I shot a nice 6pt. tonight and I hit him a little far back in the liver. The shot was 15 yards from a tree stand and the arrow buried to the feathers and pentrated out the other side, a blind man could have  follow the trail. I followed the trail for 75 - 100 yards and found my arrow covered in dark blood. I dedcited to go back in the morning and find him. The question I have is how long should I have waited to trail him and how far do liver hit deer usaully travel before laying down and dying?

Go get him at first light in the morning.  He'll be dead.

If you don't spook them they'll often bed fairly quickly.  A liver only shot I'll give about 2 hours, liver and lung less.

You did fine to leave him, and he probably won't be much beyond where you quit if you didn't bump him IMO.

If you know you center pinched the liver your hit a major group of blood vessels. Sneak and I mean sneak down and over and look as quietly as possible for first blood. If it is dark, almost black, sit down be quiet and wait an hour ro and hour and a half. Then leave as quietly as you can and get help and lights. In the coyote filled woodlands of America I won't leave a deer over night not to mention how warm it is at this time of year. You should fing the deer bed in its last bed within 100 yards of the shot, if you were really quiet and sneaky.

The liver bleeds and does not stop. If you bumped him while trailing, he may have run a couple hundred yards more. You will find him.

I have had center punched liver shot deer die within sight.

I have had deer hit on the edge of the liver go 250 yards.  

If I find a lot of blood I go after an hour.  If I find less I give it a little more time.

Here in Texas we do not normally have the option to let deer lay over night.  To hot and too many coyotes.  Makes recovery much harder than playing it safe and waiting over night like you always hear about.

A liver hit is non-survivable, but if you start too soon and bump the deer they can go an amazing distance before cashing in.  The longer the trail, the better chance something can go wrong and you not find the deer,

On a liver hit, I wait 4 hours before taking up the trail. If the weather is cool enough to allow it, I would wait until morning and follow up with the light in your favor...

I've had them go down in sight...obviously hit the artery feeding the liver, but most of the time it has been best to leave them overnite. Twice we have found liver shot deer still alive the next day. They were basically in their death beds but depending on the blood vessels you hit, or didn't, they can last all night.

He's there waiting for ya. Nothing lives with out a working liver! We want pics!<><

from my experience with liver hits, they usually will bed down fairly quick as long as they don't get spooked. if i have a liver shot in the morning i will wait till after lunch, for evening hits i wait until the next morning. liver hits usually take them much quicker than a paunch shot.

Liver shot a doe this year.  She went 20 yds and laid down.  Four hours later she still had her head up.  The next morning she was dead.

Bowmania

I agree with Bill, I would wait at least 3-4 hours. Any hit that I a not sure of I wait as long as possible, coyotes are a big problem though, so it is tough to leave them over night around my area. Shawn

Yep I would try later tonight if there are yotes and high temps..You probably wont be able to sleep anyway...

QuoteOriginally posted by NDTerminator:
A liver hit is non-survivable, but if you start too soon and bump the deer they can go an amazing distance before cashing in.  The longer the trail, the better chance something can go wrong and you not find the deer,

On a liver hit, I wait 4 hours before taking up the trail. If the weather is cool enough to allow it, I would wait until morning and follow up with the light in your favor...

I agree. I always wait at least 4-5 hours before taking up the trail on a liver hit.

Did ya find him?

I agree with NDTerminator also, I figure four hours is about the minimum and longer is better. Usually liver shot animals don't go far if not spooked, they may get up and bed down again within a few yards. I always STALK a animal that I suspect is liver hit, if it is still alive, there is a very good chance you can get another shot.

I,ve liver shot two....one was in the story 'Know Your Terrain' in the Articles\\Stories forum.

He ran to where he wanted to be...and it wasn't that far.

 Know Your Terrain.  

The 2nd liver shot buck went 400 yards till he got to where he wanted to be...350 of those yards were accross a wide open TX 'pasture'.  Now he could have run 150 yards  in another direction and reached cover....but that's not where he wanted to be.

How long to wait?....least 2 hours...and 3 to 4 if you can.  How long they live depends on where you hit them , and how big a Bhead you used.

And by all means...stalk the blood trail ready to shoot again.  I had to on both mine.

Five hours is what I would wait. We have waited up to seven hours only to find the deer still alive (but could not get up).

Well did you get him?