How Long Do You Wait After The Shot

[60 Deluxe]

I find it interesting to note how many guys wait thirty or forty five minutes after the shot before starting to look for their deer and then find them forty to seventy yards away. In my thirty five years of hunting I have never lost a deer (fingers crossed) and only had two that I did not have gutted within fifteen minutes of the shot. Those two deer, both does, had both started to bloat and the meat was a bit strong. I read stories of guys that can't find their deer or don't want to look for them in the dark so they go back and look in the morning.

I am interested in feedback on: 1) how long do you wait after the shot? 2) would you eat a deer that had possibly been dead for fourteen hours in 75 degree weather prior to being gutted and chilled?

[coldgas]

I wait a while but I will not wait over night. I'm not about to eat one that's been dead for 14 hours reguardless of temp. I'll wait about an hour unless I see them drop.

[Howard]

How Long Do You Wait After The Shot

"Never lost a deer in 35 yrs of hunting" ? Man- I take it you haven't shot many deer with your bow?

Question- 1 - depends on a lot of different factors

Question 2 - nope not me - I would not in that case

[super_dave]

Depends on how I feel about the shot. 10-15 minutes is plenty of time for a good shot. also depends if there are deer in the area.

[Low Fence]

Lot of factors.

IF I see it or positively heard the animal go down.....5-10 min (got to calm down...I use pole climbing spikes to get in trees)

IF I feel good about the shot, but animal runs or trail goes more than 100yrds, I back out and wait an hr.

IF I were to gut shoot one, 4 hrs. minimum

[Mexico]

I always wait at least an hour unless I see the deer dead.

[Richard]

Im real focused on my shot and know exactly where the arrow hits 95% of the time. When I know the shot is lethal I start looking right away but first I find blood and work it SLOWLY unless I see the deer fall.

Wouldn't eat a deer if it had been dead that long even in cool weather.

Congrats on 35 yrs and havn't lost a deer. I've lost 2 out of 23 with Bow so I'm not too disappointed in myself. 15 yrs. of Bowhunting

[stickemhard3]

3 beers

Depends on the shot and how good I feel about it. I have created a habit of watching my arrow hit its target so normally have a good read but I dont use lumenoks and low light can throw me off some.

[oktx]

If I know where I hit it, maybe 10 minutes depending on blood trail. The better the blood the sooner I look.

[UncleBubba]

3 beers

Ha, that would be 10-15 minutes for me

I judge by the shot, I gut shot a buck my second year bow hunting then watched him lay down and in my excitement I ran up on him to fast and never found him after he jumped. I'm sure the coyotes were happy when they found him.

1) 10-15 minutes unless I know the shot was bad...
2) No

[panhandlehunter]

Just depends on the situation. If I see the animal fall, I'll walk back to camp and grab a beer and the truck. If I don't see it fall, I still walk back to camp and give it about 30 minutes. If it's cold out(less than 36 degrees), and I shoot a deer in the evening, I'll wait and recover it the next morning, unless I see it fall. If I hunted a place with a lot of coyotes, I would go after it that night. I've been bow hunting for about 17 years, and only lost two. One of the does I didn't recover, I shot a couple weeks later. My grandpa is the one who taught me to bow hunt, would take up the track immediately.

[talltexasshoote]

"Never lost a deer in 35 yrs of hunting" ? Man- I take it you haven't shot many deer with your bow?

Question- 1 - depends on a lot of different factors

Question 2 - nope not me - I would not in that case

All of this.

[WCB]

On what I believe to be a good shot I wait 30 minutes. If I know it's a gut shot then I wait 6 hours minimum. Never had one I had to wait 6 hours but have tried to talk others into waiting. They didn't and they lost the deer after pushing it. And I'm a pretty good tracker. I won't give up till there is nothing to find...
And I won't eat a deer after 14 hours unless it's freezing out and the yotes haven't eaten it.

[ATXBowhunter]

It really depends upon how I feel about the shot - sometimes I know that I got a perfect hit; other times I can see them go down or at least hear them crash. In these cases I wait 15 mins just to calm down a bit. If I'm uncertain about the quality of the hit, I'll wait 30-45 mins.

[chuckhole]

A buddy of mine stayed in his stand after he got an 8-pt in the early part of a morning hunt. 30 mins later, a couple of doe came in and he got one of them. This may never happen again, but it definitely would not have happened if he had gone out right away.

Both were within 50 yds of the stand. It was his first season with a bow and for 5 years now, we still call him "Deer Slayer" even though he has had only 1 doe since.

So, because of that, I wait for at least 30 mins to an hour before going out.........just in case.

I want my deer, cleaned, quartered and on ice within 4 hours. No exceptions.