I endorse John Trout Jr.'s book 'Trailing Whitetails.' Its the 'Bible' of trailing wounded deer. No bowhunter - no hunter - should be without this book on their shelf. I read and reread mine every fall again and again just to be sure the rules and tactics are fresh in my mind.

Its the best $10 I ever spent on a hunting book. Will save you hours of heartache and frustration.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Really great advice guys. This is the reason I started this thread so many years ago and why we keep bringing it back. If it only aids one archer to recover his animal it is so worth it and with all the feed back I've gotten it appears as if it might have aided on several....great work everyone with aids, tips and techniques....keep them coming....and if possible one should find and acquire the book mentioned above..

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

I keep a copy of this book in my bow hunting back pack, and After making a shot, I always read it again.

This does 2 things. Gives me time to calm down, and for the deer to bed down.

Plus it reminds me what time table I am looking at depending on where I hit it.



actually, this is the book I keep in my pack. The one above I keep at the hunting cabin.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Thats a good plan and it looks like a good read. I have not taken a truck load of deer as many of you have but I have not hurried any of them. I calmly waited and then waited some more.
Two years ago I shot a 7 point at 75 yrds with a 44mag. with open sights. I shot off hand but I practice at that distance often. The deer only flinched and retreated to the thicket he came from. I could see him but was unsure if he was hit. I could see a small opening through the thicket and I squeezed off one more round. The deer didn't budge. The deer was still looking for me but was unsure where I was. I didn't move, using a tree for cover. I watched the deer for 30 minutes but didn't fire anymore hoping he would try to sneak out past me since he hadn't seen me.
The deer sat down and I thought great but how am I going to sneak up on him. 15 min. later he started coughing and I knew I hit him.15 min. later he was kicking and then it was done. I waited another 30 min. to make sure. [:o]
The deer was actually hit sqarely through the chest with both rounds cris-crossing since he faced different directions each shot. I was very happy with my placement but not for the performance of the bullets. (Thats why I prefer arrow kills) The point is that I didn't move and show myself or the deer would of ran and ran and ran. That deer stood unaffected for over 30 min. A deer can cover a lot of ground in that time. Be patient and good luck to all. :D

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

NIce story Marmax and a great example of waiting for the right time.being patient is a learned trait as well as a quality.I lost one because I went looking too soon.I nevber forgot that and have since learned a great deal.I have seen them go down in site and even to this day I wont move until it is dark this way I do 2 things.1 I give my deer time to expire and 2 I dont ruin the stand by showing myself getting down from it and alerting the local herd to my stand site.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Wow....great stuff.I carefully read all of your suggestions and techniques and hopefully I can use all them to my advantage.I have one small question.Now I know that finding the deer is most important,but I was just curious if the meat would still be good after waiting overnight to track the deer?I'm sure the temperature will play a big role in this.Can you guys maybe shed some light on this for me?In any case I would not rush tracking the deer for the sake of the meat but wondered what would be done if the meat did spoil and how to tell if the meat is spoiled in the case that it does take hours to find the deer?
Thanks for all the information.
JE

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Great info! Even though i hav been hunting for years and only lost one deer thatI shot, it is good torefresh.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Your right, anyone, veteran or novice can get or give advice...thanks.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Good information here. I would add that I try to take a compass reading where the deer was standing and another where I last saw it. Things look very different from the ground than the tree and it is easy to loose just where these spots were.

Marmax, just a note. For deer with the 44 magnum I have found the 200 grain Hornady XTP bullet to be very effective. I much prefer it to the 240 grain.

Pete

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Well Fellow bowhunters, even after reading this I lost one on Saturday. A beautiful 8 point. I waited 4 hours because I knew I hit him back a little. There was good blood, and no food in the blood. Just good dark red blood. Tracked blood for 400 yards before the deer stopped in 5 different sports and stood (puddles). Then from there???????????????? No more blood. I think the local farmer drove into the field near the woods and spooked him into a run. We searched all day to find nothing.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread
 

Thanks for the article on recovery. I hit a nice buck on the first day of PA bow season saturday. He was quartered away slightly, the arrow did not pass through completely, but shot looked good, behind should, I thought maybe I hit the opposite shoulder. Waited 2 hours to look, found good blood, trailed him about 75 yards and found bed, I guess we jumped him when we started trailing him, he then went about 300 yds before we found another bed, then more blood, but eventually ran out of blood. Seemed that when he would lay down, he would fill up with blood, then when on his feet walking or running, eventually would run out of blood. He did make a huge circle, so I'm thinking of looking in area where he was heading in the morning before I shot him. what do you think.

RE: 7th Annual Recovery, What To Do After The Shot Thread... CAN SOMEONE HELP ME???
 

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME OUT??
I shot at a nice 4 pointer last night. When I shot it was about 40 yards away, I was in my stand 16' up in a tree and the buck was down a hill. Upon pulling my trigger release he went to step forward. When the arrow was released it sounded like it hit the ground/trees, I thought I missed but I did witness the deer jump streight in the air and hunch over, do a 360 and head in the opposite direction that he was going. I couldn't see the arrow hit because he was broadside to me and when he jumped and did the 360 he had the opposite side towards me. I waited a few, should have waited longer, but I didn't think it hit him. I went to where I last saw the deer run from and found no arrow but did find ruffed up marks. I followed them in the direction that he traveled and found that he haulted very quickly and left a hell of a skid mark of hoof prints. I looked to my left and found the arrow it was about about 100 yards away on the ground from where I shot him. The arrow was covered about 12" up with blood the arrow had grey, brown and white hair on it the blood was a dark yet kinda bright red... the blood may have been watered down slightly from the rain. It appears as funny as it sounds the deer might have pulled it out because there was some leaves stuck on the broadhead as if he pulled it out and flung it with his head. I left and let the area cool down foa 1-1/2 hours and went back...it was night time now and rainning (two wonderful things against me). My buddy and I found a couple of spots of blood where the arrow was pulled out and then it looked like the deer jumped over the stone wall because there was blood all over a fern on the stone wall and two drops of blood on the stonewall. We lost the blood trail and I went back today. We searched from 6:30pm untill 11:30pm and then I went out today for six more hours, found where he jumped the stone wall and then a couple more bounds and then nothing, blood was totaly washed off the rock and ferns. he did though run in somewhat of a direction of a swamp from what I could tell. I checked the area and found nothing. Do you think he could still be alive? What gets me is the way he jumped, the blood and the distance he traveled witht he arrow still in him!!! Did this ruin the area??? Please help me out, this would be my second year ever hunting with a bow and my first time ever getting a buck bow or gun. Thank you for all your suggestions. E-MAIL: [email protected]

Thank you for your time, Mathew Bouchard, Concord, N.H.