Tracking wounded deer—how long do you wait before pursuing?

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canswithbulletholesinem

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Curious to hear how others handle this—if you take a shot and the deer bolts, how long do you wait before starting your track

I was taught to wait at least 30 minutes unless I saw the deer drop, but I’ve heard everything from 15 minutes to a full hour depending on the shot placement and terrain. I had one last year that didn’t leave much blood at first, but after about 100 metres the trail picked up heavy and led right to him. Got me thinking if I had jumped the track too early, I might’ve pushed him.
 
canswithbulletholesinem said:
Curious to hear how others handle this—if you take a shot and the deer bolts, how long do you wait before starting your track

I was taught to wait at least 30 minutes unless I saw the deer drop, but I’ve heard everything from 15 minutes to a full hour depending on the shot placement and terrain. I had one last year that didn’t leave much blood at first, but after about 100 metres the trail picked up heavy and led right to him. Got me thinking if I had jumped the track too early, I might’ve pushed him.
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I rarely if ever wait longer than 30 minutes, sometimes quite a bit less if I was very sure of the shot placement.

Not saying it can't bite me some day. But it hasn't yet. In my mind, the wound is pretty much fatal in that amount of time, or it ain't, and you are in for a real rodeo.

If someone with more/different experiences says "thats failed me, here's how", no problem deferring.

Since I started often bringing earpro with me, even if its just the ol "headband with foam plugs" around the neck and often having time to put it on, have started hearing the crashing/thrashing sound of one dying 30-60 yards away more clearly.
 
It all depends on how you think the hit went.

Last three animals I ran towards to get as soon as I cycled the bolt because I knew I blasted their hearts in half and were within 10y of where they were hit.
 
After shooting over 300 big game animals, I always witness them dropping dead. I'm going back into my memory bank and cannot recall ever having to pursue a shot animal. Some did run, however only a very short distance, where I didn't lose sight of it. If I did lose sight of it, I would be on it's track/blood trail ASAP, no waiting.
 
Savage 212 with Remington Accutips.

I shoot for lungs/heart.

Shot one at 25 yards, gave it about 60 seconds before i got up. it went about 10 yards.

The other 2 were at 80 yards and 144 yards. both ran about 50 yards before crashing. i waited 10 minutes just to be safe.

I think as long as the deer doesn't see you come after it and it's a good shot, they won't go far. However, In my opinion, the deer has a different response to "ahh loud noise and my chest hurts now" versus "ahh loud noise, chest hurts, and something is chasing me".
 
The last deer i shot broad side at one hundred and fifty yards lifted his hoof (shot him in the heart) and had three wheel drive kick in. Did nothing but donuts for about thirty seconds and dropped dead ten yards away from where he got shot.
 
Dylan4570 said:
Savage 212 with Remington Accutips.

I shoot for lungs/heart.

Shot one at 25 yards, gave it about 60 seconds before i got up. it went about 10 yards.

The other 2 were at 80 yards and 144 yards. both ran about 50 yards before crashing. i waited 10 minutes just to be safe.

I think as long as the deer doesn't see you come after it and it's a good shot, they won't go far. However, In my opinion, the deer has a different response to "ahh loud noise and my chest hurts now" versus "ahh loud noise, chest hurts, and something is chasing me".
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On board with that too.

If you shoot it unawares, its different than shooting it while you're pursuing it too.

The deer has no idea what happened, other than something suddenly hurt it. Depending on how badly its hurt, it may run until it falls down, but if it hasn't run out of oxygen in the brain yet, like you said, it may very well stop after putting what it feels is enough distance between it and where it was shot, and evaluate. Lots of whitetail survival is "Stay still, don't be seen".

Its instinct/adrenaline.

Sometimes its amazing how far they can run while dead on their feet. Or how far they go with their circulatory system completely messed up, and give very little blood sign. Freaky.

To the OP, never give up after covering distance and not seeing blood. You'd really be surprised. Dog trackers have told me some interesting moose stories too. They ain't always lost because of bad shooting. Stuff happens.
 
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I would think that would also depend upon where you are hunting. I've read that in places like Pennsylvania, the woods are thick with hunters during the season. Apparently, waiting any length of time practically guarantees that when you find the critter, it will have a couple more holes in it and somebody's tag already applied. I have no experience in hunting areas that are like that, and don't really want any.

I hunted two countries in Africa, shot a total of a dozen or so critters, and in every case the PH, the trackers and I were literally jogging after the animal immediately after the shot. There were certainly no other human hunters in the area, but plenty of hungry critters looking for an easy meal, so the SOP there was to not waste any time before pursuing.

Deer here at home? I'd have to agree that it varies with each individual instance, depending upon how the shot felt to you, how the animal reacted to the hit, the terrain, etc. I hit a small buck a number of years ago who ran a short distance into a patch of small poplar very late in the day. Everything about the hit and his reaction to it told me to wait, but...I was hoping to find it before it got dark. I immediately walked all around the thick patch and ascertained that the deer hadn't come out the other side. Going against my better judgment I pushed in slowly on the far side, opposite to the direction from which I had shot. After only a few minutes of very slow going, I heard the critter crashing out towards the open field. I rushed forward as quickly as possible and got to the edge of the thick stuff just in time to see the animal at the far side of the cleared field, and was fortunately able to knock him down before he disappeared into the much larger wooded area on that side.

