I've hunted many years and that is some VERY soild advice. Learing to wait is harder that learning to shoot a bow well.

Great post! One of the biggest factors is patience. Not only in the recovery but also during the shot. Just one thing I have seen in the past.

About the "void" myth. It may be a myth from a shot taken from a treestand or an angle but it is not a myth on a broadside deer. I have video of a friends buck being shot just below the spine with an arrow. We killed that same buck on film a month and a half later. We have trail cam pics of that buck going through his healing process. He had healed over pretty well and would have made it. It can happen.

Luckily we had the footage to watch over and over to determine where the shot was. We thought he was going to be a dead deer. We waited a couple hours before following up the trail only to find very minimul blood and no sign of the deer. He started showing up on trail camera about two days later.

Once again, excellent info, especially for newbies but experienced hunters too. Last season was my 16th hunting year and the first time in a long time i made a bad shot with the bow. I 100% give credit to this thread for making me do the right thing and waiting 6 hours to trail my buck. I knew it was a bad shot at impact, saw him run 100yds and slowly walk into brush. I took a compass reading from my stand of where I last saw him and left. 6 hours later i was back and searched where i thought i last saw him with no sign. I took out the compass and sighted my treestand, i was way more off than i thought and was looking in the wrong spot. Once I got back on track, there was the biggest buck i had ever gotten, only 10yards from where i last saw him. He definitely didn't need the 6 hours i gave him but I truely think if I got down and went after him immediately, I would have bumped him into the next county for sure. Great thread here!

hey i have a question...i shot a deer last year through the liver,with a 30-06(it blew it apart!0anyways he died within a minute following the shot.why? i never though the liver to be that importiant to a deer to not last a minute without it.

In some parts of Alaska and for certain hunts you have to be IBEP certified to hunt. Part of this class in Alaska during the field day is a blood trailing exercise. It was a pretty simple trail but for new hunters who have never done it before it was an eye opener. They place a small trail through the woods with "blood" and there is a piece of a cape at the end of it.

Good stuff!

Very nice, thanks for posting!

I can appreciate the waiting time limits and they are very logical--but know your surroundings.

Two years ago I shot a doe at dark and by first light the next morning the only thing left was head and hooves--the wolves got on it almost immediately. Last year I made a good shot. Decided to let the deer "cool down" and went got my buddy to help me find it and drag it out. Within 90 minutes of me shooting that deer and us locating it, something had eaten the butt out of it already.

Good post Rob.

Every year i track 15-25 deer and elk that were shot with bows, muzzleloaders and center fire rifles. The tracking dogs are wire haired Dachsunds. They belong to a fine older gent who no longer tracks. Due to the coyotes and wild hogs the dog is kept on a leash. i sometimes use a blood tracking light.

Most of the animals i track were shot in the evening. Two of the properties are closely controlled: Hunters must exit shortly after dark. Tracking then waits until the next morning. About one-fourth of wounded animals get eaten by coyotes. Many animals, especially those that are gutshot, spoil overnight.

Some tall grasses here are red. It's difficult to distinguish the color of that grass from blood. i carry a small spray bottle of peroxide. If it fizzes it's blood.

Get those bucks.

my stepbrothers bear, and my bear.