[ronn]

I'm reading a lot of "I made a good shot" and tracked the deer for 200 yards, 500 yards, whatever. Guys, got to stay sitting and WAIT a minimum of 30 minutes after the hit and if its questionable, WAIT an hr before getting out of the tree or going to the arrow or anything. WAIT, JUST WAIT. deer will take off then try to find out what just happened. If you are up moving around looking for your arrow, climbing down the tree, or looking for blood and the deer spots you, its gone. if you sit still and it looks back to find out what happened it won't see you and will pay attention to its wound and may lay down right there. If you are pretty sure its a bad shot, after WAITING that hour, go to your arrow and see what it looks like. mark the spot and back out and WAIT for a few hours. Then go back and start slow tracking. Don't WAIT 5 mins or guess you WAITED 20 mins, look at your watch after you lose sight of the deer and time it. Even if you see the deer laying there, WAIT 30 mins minimum. The point?? WAIT in your stand after the shot for a minimum of 30 mins and there may be less lost deer. Can not stress it enough.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

I agree that a hunter should wait before heading after the deer BUT only certain conditions,
The hunt itself should determine how long to wait.
Many times the hunter is hunting public lands and a 30 minute wait puts that deer in front of, Lord knows how many other hunters
Even during an ideal hunt I dont think 30 minutes is really necessary I believe if a hunter needs to wait I think a Max. wait of 15 minutes is more than plenty of time.

 

[ronn]

no way. a 30 min wait will alllow the deer to die in 50 yards. go after it to soon and you'll be chasing lord knows how long. how many hunters are with in 50 yards verus 200 or 500 yards. read the posts of these guys chasing deer. this is with a bow which is where i put the thread. even if it is running and you can catch up to it, that would mean you are pretty fast guy, what are you going to do wing more arrows at a running deer?

or keep chasing don't mater to me.

 

[Hunting Man]

Another point with today's archery products, vanes,nocks ect, you should be able to see where you hit the animal and know how long to sit and wait. Someone is going to say my bow is too fast to see the arrow flight, possibly, but watch the hide impact location or watch for blood. I try to give well shot deer 20-30 minutes. Liver hit 3 hours, :no:. If its raining or heavy snow coming down I get on them right away as the trail will be covered or washed away fast. If you jump a wounded deer back off and allow more time don't push it. I lost a buck in Nothern Michigan because I pushed it too soon and once it got back on it's feet it never stopped again. It was -10* and had layed down but I was to eager. A lot of times I'll take my stand down, head back to camp, change into lighter clothes, get some dragging help, then go after it. Be patient! Another good topic ronn.

 

[ronn]

thats a good way to give the deer the time to die. yeah foul weather is a tough one. I would still wait cause even if the shot was iffy it may lay down and stiffen up but not die. chances are, give it enough time and it'll be within 50 yards of where you shot it meaning you should be able to find it easier. If its running a marathon even before you get out of the stand chances are higher that you'll lose it no mater what.

The deer I got this season was a liver shot. Thought it was farther forward. I waited 30mins climbed down, went and changed the cards in my cameras checked on the other stand, all in the same woods, then went to find the arrow. total time 1 hr 15 mins. It was raining. found the blood trail half the arrow. blood trailed the deer to the last place i saw it and 5 yards farther under a hemlock he lay there dead. about 35 yards from where i shot. lessen learned.

 

[timberghost]

I kind of see your point. Once it initially lays down there's a great chance that that's where it will be unless pushed/bumped. But Bruce also has a great point about other hunters and HM with the weather. IDK but that is a hot topic. I give all bow hunters all the credit and respect in the world.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

no way. a 30 min wait will alllow the deer to die in 50 yards. go after it to soon and you'll be chasing lord knows how long.
what are you going to do wing more arrows at a running deer?

or keep chasing don't mater to me.

if the deer dies within 50 yards, don't you think the hunter will see where it laid down???
Sorry ronn but your the poorly hit "wounded" deer episode doesn't ever play out that well.
We ALL know it takes a lot of trailing to locate a poorly hit animal
don't try to make it sound like the deer will die within "50" yards gimme a break.
and ronn don't ask me If winging arrows at deer is something I would do
There's a lot I can say to that but, I'll cut you some slack on that lame comment.

 

[ronn]

Lookin good. I coul

Lookin good. I couldn't have ieimangd while growing up in San Francisco that I would ever own a gun and shoot a deer. But here I am in Idaho and you're in California. What a world. Love, Uncle Darrell

 

[Southern Man]

I also wait 30 min ...or longer. By the time I get all the stuff packed up that I take with me and climb down, 30 min have passed....grins. Generally it's a on the spot descision, how I feel the shot was. I try to never assume the deer is down just right ahead. I always go cautiously and more or less "still hunt" til I find it.

 

[wmi]

When I was in ILL. they showed a video of a doe being shot with a arrow. The shot was on the money and the doe ran about 25 yards and literally flipped over and laid down. The hunters with the camera rolling got down and walked to the doe. Well much to their surprise she got up and took off. It took a dog and 2 hours to track the doe that ran another 600 yards before expiring. These guys were professional hunters. The point of the video was even if you can see the deer give it time. When they cut the deer open they discovered that upon impact the arrow deflected off the rib and went down and out not just straight through. The arrow only got one lung. It surprised me because they were using lighted nocks and the shot was perfect.:surprised::no:

 

[Buckshot]

If I hear a crash and kicking after a good shot I will go ahead and find the deer if that's what I need to do without waiting at all. If I don't hear a crash or don't feel good about the shot I will wait a couple of hours before I go look.

