Advice for looking for deer .at night

[sb1010]

Advice for looking for deer at night. Arrow has some blood but smellsa little like I my have hit stomach. Had a pass through.

 

[Nicodemus]

If it`s gutshot, you might want to let it be for several hours.

 

[Whitefeather]

Go back in the morning.

 

[antharper]

I’d wait a hour or so and try trailing it . What you find should tell you what you need to do . If not a lot of blood it may be a option to call a dog .

 

[SwampMoss]

I have heard, if near the last rib at least 8 hours before you search.

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

If coyote population is low, might want to wait until morning... if coyote population is high, as others are saying, you'll still want to let an hour or two pass before risking pushing it to move too far.

If you search in dark, a roll of toilet paper can be a great tool. If / once you find blood mark the spot with a big enough piece of toilet paper to easily see by flashlight and mark the blood trail every few feet/yards as you follow it. If you are following a steady trail and lose it, you can easily find your last marking and look for an angled change of direction. I had one make a 45% angle change of direction with an apparent long leap and suspect I would have given up my search in the dark if not for toilet paper marking my last spot and slowly (super slowly) searching around the last spot until I found blood at the changed angle yards away.

 

[Lukikus2]

Wait an hour. Go look slowly to see if it's bleeding or down. Worst you can do is bump it and leave it overnight. Hope you find it

 

[sb1010]

I think I may have shot slightly quartered Forward too much. So went in okay but out too far back

 

[tucker80]

Wait and call a dog before going back

 

[Whitefeather]

I think I may have shot slightly quartered Forward too much. So went in okay but out too far back

If there’s ANY doubt in your shot then I think you should wait until tomorrow. A gut shot deer will take 6-8 hours to die if it’s not spooked. Most times they’ll go lay down and die near water because they are sick. If you spook it it may run for a mile. I wouldn’t even start to look until daylight.

 

[godogs57]

Wait an hour. Go look slowly to see if it's bleeding or down. Worst you can do is bump it and leave it overnight. Hope you find it

Bumping the deer is EXACTLY the worst thing you can do. A sure way to lose the deer. If you know that it’s a gut shot, back out, come back in six to eight hours. By that time the deer will be septic (sepsis poisoning) and too weak to move…or dead. You bump them and 1) they stand a good chance of being lost & 2) adrenaline kicks in on the deer and that does nasty things to the meat usually.

After retrieving a gut shot deer I ice down the meat a little longer than usual in an attempt to break down the muscle tissue even further. Adrenaline, in many cases I’ve found, will toughen up deer meat.

 

[BASS175]

What good will it do to find it tomorrow? The mean will be ruined. I don’t care how cold it gets a dead deer with guts in it is not good. The gas releases and goes through the meat

 

[bullgator]

If you think it’s gut shot, look around the nearest water source.

 

[Lukikus2]

Yep. I live on the edge. The deer could have bled out in fifty yards and game over. Or if you bump it. It ain't going to far before laying down again.

 

[Whitefeather]

What good will it do to find it tomorrow? The mean will be ruined. I don’t care how cold it gets a dead deer with guts in it is not good. The gas releases and goes through the meat

The meat will be fine. If it’s gut shot it won’t die for several hours. It takes several more hours before it starts to spoil.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Give it a couple of hours then ease in on the trail...then decide based on what you see. Heartbreaker to come back and have a spoiled deer 50 yards away. Tough call, wish you the best on your recovery

 

[sb1010]

Problem with morning is work. I think I won't do an evening sit without the next day off.

 

[BASS175]

So u would feel safe eating a deer that’s been dead on the road a few hours with the guts in it. I don’t think so. U wouldn’t know how long that deer has been dead unless it just happens to still have some body heat.

 

[Jim Boyd]

A gut shot deer is near 100% recoverable.

8-10 hours later.

 

[Silver Britches]

Whenever you go to look, be quiet as much as possible, and be patient. Go slow and stop and listen often to see if you can hear it. You may hear it get up and run off, or struggle to do so. Take some toiletpaper or trail marking tape, and mark any blood or other “evidence” you find. Don’t just look on the ground, look up on bushes and sides of trees. Anything it could’ve brushed up against or ran by getting it’s blood or hair on. Look for bushes it may have crashed through when it ran off. Don’t give up until you’ve given it your all! Keep looking and learn from this experience.

Best of luck finding it.