If I had waited as I knew I should, I'd positive that the deer would have just quietly died in there, based upon the first hit. There was snow on the ground, and it would have been fairly easy to follow him a half-hour later and find him, even in the dark, but impatience got the better of me. I ended up with a nice fat little table buck who got a surge of adrenalin upon being shot, and then another dose when I kicked him up from his deathbed a short while later. Not the tastiest venison I've ever had. :(

Never again. Trust your own judgment and instincts and don't rush things due to impatience.
 
Deer bolts, 15-30 minutes. Maybe longer if I have a second tag and suspect another deer might come along. I don't wait long if its a bang flop. Sometime, I can't see what happened because its thick bush, fired shot, deer no longer seen, so I wait.
 
Bow hunting, even with a good shot I wait an hour. An arrow shot wounded deer wont go far if its not spooked and it will lay down and die. I wait an hour, then find the arrow if possible, and take a peek at the amount and type of blood and decide from there. I have unfortunately made some not so good shots with the bow and have played this game many times. Get good lights and go slow. Rifle hunting is totally different.
 
What feels like an eternity. But probably was like 5min? Lol

I like the IDEA of waiting 15-30min, but in the moment I can never wait that long, I at least wanna go see if there's visible blood where it got shot pretty quickly.
 
However long it takes to have a quick smoke...that's how long I wait, and it's for my benefit, not the deer. Gives me a minute to clear my head and calm down (no I'm not one of those guys that acts like a teenager seeing bewbees for the first time) and then go about marking the trail with flagging tape, walking beside the tracks or blood. Never had a deer go further than 110-120 meters ever, and the majority much closer.

It helps to be confident in your shooting abilities as well. The best way to improve your tracking is to improve your shooting. No "shot em in the heart dead to rights but still, me and all my buddies tracked him 5,200 miles high and low and didn't find him"
 
When I shot my biggest buck I seen him Hunch up and take off 100mile an hour and I heard him crash. I had about 30minutes of daylight left and was heavy rain. I didn't wait 1 minute. Instantly started looking (shot felt good, I seen him Hunch up hurt bad before he took off) found him dead just inside the bush line. Ran 50 yards tops.

Next day my buddy shoots a big buck.

He says doesn't know if shot was good, But Buck went down then got up and took off.

We waited an hour as had all day to track. 3 minutes into tracking I heard the buck get up and take off about 100 yards ahead of us. We waited 2 more hours and at noon we started blood tracking again.

We caught up to him an hour later and the buck jumped up again! I smoked him on the dead run at 100 yards in a hardwood bush before he went over a ridge and into property we didn't hunt. I seen his front leg just dangling as he ran before I shot so I knew it was same buck.

Thinking back I don't think we did anything wrong as the buck was hit in the elbow of the front leg. He wasn't going to die unless we kept pushing him and he bled out. We could have waited 5 hours and he might have laid in the first spot and eventually died. OR Coyotes would find him, Or he would survive. Not sure

In my experience, Every circumstance is different. Sometimes if give them time, Sometimes I go right away. All depends on how the animal reacted to the shot and what blood sign is like in the first 50 yards.
 
I will walk to the spot where he was standing when I took the shot at about 10 min and find the blood. Bright red and frothy will tell you lung or chest cavity. Dark red will tell you gut shot.

If it’s bright red, give’r

If not then wait 20 min
 
There's really no tactical advantage in rushing in after the shot (unless it's a specialized situation as mentioned where other predators are competing for the same animal) and it may make all the difference in getting an opportunity for a second good shot.

When I was younger my hunting partner made a bad shot on a deer and of course being young and eager we rushed in so he could finish the job. Well we ended up chasing that deer all over the place and it was always able to keep its distance and we would only occasionally get a long distance shot at him while he was still moving well. At that point you take any shot that's offered in an effort to salvage a bad situation. Several shots later and we still hadn't connected.

We never recovered that deer and felt afterwards like our hunting efforts had been badly played - we went home thoroughly dejected. We should have waited and allowed the deer to calm down and I'm sure my partner would have gotten a much better second shot at closer range. There was no compelling reason to rush in.

Even a deer badly wounded can still move faster that a hunter stumbling in the bush after it.
 
canswithbulletholesinem said:
Curious to hear how others handle this—if you take a shot and the deer bolts, how long do you wait before starting your track

I was taught to wait at least 30 minutes unless I saw the deer drop, but I’ve heard everything from 15 minutes to a full hour depending on the shot placement and terrain. I had one last year that didn’t leave much blood at first, but after about 100 metres the trail picked up heavy and led right to him. Got me thinking if I had jumped the track too early, I might’ve pushed him.
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Uhhh were kinda the reload and go buddies that deer moves faster than us. Sometimes it's dead 30yard away Sometimes it's a hundred rarely have we gone beyond that. Though I did chase a big whitetail almost 2 km (had truck) from a poor shot. Not me and buddy shooting.
 
I usually try to wait 15 min unless it drops where I can see it. But time of day is also a factor, if its getting dark and i'm confident in the shot I may only wait a few minutes. I did have to leave on until the next morning once. the temps were good, down to about 2-3 degrees, but around here there is always a risk of coyote or bear finding it over night.
 
Depends on the hit. Unless I see it drop or nosedive after running I wait a minimum of 15 minutes, takes a bit to reload the muzzleloader anyway. If I'm unsure of the hit then 30 minutes to an hour. Had a bad hit with a bow once and after an hour wait I ended up pushing him. It was an afternoon December hunt so came back next morning and recovered him.
 
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