sorry about that rob miss read a little bit thanx for clearin that up

good luck hunting

Great post! I was learned 1 hour wait...but the min.2 hour wait is a much better. also I' d like to share a hunt where my partner shoot a doe , somehow in the ankle. this was with a rifle. 3 of us tracked all day. we kept catching up to her but had a hard time to get a shot off. it got dark we left. Next morning we found right away where we stopped lookig..she had bedded for the night. she kept going to a steam to cool the wound, while in pursuit. with in a coupple hours we caught up with her on this second day of tracking. we spotted her walking up in a steam. we cut around quickly upsteam
and finished the harvest. We did not want to lose this animal. it would not be fair to let the deer suffer. Our idea was to tire-out the deer by pushing it and hoping for a second shot. We knew that the deer would not bleed out and expire with this ankle shot. The hard tracking in a dusting of snow was worth it and rewarding. It turned out to be a great " HUNT" for all three of us.

Great posts guys.I' ve taken a lot of deer over the years,but I have to admit,I remember the great tracking jobs to find the smallest does that tend to bring me the most pride.How mant times have you tracked that small doe and found the deer' s secret trails?My advice,never give up!!!

Once while bow hunting a deer ran right under me bleeding from the top. I got down and met the hunters tracking it. 4 hours latter I was leaving and met them again in the parking lot, They lost the trail. 2 months latter I shoot a doe during shotgun season(special permit) low and behold when butchering there was the arrow and broadhead in her shoulder and leg all healed over. They can survive bad shots. Glad I got her though she didn' t seemto be affected or hampered by it.

Great posts guys. Its heartbreaking to lose them.

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OK, I guess it' s about time I put in my 2 cents worth, I can' t believe this has not been mentioned....

I am writing this as fact, when in fact, I only know it to be true because it has been 100% accurate for me...

A mortally wounded deer (heart/lung shot) will run a straight line until it dies, even uphill and thru very rough terrain. Keep some toilet paper and mark the blood every 20 yds or so until you get an idea of the path the deer took. If after 75 yds or so all of the peices of toilet paper line up in a straight line, then continue on that straight path until you find your deer (only if you have lost the blood trail). A deer that is not hit hard (ie-gut shot or flesh wound) will " pick and choose" it' s path, usually the path of least resistance, trails or downhill, etc. If you start blood-trailing a deer and find yourself on deer trails or trailing the deer by the easiest flight path, then you probably have a long trail ahead of you. WAIT!

BTW - ILLDS, YES! Lanterns do work better than flashlights but be careful, they get hot and can inflict some killer blisters on your hands and arms.

One thing that I have noticed is that most of the deer that I have shot seem to turn in the direction that you hit it. If you hit in the left side it kind of veers to the left.

Rob,

Excellent advice. The only thing I' d like to add is to wait at least four hours after a liver hit. I' ve had them jump after almost 3.

JRW, I agree with you on that. I actually had a buck live 5 hours after a liver hit. He was alive in a bed. I accidently walked right up to him (he was in heavy cover), and I was able to put a finishing shot into him. he wasn' t going anywhere I don' t think from that bed, but the point was he was still alive with his head up.