I don't like letting deer lay if the temps are above 40-45 degrees. The meat will start to spoil and thats never good, but if you have to let a deer lay in order to recover that deer then thats just what you have to do
Well I try and not shoot deer unless I know it will be cold just to be sure but it doesn't get that cold very often here in LA.. And I have been taught that you eat what you kill. No excuses.
You can always stick a couple of bags of ice in the chest cavity and replace as needed. ETA - I see this is about after the shot, not after recovery.
I won't let a deer lay all night long. There is no need for it. If I gut shoot a deer right at dark, then that deer should be dead within 6-7 hours. So, if that means if I need to go back at 1 in the morning, then so be it. It's my responsibility to do everything in my power to get any deer that I shoot before it goes bad.
if you need to let it lay overnight, make sure you can get out right at or before sunrise so that you are tracking and hopefully finding the animal before the temp starts to rise, here in mn we hunt a lot in the cold but letting them lay is hard on me with the lack of patience when it comes to not tracking the deer right away... I try to give the poorly hit animals about 7-12 hours... go with your gut feeling and do what you need to
I dread to even think about leaving an animal overnight here in Colorado. The chances are that when and if you do recover it, there won't be much, if anything, left due to the coyotes.
