Hey guys, a few years ago I tracked a gut shot deer by the standard wait 6-8 hours and so forth. But any gut shot deer I’ve helped with, the arrow has been covered in guts as well last night, the deer was quartering away, I was 20ft up the tree. Had to rush my shot as it turned to walk away unexpectedly. my question is, has anyone ever had guts on the ground, but absolutely nothing but some fat residue on the arrow? It’s confusing me I have a dog coming today to track, just curious what others experiences may be with this. Very down on myself this AM
Typically, I find the stinch of gut on my arrow and watery blood at best. I will give the deer 24 hrs if possible. Usually there will be blood but it tends to fade. As far as fat on the arrow, that's possible that you also got fat from the entrance high up.. It happens, and it happens more than most admit. Don't beat yourself up. do the best you can to recover it and remember, this is an internet forum, so opinions will vary and people will armchair quarterback. keep your chin up man, go back out and hunt another day.
Pray you find it or it catches the guts on something to rip and speed up the suffering to death. My critique...a rushed shot is never a good shot choice. Keep us posted and hope to see pictures of a downed deer!!!
Hey congrats on the recovery and thanks for the update. Stick around and chat we need new members to actively post.
Congrats on the buck and sticking with the track. So how far did he go? How long after the shot did you find him? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
he went about 150 until he went down to pass, but the dog actually lost the scent so took us well over an hour until we actually found him. Long day of waiting for the track but well worth it
You did exactly what you should do. Most people, and myself had to learn the hard way on gut shots...if you go after em too soon, you will never find them..
As have I. I’ve long stated that when an archery permit is purchased, the governing agency(in my case PA game commission) should provide a pamphlet that outlines many of the situations you could encounter what I’ve had to learn thru trial and error, could have possibly been circumvented thru basic education. And now with crossbows MANY new archery hunters could benefit from it, as their only experience is with a rifle
well, the biggest issue is knowing the different types hits/placement of the shot. To me, straight gut shots are easy to identify.. liver/high lung/one lung/ paunch are more difficult which makes a difference when knowing when to take up the trail...and I have pushed ahead too early and lost deer for that reason..
Yep exactly. Maybe a simply chart showing different types of blood and wait times, and even possible deer reactions up being hit could help beginners. Would have definitely helped me in my teens when I lost a deer bc a lack of basic knowledge
The Drury’s DeerCast app has this built in. You can take a 3D deer, move it to the angle it was, put your shot placement in and it spits out info regarding recommended wait time, what organs you hit, etc. Nifty tool