It just depends on the circumstances. 15 minutes or 30 minutes I don't see the difference. The deer is either dead or it's not and if it's not it will probably take much longer to die.

I do know that if I jump a wounded deer I back off for at least four hours before going back after it.

 

[buckfever]

When I first started hunting with my uncle he always told me to wait at least 30 mins in the stand after a shot..

Now that im a bit older and and can tell how I hit the deer I can adjust that time. But for a newbie hunter I would go ahead and tell him to wait awhile before he gets down.

I was hunting with my uncle one morning and he shot a doe. It laid down right behind my stand. I could not see it but I could hear it struggling to breath. After about 10 mins it got quite and i figured it was dead so i started climbing down.. As soon as my feet hit the ground it jumped up and ran off.. We never found that deer. I dont know if 20 more mins would have made a difference but i would sure like to be able to go back and find out.

Very rarely am I able to see my deer after the shot.. I usually hear it crash though.

Its funny this topic was raised. I hunted with my bro-in-law the other day and he is a newbie.. Before I left him I told him the same thing that was passed down to me.. Wait 30 mins after the shot before you get down. And then I added to it. Text me and I will come to your stand.. Modern technolgy

 

[Southern Man]

BUck fever I was always told that too. My first bowkill I shot was walking away from me , slightly quartering. I hit far back and angled up into the boiler room. He trotted a half circle, laid down 20 yards from me and died almost instantly. LOL, I didn't realise it and still waited 30 minutes, afraid to get down. He was dead when he hit the ground. A couple years later I shot a buck that bled like a stuck hog. I got down, went and got my father in law to help me. About an hour after the shot we trailed him for 400-500 yards and he was alive when we found him. Shot him again. He was too weak to get up after all that blood loss. Looked like you poured it out of a bucket. He would have died right where he was laying, but if I would have trailed him right after the shot, no tellin where he would have ran. I hit him in the chest also, but even tho it looked good, apparently it wasn't a perfect shot..........

 

[wmi]

30 minutes has been the standard used by most orgs. and outfitters for a long time. Vast majority of the time I hear the deer go down even if not I wait my 30 min. then get down to look for what kind of blood I have, then go get my stuff together, take it back to the truck, get my cart or ATV and go back to start tracking. The reason I do all of this is just so I don't rush and in my mind the hunt is over at that time anyway so might as well get ready for the recovery. Just my way of doing things. I always have confidence in my equipment and shots that they hit the mark otherwise I would not have taken the shot in the first place. Doesn't mean it is always the right way but it works for me.:yes:

 

[BruceBruce1959]

I've always been told 30 minutes also but I personally learned that
it isn't fun shooting deer so that other hunters can take them home. I've personally lost 2 nice bucks this way.

let me ask you guys, how would you handle shooting a deer, waiting the "std" 30 minutes, hearing another hunter shoot,
making your way to your deer only to see another hunter dressing it out? What would you do?

 

[wmi]

I guess it depends on where you are hunting. I have had it happen to me once where all I found was a gut pile. That was a long time ago and worse it was a huge 10 point. All this said I have shot a ton of deer and can still count on one hand how many I did not recover. All of those were in my younger less experienced years as a hunter and probably could have done a better job on the shot. This is also why I shot deer with a gun through the shoulders because the further they run the higher the risk of a problem. Yea I know I destroy the meat but I always get my deer. Besides I like that WWF body slam.LOL With a bow I also always shoot for the pass thru. Many times the heart shot is NOT the best shot to take. Having a low exit hole makes for more success in tracking and less distance traveled by the animal. Most times under 80 yards or so. I believe most newer hunters do not think the shot through but just react. This in its self is a recipe for problems.:no:

 

[BruceBruce1959]

none of that answered the question, I really would like to know what you'd do if you found someone tagging your deer?
I've lost a 6 pointer and a heavy bodied 8 to other hunters, Lost the 6 when I was 15 and the 8 when I was 16, It isn't fun especially when that 6 was my first buck and then to lose the 8 the following year. :ranting:
Since then I stopped waiting and haven't lost any.
So now some guy in Lincoln Vt. probably has my 6 on his wall and another guy in Warren Vt. probably mounted the 8 I shot for him, Hope they're proud of how they got their deer!

 

[buckfever]

let me ask you guys, how would you handle shooting a deer, waiting the "std" 30 minutes, hearing another hunter shoot,
making your way to your deer only to see another hunter dressing it out? What would you do?

I have no idea how I would handle that. Ive been blessed to be on private land and the deer drop on the same proberty that ive been hunting. It would prob not be pretty if I found someone else tagging my deer.

I guess if I was on public land and knew the deer was down I would be making a bee line for it.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

well in Vt. the law is pretty much, whoever tags and dresses it gets it.

 

[wmi]

If I had caught the hunter with my 10 point well I probably would not be posting now. It is a shame that in some areas you can't be off your guard for a moment without worrying about criminals like that. Here I thought only big cities had those kind of problems. With issues like that and the laws Vermont has pertaining to it anything they do well that would just nullify them to me. Sorry to here that you have to put up with people with such a lack of sportsmanship.