Hours, days, weeks, even entire seasons can be made, or broken, in just a matter of seconds. If your arrow flies true, perfect! If it does not and the impact results in a marginal hit. Case in point, an Illinois deer hunt I experienced early in my career.
There is not many days I will spend in a deer stand when everything seems to be going perfect from the get go. But this had the makings to be one of those days though. On this particular hunt I was able to get away from home early enough not to be rushed as I tried to get to my stand for the late October evening hunt. Not being rushed was success in itself. The soybeans I was relying on to still be standing were. The wind was lightly blowing the direction I needed. Temperature wise, not too hot, nor too cold. Just right. This was going to be a magical day on stand. I could sense it from the first step I took away from the truck.
The only thing that would make this evening better is if the deer I had been scouting showed up downwind of my stand as they made their way to the protein enriched soybeans. Time would tell if I would be able to peel my tag and wrap it around the leg of a deer or if I would have to wait.
Time was ticking by as I sat 20 feet off the ground. So far everything was quiet, almost too quiet. Except for the occasional squirrel barking at me, me reminding me to stay alert, the wood, felt desolate. In the distance I could see the fog of soybean dust as the big John Deere combine harvested soybeans, in a nearby field. I knew then that it would be a matter of time before the field I sat on the edge of would be harvested. It happens every year. Maybe as soon as tomorrow. Tonight I would have to make things happen or risk missing a golden opportunity.
One of them pesty squirrels I had been hearing the last 90 minutes or so stepped on a branch. My inner self told me that was no squirrel like I had ever heard before. Slowly, turns 45 degrees to my left, I saw a nice 10-pointer in the 130-inch range. At that point I had never killed a buck that big and badly wanted to. Just ahead of the buck, a fat doe meandering through the woods was headed on a string to my tree stand. Suddenly, just feet from my shooting lane the doe did an about face taking the lovesick buck with her.
Hurriedly, as a ditch effort to turn the buck back my way I grabbed my doe bleat. A couple of calls did no good. As the buck kept walking I shook my rattle bag with high hopes it would help. The imitation of a fight did no good either. The buck already had his nose to the ground following what he wanted. I do not blame him for staying away. Discouraged, I sat back down hoping for one more chance. Wanting venison for my freezer more than horns for my wall I decided a doe would suit my needs just as a buck would.
Minutes slowly ticked by. Eventually another snap jerked my head up. Again to my left a doe was walking almost step for step where the doe before her did. Thu there was no buck pressuring her to do something she wasn’t yet ready for. Except for some unforeseen reason that was unreasonable to me 20 yards was all the longer she would remain healthy. I could already see my arrow hitting home. Crimson colored blood covering the ground.
My dream of seeing the broad head slice through heart and lung suddenly became a nightmare. I was right; the doe only remained healthy for another 20 yards. But, instead of seeing my arrow deliver a blow to the vitab it deflated off of a branch and veered to her mid-section. She was now shot in the paunch and I had my work cut out for me.
Bad shots can happen for any number of reasons. I am not trying to make excuses for my blunder but ever hunter will have a shot that doesn’t fly true in his or her hunting life unfortunately.
Knowing from past mistakes I made in my hunting career even earlier in life I know this was a time to be patient. An hour after the shot I climbed down and walked to where the doe was standing when I shot. What I found confirmed my thoughts white curly tuffs of hair indicated a hit to low and too far back. After following the trail a few yards I found my arrow covered in green stomach goop. I picked up the arrow and smelled it. Yuk. Definitely a stomach wound. At that point I turned around and walked to my truck and began the long wait till the sun showed itself in the Eastern sky the next morning. As much as I hated making a bad shot I also knew that my chances for recovery were high if I waited.
Finally the sun came up and I could pick up where I left off the night before. After weighing my options, I opted to wait till about nine in the morning to continue the search. The weather was cold enough I knew the meat would not spoil. Also by waiting I would not ruin a good stand site because I was out traversing through prime whitetail real estate during peak travel times.
Beginning the search where I found the arrow the night before it didn’t take me long to find the first droplet of blood. The droplet of blood I found was very dark. Another sign of a hit in the mid-section. At first that’s all there was. A droplet here, a droplet there. As tough as it was I followed the sparse trail for about 250 yards. There I found a pool of blood where the doe had laid down. The blood was dry enough I knew it was not me who drove her out of the bed and she was probably near. The trail I had to follow was slim to say the least. Fortunately I didn’t have to follow it far. The doe only made it another 50 yards before toppling over. I was like a kid on Christmas morning seeing the white belly of the doe.
The night before I wondered if I would be able to use a deer tag or if I would have to wait. Well, it turns out I had to do both. After shooting a mature doe and then waiting several hours I eventually wrapped my tag around my trophy. I was not happy to have to wait but it sure beats the alternative. The alternative of fatally wounding a deer and not finding it.
I wrote earlier that every hunter will experience a bad shot. On the hunt my arrow was deflected. The next time – it might be because of nerves, the animal took a step just as the arrow was released or poor aiming. The number of reasons why we make bad shots could fill up this whole page. The bright side of this dull subject is that gut-shot deer are recoverable. You just have to go about trailing them different than a heart-shot deer. Here are some tips to help you find a gut-shot deer.
1) DO NOT MAKE A BAD SITUATION WORSE
I knew from the tuffs of hair and the green slime on the arrow I found that I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to find this doe. Had it been a heart and/or lung shot deer I would have followed the trail within 45 minutes. I knew without doubt where my arrow landed so I waited.
2) WAIT 8 HOURS, OR OVERNIGHT BEFORE TRACKING
If I would have went in immediately hot on the trail I would have jumped the doe from the bed she first laid down in. As it was she got up from the bed went 50 yards and died, after loosing a lot of blood in her first bed. If I would have jumped her shortly after she lay down she would not have had time to bleed out. A gut-shot deer can run miles if pressured. A deer with this much adrenalin is hard to find.
3) WHEN IN DOUBT, WAIT
Unless you are 100 percent certain of a heart and/or lung hit, or you know it is bound to be a fairly quick death wait. Having the ability to wait might mean the difference between venison steaks for dinner or a grilled cheese.
In retrospect this hunt I described could not have been any better. Sure I made a poor hit, but I would take the same shot again today. I quickly realized the err in the shot placement, backed out, waited over night and quickly found the doe the next morning. Lunch that day consisted of grilled tenderloin, not grilled cheese.
Do not kick yourself in the butt the next time you shoot a deer in the mid-section. Instead get out of the area as quick and quiet as you can so you don’t spook the deer. Give it sufficient time to lie down and bleed out. A gut-shot deer that has not been pressured will be close.

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