BobCo19-65

I'll answer your question with another.

How long do you feel it takes for a stomach or intestine hit deer to expire?

Big stated that he does not know of the shot placement. I asume he didn't see or hear the deer go down. I think he did the right thing.

I hit a deer one time a little back from where I'd like to hit her. It was 60 degrees outside and I hit her around 4 PM. I backed out and got her in the morning. She was only 60 yards from the stand. It took me about 3 hours to find her because she made a big circle and she died in the bottom of a creek bank, the meat was fine.

StickslingnTom

ya i remember that old guy. well i am nowhere near an expert but here is my guess. Dark blood i think, if i am wrong somebody can correct me , sounds kind of like a liver hit, but the watery part usually goes along with a gut hit, but very possible still a liver hit, at least in humans there are enzymes and other clear fluids in the liver, sounds kind of morbid, but hey - , if that old guys gives you a problem, all you have to do is call the dnr, they will allow you and i think accompany you to go onto his property and retreive the deer, you just can't bring your bow with you. hope this helps, let me know if you find it. good luck.

Tom

RomanWild

My butcher taught me that if you can't find it that night then you should not bother to find it the next morning. When it's that warm it is sure to spoil. You have to get the heat out of the deer as soon as possible. Even if it's cold there is a high risk of spoilage.

rybohunter

I've let several deer go overnight without a problem. Sometimes its not a matter of not wanting to track in th dark, but just the fact that the deer ain't dead yet. Some of you guys would be suprised how long a gut shot deer can live. I won't spoil Bobco's question to you guys. I'll let him post an answer.

BigDaddy12t

Ok, I have yet another question. How long do you look before you decidee that you wont find her, I am not saying giving up, but you have to get to a point when you have covered all of the ground you can. I was out there with my 2 boys today from sun up until about 12:30, I just ran out of blood. I feel worthless.
Here is the story, I went out at sun up and started at the point where I found my arrow, I walked along the edge of the bean field to the back of the woods where that grumpy guy lives.(about 75 yards) Anyways, looked all over the guys property, (only 1.5 acre) and did not find her. So I went bback to my stand and started looking again. I found a ton of blood on the edge of the bean field and the strip of woods I was in. Long story short, I had a massive bright red blood trail to follow for about 100 yards. I had puddles about the size of basketballs every 10 feet. Then they started getting smaller and smaller, and then they just stopped. I was on my hands and knees looking. I did everything I could think of before I quit.[:@] So, how long do you look before you stop?

BobCo19-65

Since you did not mention that the blood had bubbles in it, I am assuming it didn't. You also didn't mention the arrow having and stomach, green matter, or stench on it. I'd have to say (my best guess) that you probably had a muscle wound. As the deer is bleeding the blood pressure falls leaving less and less blood on the ground. Where you were finding the puddles is where the deer stopped and stood for a minute. It is very hard for a deer to bleed out unless you get on it as soon as possible. But, you didn't know where you hit it, so you played the odds and backed out. Same thing I would have done. As far as how long do you look for it, I'd probably spend an entire day or so if I had three people. If no blood, grid search and check water sources. Although I grid search more in this case always looking for blood.

Good point for a stomach/intestine hit. An intestine can go up to 24 hours before expiring assuming nothing else was hit, the deer will poison itself.

hornbow

I would do everything I can to find it that night. I gut shot one last week and let it go overnight before finding her. She even lived throught the night and was still warm when I found her. I cleaned her out, skinned her and took her to a local butcher to cut up for me. The meat I got back has a strong smell to it. I am not sure it is edible. I haven't thrown it out yet but may end up doing just that. Maybe bacteria got in there and started the spoilage process even before she died; I don't know. I am waiting to see if any of the meat can be salvaged.

rybohunter

hornbow
Had you not let her go over night you'd have never found her. Did she smell before you gave the meat to the butcher?

BOWFANATIC

Less than six hours.