It all depends on where you hit the deer. Like it has been said before, look at what you have at the impact sight and go from there, but if you really question your shot, dont push him/her, mark the impact sight with a piece of orange tape or toilet paper and go another 20-30 yds in the direction the deer ran and mark the next spot of blood and then leave. Get others to help you track the deer and remember the line the deer took, if you know the area well, you can gauge where the deer might be headed, which is usually the thickest stuff he/she can find to bed down.

probably at least an hour


because you know what they say when in dout get the out

Jimmy S is right. I always wait at least an hour. Inspect the area where the deer was hit. If I find that I hit the deer in the guts, I will wait a few hours before trailing. The deer's circulatory system pumps almost no blood to the stomach while the deer is up and moving, and it pumps most of the blood to the stomach when a deer is bedded and digesting, so if gut shot, leave the deer alone long enough for it to lay down and bleed to death. A gut shot deer won't bleed out while it is up and moving. Check the color of blood and see if there is any tissue or hair, then you can tell about where you hit the deer by this sign. Lots of blood with white flecks and white hair is a good sign, (so is lung or heart material). Red blood with no white flecks indicates a muscle shot, red blood with white flecks/bubbles means a lung shot, dark smelly blood with stomach matter means a gut shot.

Bocajnalaexactly hw we do it. If i am by myself I'll wait and hour or so and get a track on. If it ain'y bleeding to hard I'll back off and come back at late night w/ the boyos. I am afraid to let them go all night for fear of spoilage and beleive it or not coyote.

I would gioce it an hour as well so it will have a chance to lay down and hopefully stiffen up some. Then I would stay alert while tracking in on it.
If it has been laying down and has started to stiffen then you should be able to get another shot at it.. if it gets up and tries to run.

Ive never waited more than 5 minutes when shooting a deer with a rifle, 75% of those times were DRT's.

I used to like you. Then three years ago I shot two does back to back. I checked for blood within 10 min. and found none so I decided to track them through the game trail and leaf litter. I jumped one about 45 minutes after the shot never to be seen again as she flagged me and bound over the fence to the next property. I had hit her in the top rear of the lungs she had bedded down and was bleeding out but I moved to quick. The other deer had run in the opposite direction and I didn't push her same shot same senario but she bled out and died 25 yards from the shot. I learned a lot of patience that day. If it isn't DRT take some time.

But you found no blood. Thats the key word. How can you tell an iffy shot without going over to the place the deer was standing. wait maybe 5 minutes and go look for sign, then decide if you need to wait longer. I never have though. Not bragging, I just dont take iffy shots to begin with, so I havent had a problem.

at least over night. Let it lay down and stiffen up.

Gangly, the best resource I have seen regarding evaluating a hit on a deer, tracking, and recovery strategies is this book.

Finding Wounded Deer, by John Trout

http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Wounded-Deer-Outdoorsmans-Edge/dp/1580111904

I reread several chapters every year to refresh myself.
Good luck.

-Bulz