Questionable hit
 

Shot a real nice buck this morning. However the hit was on the high side, but perfect front to back. Arrow looks like it got around 6 in of penatration so I'm thinking I went through the shoulder blade. I was 20 ft up a tree, shot was 20 yrds. Here is a pic of where I hit. It was probably 4 - 6 in below his back just a guess. He did not run off I watched him walk off 300 yrds before I lost sight of him. How long should I let him sit.
Where the shot looked

Let him sit for 3-4 hours. I hit my deer really low this week, and I went out to look 1.5 hours after the shot and moved him further. Be patient, I wish I was. Kick back and have a cup of hot coco :)

That was what I was thinking. I shot him around 7:30 and was going to wait until noon.

A few years ago I hit a big 10 right around there. He did run either, took a couple hops and walked 50 yards and stood there for 5 min. Then walked down the hill. I wait 30 min. and got down found the arrow and saw the blood trail. Went back and got my buddy, told him, lets go get my buck. Anyway, he bled like a stuck pig for about 75 yards, big pool of blood where he stood. After that nothing, looked for him for 3 days, nothing. Long story short, a guy shot him during shotgun season out of the same stand. When we dressed him out, he only had 1 lung the other taken out by my arrow. Tough SOB. I hope you find your buck, but if you don't, I think you still have a chance him down the road. Good luck........

FIRST OF ALL STOP. an hour and a half is not enough. back out. i hit my buck this year exact same spot about. arrow penetration bout same..no blood trail really but he did run off w/ arrow still stuck in him...
let him sit for about 16 hours or so shot at 5pm looked next morning around 10....didn't find him....not much blood at all and ended up raining on us. hope find him

With that location and the height of your stand, I would say you'll get one lung. This may not be a fatal hit. Arguments and first hand accounts both ways. Either way, this deer is going to bed up due to the injury. Therefore, I would basically stalk the bloodtrail as slow as possible. Keep scanning ahead and to the side. Only move when you know the deer is not in sight. May take the rest of the afternoon to get very far, but you may get a second shot. Good luck!

Every deer reacts different, and this one seems to be a regular hit/loss due to looking to soon. Your deer will be within 100 yds or so from the first bed it makes, usually. If it has to jump a log, or creek look for a drop or two on the other side. One of my customer that is a butcher, has told me of how many deer he finds with bhs still in them that has been calcified over them. Good luck!
Pat

If you hit that spot, most likely you are above the spine thru the backstrap - most times not fatal

if their is a broad head stuck in him 4-6 inches, he will prolly die, maybe not today or tomorrow, but he will die...

maybe it struck all meat and may live, but i wouldnt think so...


if it were a spine shot he wouldnt had walked 300 yards...

I would say wait until 3-4 today before you go look. Give him time, not worth it to loose him.

My son has shot 4 deer in our area (I'm still looking) and twice we were lucky he shot early in the morning and was able to give it 3 - 4 hrs to sit. The other two times were at around 3:00 and little light left. We followed one through the thickets at night, to only kick em around, but got lucky and he dropped heading uphill about 300 yds from the shot. The last one, not so lucky, had to chase it, jumped it, had to go back the next morning and coyotes had tore em up.
Seems we all want to take a look where that arrow went, see how bad he's hit, head for the last spot we last saw him, but even that sometimes can chase him even further away. There are factors in having to chase sooner than we should. Mostly late hits, and in my case, we don't have that luxury of going out the next day due to work. In Sullivan, leave that deer overnight, and it can become coys dinner. If it suppose to rain that night, blood trails usually wash off. So many factors to consider, but if given the opportunity, back out of the area for at least 2 to 3 hours, relax for a while. It'll clear your head and get you ready for some great tracking and hopefully a successful end.

Well wait about 5 hrs from the shot. Went out looked and found no blood. He ran into a tall grass field I this is where I last saw him walking through. Ran every trail we could find exiting the area no blood. Went back to the beginning following a trail through there and jumped him up, didn't see him until he was headed up the wooded hillside looked all over where he went, never did find his bed, no blood on the trail he took for the better part of 300 yrds. I guess its a lost deer, not feeling the best and hating myself for not making a good shot. I'm assuming its a shoulder hit but may never know. Heading to the range for hopefully some confidence building.