Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

Shot was about 6-8" back from where it needed to be, and was high.
Deer jumped and ran 20 yards, stood looking around for 5-8 minutes, walked 10 feet and laid down for 15 min. got up stood for 5 min, walk slowly for 3 min, stopped for 2 min, walked very slowly up into an over grown field.

arrow was pas thru, with some red on it, no green slime, I could see the exit wound while he was standing, it was halfway between the front leg and the rear qtr, in the top 1/3 of the deer. He was dragging some gut, I am not happy about this at all.

I did not push tonight, Going back in the morning.
Any advice?

Thanks,
Slack

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

Definately wait this one out. There is no telling if youll find this deer or not. You might have got some liver. Was there dark red blood on your arrow at all? There probably wont be much of a blood trail so you will probably just have to look. Hopefully since you didnt push tonight he will lay down again not too far from where you shot him. Good luck

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

Don't be in a hurry as he may live for a while yet. Take your time and move slowly cause all you have is time. You do not want to jump him. He may be dead by morning but rather safe than sorry.

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

You should find him in the morning. Track as quietly and as slow as possible. Don't beat yourself up. You should have a dead deer in the morning.

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

That deer is sick bad. He's laying there waiting for recovery.

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

yeah deer that are gut shot and that were not pushed, usually will bed down in the first 200-250yds and can take over 8hrs to expire. You should havea dead deer by morning. Good Luck and update us

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

everyone covered it good...if i was a bettin man id bet hes bedded in that field..so long as he aint jumped or pushed he will be there dead waitin for you...

just a question..how come no second shot if he stood 20yds farther for 5-8 minutes?? if i know i made a bad hit and the deer doesnt run REALLY far or out of site im going to try to sink a second arrow into him..already know you have one bad hit...even if you got a second bad hit its better then 1..hes gunna die from a gutshot regaurdless...deer arent push pins..but if i can get a second arrow into a deer im going to give it my best..2 bad hits is better then 1..sure if it was possible you would have..

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

Sounds like you made the right decision. That deer should more than likely be dead. The blood trail may be hard to follow at times but use your head and look for small clues. Ex: ruffled leaves, tracks, ants, etc

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

I just shot one (11-10-06) that my arrow hit a branch and hit low in the gut, more rear third and low. I waited about 8hrs before I started tracking him and when we found him, he was still alive and needed a second shot. He only went about 100yds and bedded in real thick cover, it was a tricky bloodtrail that doubleback, but we found him.He was only 50yds or sofrom where I shot him. I hope you have the same results since you are doing the right thing by letting him sit overnight.

Here is the link with the pics of where he bedded, it was only visible from one side. http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1796838

RE: Gut shot, how long to lay?
 

The buck in my avatar was gutshot at 5 pm. At noon the next day we started tracking him - and jumped him!This was17 Hours later and he was still alive! We backed out again and came back another 24 hours later. We found him less than 100 yards from where we jumped him and less than 200 yards from where I originally shot him.

Deer are tough. If you hit the liver he'lldie within 6 hours. If not it could be 12 ormore hours. Take your bowwith you in case he's still alive.

Good luck... you did right bybacking out. He won't go far if you leave him alone.