After The Shot

[joe ashton]

Ps clip them to plants by the blood.. not "to the blood"  

[dbd870]

I always wait an hour If I didn't see it go down or hear it crash then I examine the shoot site and pay particular attention to the blood, is it frothy, dark, etc. Liver shots I wait ~4hrs - worse I wait overnight. (with all the 'yotes I hate doing that, fortunately only had to do that once) If I see it and it looks dead I'll still give it 15-30min just to be sure. If I heard a crash I wait a half hour before checking out the shoot site.

[Friend]

[KentuckyTJ]

Didn't read all but I like to remember which way the deer came in as I have found they usually always try to get back to their bedding area. If you have made a bad shot on one check bedding area the next few days they can often be found there.

Of course this works best for evening hunts as that is mostly what I do since I don't like getting out of bed early.

If you shoot one in the morning it may have been heading to its bed so reverse this philosophy.

[DaveT1963]

Learn to identify the different types of blood/hair you find at the shot site.  A lot can be learned/confirmed by taking the time to really look your arrow over and any sign left on the ground.  As stated above - remain quiet, give the animal at least 30 minutes if you do not see it fall in sight, and more if sign warrants.  Then be sneaky/stalk the blood trail and expect to jump a live deer.

[Michael Arnette]

One of the best resources I have found on the subject are the little Drifter pack guides from one of our sponsors here. Good stuff and I would concur with the info from my mistakes and triumphs over the years.
http://www.3riversarchery.com/drifter+pack+guides_i9070X_baseitem.html

I'd say the #1 blunder most make is tracking too soon, especially with a single lung/liver hit.

[ChuckC]

Whip, you made a very good point.  As long as the blood is pumping, the meat is not spoiling.  If you give a gut shot deer 12 hours, and it took 8 to die, it is only sitting unfound (and dead) for 4 hours.

CHuckC

[Greg Szalewski]

Smell your arrow. It may be covered in blood but that smell of guts will shine through. You will know what to do then.

Another thing that I have noticed on a questionable shot is if a deer is not going to die immediately it will seek security and since the deer know where it just came from was safe they will often try to return.

[RickE]

Lots of good tips.  One thing I've noticed is that many animals if not hit quite perfect will tend to angle to the side that the hit/entry wound is on.  They seem to favor it and thus tend to circle or angle to that side.  If there isn't much blood trail, don't expect them to necessarily travel a straight line for this reason.  I've seen it enough times that it's not just a fluke thing.  Rick.

[awishanew]

If you loose the blood trail or can't pick it up right away look under the leaves as blood is often found there.