Good information on shot placement / deer anatomy / indicators on arrow / wait times. Of course there are caveats. My first deer with an arrow ... I was so excited! It was a doe. I shot. She ran out of sight. (I was hunting the crest of a canyon, so she didn't have to run far to be out of sight.) I found the arrow. Good blood. Smelled of `vegetation' ... so, stomach shot. There wasn't a trail (of blood), so I backed out. I called my friend/hunting mentor, and he/we decided to wait till morning to track. He's a good tracker and he quickly found, after a few yards, a highway of blood, leading to the deer. Sadly, a pack of coyotes had found it first, and there were only bones, and some hide left ... no meat at all. It was a gruesome sight, and astonishing, that predators could pick the animal clean so quickly. That was in Washington State. Similarly, I arrowed a deer at dusk, this time in Idaho. The way the deer moved I could tell it was a gut shot. I waited till morning. A Black Bear found it first. I had a bear tag and went after the bear (with bow), but could not get a shot. I went home for a rifle, returned, and the bear had CARRIED the deer off. No trace left. Astonishing. Argh. Those are two cases where waiting didn't work. Ughh. I hunt now in Alabama. Here we have the added caveat of stray dogs, and other hunters. I hesitate to wait, for the other hunters and dogs. So, yeah, wait time is important for archery hunting. It's not as necessary with rifle hunting, as the shock and trauma of the rifle bullet tends to bring deer down, within 90 or so yards, regardless of where hit (heart, lungs, guts).
https://substack.com/@theconfusedcreator/note/p-164183719?r=5hj3o3
Good information on shot placement / deer anatomy / indicators on arrow / wait times. Of course there are caveats. My first deer with an arrow ... I was so excited! It was a doe. I shot. She ran out of sight. (I was hunting the crest of a canyon, so she didn't have to run far to be out of sight.) I found the arrow. Good blood. Smelled of `vegetation' ... so, stomach shot. There wasn't a trail (of blood), so I backed out. I called my friend/hunting mentor, and he/we decided to wait till morning to track. He's a good tracker and he quickly found, after a few yards, a highway of blood, leading to the deer. Sadly, a pack of coyotes had found it first, and there were only bones, and some hide left ... no meat at all. It was a gruesome sight, and astonishing, that predators could pick the animal clean so quickly. That was in Washington State. Similarly, I arrowed a deer at dusk, this time in Idaho. The way the deer moved I could tell it was a gut shot. I waited till morning. A Black Bear found it first. I had a bear tag and went after the bear (with bow), but could not get a shot. I went home for a rifle, returned, and the bear had CARRIED the deer off. No trace left. Astonishing. Argh. Those are two cases where waiting didn't work. Ughh. I hunt now in Alabama. Here we have the added caveat of stray dogs, and other hunters. I hesitate to wait, for the other hunters and dogs. So, yeah, wait time is important for archery hunting. It's not as necessary with rifle hunting, as the shock and trauma of the rifle bullet tends to bring deer down, within 90 or so yards, regardless of where hit (heart, lungs, guts).