shooting deer w/ a bow
 

when hitting a deer with a arrow. how long should you wait before getting down from your stand? also do they run far when hit?

RE: shooting deer w/ a bow
 

Quilly there are a lot of things that determine when to get down, if you know you double lunged the deer, 1/2 hour is enough time unless you see it drop in sight, even then wait 15 minutes just to make sure he is expired. The worse the hit, like a liver shot the longer you should wait before tracking the deer, probably an hour or more.

How far will they run? Well they can drop in thier tracks, but that is unusual, mine did this year, but the arrow deflected off the shoulder blade and shattered her spine. With a double lung hit any where from 20-100+ yards. With a liver or single lung or the like, probably 100 yards or more, then they will usually bed down if you do not push them, this is the time you want to give them an hour or so to bleed out.

I will be honest there are others here with a lot more experience with bow than me, I am just passing on what others have said here.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

RE: shooting deer w/ a bow
 

Wow Quilly!!! Not enough pages on this computor!:)

As Tazman said, if they don't drop in sight WAIT. Personally, I wait AT LEAST 1 hour (?weather?). I wait at least 30 minutes before I get out of my tree and then go straight to the arrow and inspect it.

If your arrow has greenish whiteish smelly material on it (Unfortunate gut shot) I will wait 3-4 hours weather permitting.

I wait for a high percentage shot and when you "put em thru the boiler" they don't go far.

By watching your spot on the deer you can usually see the hit and between this visual aid and arrow inspection you can determine your hit location and go from there.

"Semper Fi"

RE: shooting deer w/ a bow
 

Unless they drop in sight half hour bare minimum, full hour preferable. That is just until you get down out of your tree and look for clues to the hit. Always remember, just because you THINK you hit the deer good, doesn't mean you did. even after a lot of deer and many years, the eyes/mind can trick you. Lots of bright blood right away typically means a short track. little or dark blood with or without bits of anything in it, means you aren't going anywhere for a while. Gut/liver shot can take anywhere from 4-8 hours to expire. error on the 8 hour side and things will be smoother for you. A shot square thru the center of the liver hitting all the good blood vessels will die out quick. Hitting the outer part of the liver is a different story. The deer can live for several hours. Track slow, quietly and deliberate. I have shot deer that ran from 25-500 yds before dieing. Most are in the 50-60 yd range.

RE: shooting deer w/ a bow
 

My general rules of thumb:

Perfect shot and see and/of hear them crash = 1/2 hour.

Liver shot = 5 hours minimum (seen them jump after 3)

Gut shot = 12 hours minimum

Single lung = 5 hours minimum (you'd be surprised how long they can live with 1 good lung)

Paunch shot = 16 hours minimum

JRW

RE: shooting deer w/ a bow
 

I pretty much follow JRW's rules. Their are however a lot of factors that need to be considerd. When in doubt wait. if the weather is cool you are hardly ever wrong in waiting. That's one of the reasons good shot placement is so important.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS