Ok, the scenario is; you shot a mature 8pt buck, unsure of exact hit, but you seen the buck run away with about half the arrow sticking out of him. There is no blood where he was shot, but about 20yds there is spotty blood to say the least. The arrow fell out about30yds away from where you shot him, there is dark blood with no bubbles. Obviously the smart thing to do is back off and wait a couple hours. You come back and cannot find the buck because of a non existent blood trail. No dogs can be used to find your deer, it is just you. If you end up not finding it, how long do you continue searching for the buck?

To me there is a lot for some people to learn, I think a lot of people give up way to fast on finding their deer. There are many things, like the blood, that can tell you what kind of hit you had. I know I have wounded a few deer in my bowhunting career, and I searched high and low for 3 days, and after that I did not hunt for 3 more days, because I practiced and practiced shooting. Once I ran everything that happened through my head, shot placement etc. I was 99.9% sure I just made a flesh wound, and it was evident after I seen those bucks later in the year.

I want to hear your opinions and see how long you would search for your deer.

I would look for about 2 days. Hope it never happens though. I would need some type of closure in that situation.

I can't put a number to the question. The only deer I have ever lost I searched for over 9 hours. I looked high and low, I would have looked longer, but I had to go home the next afternoon. So, after I shot him, I knew I had a high and back shot, I let him go for over an hour. I had pretty much the same scenario on blood as you mentioned above. I looked all the first day and part of the next, over 9 hours of searching. I, to this day believe that I killed him, but where I hunt if you do not have blood it is almost impossible to track or locate downed game. I believe that the true answer is in the ethics and inthe heart of the person that took the shot. Some people will just say oh well and continue to hunt without really searching, and yet others will spend days looking. My hunting partnet shot a deer several years ago and the only place we found blood was at the point of impact. We searched for 3 days and never found that deer. Even today when we are walking the same area, we are still looking for him. So the real answer is it depends on the hunter him/herself.

As long as it takes for me to find it. Its my duty as a hunter to recover my deer, to not take the shot unless im sure of it and to make EVERY EFFORT possible to recover it whatever that takes. I'm not saying quit your job or anything, but I think as hunters we need to practice what we preach.

CYberg

Until I'm convinced its a non fatal hit, or until i find it.

I spent all day looking for a deer once , literally , from sun up to sun down. I don't imagine I'd ever spend anylonger than it would take for the meat to spoil.

As long as it takes