Gangly

Sometimes bad shots occur, whether you pulled it, flinched, deer flinched, moved at last minute, etc. The question I'm wondering is:

Once you've used your firearm, and you realize "uh-oh, I may not have hit him/her as well as I would have liked", what is the general consensus on how long you should wait before searching for the deer? Im assuming the waiting game is to give the animal time to die so that you dont come up on him, spook him, and have him run to the next county, but sometimes is just so hard to sit still and wait knowing that you might have put a bad shot on the deer and he is out there suffering because of your ineptness.

So whats everybodies thoughts on this?

killadoe

Depends on how "IFFY"! Different circumstances call for different actions and wait times. If you know you made, for example, a gut shot, I'd wait atleast 6 hours or more.

okgobbler

Check out the sticky "Recovery..........", in the bowhunting section

Bocajnala

That would depend. Often times while gun hunting I have several people with me. We drive small woodlots. SO If I know I have hit a deer we will set up tracking it just like putting on a drive, that way if I push the deer at all, it will go past a poster and they can put it down. A lot of people wouldn't agree with that, buts its how we do it.

WhackEmAndStackEm

ill wait a minimum of 6 hours if questionable, considering hunting on property with adjoining private property with owners who wont let you pursure a wounded deer that you pushed onto there property.

Jimmy S

I always wait at least an hour before I walk over to where the deer was standing when the shot was fired.
I then inspect the site to try to get a clearer picture of any info, blood, hair etc.

I then slowly begin the search and mark all sign left behind.I always ensure not to disturb the sign left by the deer by walking to each side.
If I kick the deer up, I again wait another hour and repeat the process.

I honestly believe that biggest mistake hunters make is not taking the time to let the deer bed down. Pushing the deer
may decrease your odds for a successful revovery.

My thoughts are if the deer is hit good, he'll be down in a short distance and he ain't going anywhere. If he's not hit good, then
I always let him realize he's not being pressured and hopefully he'll bed down to be recovered later. A deeralways knows when he's being pushed.

bad_medic

I've only had 1 shot not drop the deer instantly.
last year in the pea soup fog with him quartering away at 25-30 yards I had the scope on 9x by accident and hit forward on the shoulder, he thrashed for a few minutes till I put a round through his neck.

Regardless, even if the deer is down where I can see it, I give 30 min. minimum. If it ran off with a good hit: 30-45 min. With an 'iffy' I'd say 2-3 hours. Because I was with my buddy in Ozona when he gut shot a nice buck, and we only waited about 1-1.5 hours, and spooked him about 50 yards from where he was hit. Given a little more time he woulda expired right there. As it was we never saw him again.

RugerM77.270

This is my rule. Weather a good shot or not I sit till my nerves calm down then go back to the truck and change out of my insulated bibs because weather I'm tracking or dragging I get hot, plus I never park close and it helps pass the time. I can usually get back to the impact point 30 min after the shot and check for blood. If the blood is good (lots of it and appears to be a heart lung shot) I move in. If it isn't good (little or no blood or gut) I back out and wait 2 hours. Sometimes if I know that I can move though the area quietly (fire break) I will circle around the last head of woods I saw the deer in to narrow down where I think it is.

rozman62

Several times I have watched deer take there last step from my treestand. I still wait 10-15 min to calm down so I don't fall out of the tree. I wait 45-60 min to begin tracking if they run out of sight. Once tracking if I feel a gut shot I wait 6 hours. Real dark blood sign is possible liver hit and I wait 4 hours. If I think it's a solid muscle hit which is also displayed as real dark bloodI will track faster to bleed them out. If I feel a lung or heart shot I continue tracking as 45-60 min has elapsed. Evaluating the blood sign is real key to holding back or proceeding. Alot of literature is avail on blood trailing but most of it comes from raw experience. If anyone ever calls you to help them blood trail then jump at the opportunity.

yodeldog3

I think you can tell alot by what the deer does after the shot. If they tuck there tail up between there legs, and run, it's probebly a pretty good shot. If they throw it up, like when you jump them, may not be a real good shot, give them 5 or 6 hours. Just motavates you to wait for the perfect shot oppertunity, even if you don't get the shot.