Well, we invited our buddy Brian from SC to come help with the herd management and at 6:40 he shot a nice big ol nanny. WE he said I got the guts because she turned as I shot. We let her lay about 40 minutes, but not wanting the meat to spoil we took up the trail. Good blood trail, looks live liver/lung blood. I am thinking he got guts liver and clipped a lung. She runs into the thickest spot of woods you can imagine. We are now a mile away from where the shot took place, can no longer find good blood, and cant see the way out. When I say it was thick, take what most of yall western guys have seen and quadruple it. Briars, canbreak, pine trees, and more briars. We were lost and I just got back. We have given up on the deer and I can tell you the meat is no longer good, or at least I wouldnt trust it. He will be back Monday morning and afternoon to get redemption, and I hope he succeeds, he has tried that is for sure.

you bring the popcorn i'll bring the beers

WHY??????WHY???????

I dont think you guys understand when I say THICK. I could not stand up, I was crawling on my stomach, I lost blood. There is no doing a circle to find the deer, you cant see more than 5 yards in front of you. Trust me, if I knew we would find that deer, I would have kept going. I have lost the biggest buck I ever shot because of a poor hit and we stayed at it for 5 hrs, finding only a few drops of blood that day. WE tracked for 4 hrs, on our hands and knees the whole way, I look like I have been in a knife fight, my eyes feel like they have been gouged out, and my face has been bleeding. We never jumped it up or found puddle just drops until it fizzeled out.

If he knew he got guts then chances are the deer was going to live quite a few hours, 6+, but it will die. Why take up the trail after only 40 minutes? You knew it was a gut shot, you know gutshots can and many times do live a quite a while, therefore the meat wont be spoiling in 40 minutes because she isnt dead yet!!!!!

You never even gave yourself a chance to find this deer because you pushed her so quickly and now you probably have gauranteed her meat will spoil because she is long gone, suffering, and leaving no blood behind.[:@][:@][:@]

A true gut shot will allow them to live up to 18 hrs, but a lung liver shot, there is no way they live longer than 1 hr. Bubbles in blood and a dark red tint. There is also no real way to tell how long she has been dead, so if I did leave her out overnight, I would never trust the meat.6 hrs wouldmean taking up the trail now. If it was in the 50s and 40s then yes I understand that, but 80s to 70s for the first 6 hrs, if she was dead her meat wouldnt last to long. I have seen it happen before and have had friends sick because they trusted spoiled meat. I am not going to take that chance. I have asked God to give her a good quick death and that nature uses her to sustain the scavengers. Nothing goes to waste, not even a lost deer.

its possible you didnt hit that much of the deer. Its possible you only clipped something. Ive been sure I hit something when i grazed it.. It might live a long time..Dont be so sure you hit it. Even if there are bubbles in the blood you might have not mortally wounded the deer.

Oneshot,
You're going against everything that you should be following. IF you even SUSPECT gut shot, leave the animal at least 3hrs, preferably 6hrs, then pick up the trail. This thread is a "Sticky" for a reason..... http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2987754, it's a GREAT THREAD!!!!

Don't get too excited about that"dark red tint," to the blood, unless it's grainy as well. Dk.red blood could just as easily be GUTrather than LIVER. You come on here saying you had a "Tough Night," and lost adeer, then you don't want to learn fromyour mistakes???? What's your point in posting then????

"MAN UP," and learn a little, rather than sticking yourcovering up your ears and yelling "La,la, la, la...." Good decisions make the difference between a filled tag and a sad, sob story!!!!

I agree leaving the animal 3hrs. My dad shot a big 8 last year and he thought he hit liver and guts. He waited in the stand well after dark and walked home the long way. Three hours later we started tracking and found the arrow with dark blood and brown slim. Picked up the faint trail and found the buck 40 yards from the shot. After gutting the deer it was comfired a liver shot exiting through the guts.