hmm, Im surprised that more people didnt go with 6 hours. It was my understanding that a liver hit deer will die it just might take him 7 or 8 hours.

First of all, the liver is a very large organ, depending on the species it can be the largest organ. Saying that it's hit through the liver really can mean many different scenarios. My dad shot a cow elk through the liver with 30-06 quartering away downhill, knocked her off her feet, and she never got up. She was seventy yards away at most. Dead by the time we walked down to her. I shot a very nice whitetail buck in the liver with 165 grain 30-06 and he ran off without leaving a drop of blood. Only by the grace of God did I happen to stumble on the thing later in the day as I was packing out a muley doe on my back. You just never know.

At that time of day follow the track immediately and for as long as possible. Leave flagging when there's no light left and pick up the trail when you have light. Honestly, no one should be out hunting without a light source in their pack anyway, and certainly not at the end of the day. Leaving a deer overnight in those temps is asking for trouble even if no coyotes were in the area. Bacteria ruins a lot more meat than those little dogs. Personally, I think anyone who takes a bow shot at dusk that isn't anything but a sure thing fatal doesn't know their business. Take the dicey shots in the morning. Get out of the stand by late afternoon if you're not real good at what your doing. I muffed more than a few late in the day shots with rifle over the years but never lost an animal. I tracked them all immediately.

Yep, a liver shot will take 6 hours and the deer will remain very mobile in those 6 hours. He'll stop bleeding quickly so it's best to keep him near. Come back at midnight and if you bump him once, come back in the morning. Be very slow and quiet while tracking.

24scottK, I to am mildly shocked with the 55% with answer B.

I think some are over looking the 10 degree drop in temperature. Granted, 60 degree air will not hold much moisture but anytime the temperature drops over night there is a good possibility of dew on the grass in the morning hindering tracking.

Another issue is the arrow is still in the animal. This will limit your blood trail. It is always best to keep an animal close when blood is slim.

Since the animal disappeared over the hill, I would inspect the location where the animal was standing. If there are two tufts of hair, the arrow is sticking out the other side. One tuft of hair, you did not get a pass through. If the tufts are evenly between the front and the rear hoof print, you did hit center of body. The hoof print will also tell you the angle of the body when the arrow entered the body. The length of hair will tell you how high you hit on the body.

This type of scene investigation should be done on all shots because it is the fletching you see traveling towards the deer and not the broadhead. You cannot always assume they hit the same place.

Deerhunterrick:
I don't think you'd get bubbles and/or foamy blood unless it's a hit in the lungs. I went back and reread the scenario. "good-sized drops of bright red blood" is pretty subjective, but if it's a liver hit, it must've got a pretty good artery. If good-sized means to Scott what it means to me, I'd change my vote, and agree with you.

Regardless of the result, I think these hypothetical discussions are great for both beginner and experienced hunters. I really appreciate hearing other people's thoughts on this sort of topic. I think a regular monthly or biweekly "what do you do" sort of discussion would be great.

I recovered a liver hit deer twenty or 30 minutes later this year. I wasn't rushing, i climbed down and tip-toed over to my arrow on my way out of the woods to back out. The blood trail was very pronounce. He was laying about 40 or 50 yds down the trail.

Agree with Buckhunter. There's some big blood vessels leading to/from the Liver. Hit one of them and it'd bleed out real quick, but if hit liver without any major arteries/veins or even nick it, it may take a long time to bleed out if it does at all, and alot of that blood may stay in the body cavity. Better to wait it out and not risk jumping a deer that's may not bleed outside its body much...

I'm sure everybody that has participated in this poll is a capable bow hunter, so for that reason I was shocked to see that 55% said they'd pursue a deer THEY KNOW they didn't double lung in just one hour. I'm in the "deer business" and I've tracked hundreds of wounded deer in the last ten years, and rarely will I find a liver shot deer dead in under several hours. One hour...bad idea in my opinion.

I say, sneak out. Go home and have dinner. Get a good luck kiss on the cheek from someone (usually my daughter) and head back out. 3 or so hours. If you have a friend, bring them. BRING YOUR BOW !! If you jusp it, back out and its at least 2 more hours till you go back. If you dont have time to do this. Dont shoot.

According to the manager at the local locker, the meat will begin to spoil at a temperature of 55 degrees and above. How long it would take for a dead deer to internally cool below 55 in 50 degree weather wouldjust be a guess. If the deer was hit between 6 and 7 pm, I would not want to start my search until daylight rather than try it at 3-4am. As for the coyotes, they gotta' eat too. If they bump that deer, they won't wait to take up the chase. And if you hunt long enough, you are going to find yourself in this position at some point.

I voted on the hour. I haven't had exactly this scenario, but I'm of the "let em lay down" and have shock and blood loss take it's toll. It's warm here in the early bow season and I'm a relatively rural part of SE PA. Relatively rural still means that time and space is a tough trade. I arrowed 2 deer this year in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Both ran for slightly more than 5 seconds before losign their feet. Had either of them managed to run at full tilt deer speeds for more than say 30 seconds, there are not a lot of places around here, even in the game lands, where that can't easily turn into multiple property lines and an ever decreasing chance of retrieval. We do have sufficient coyotes around to make leaving a deer over night questionable as well.
I have to say I've never cut into a deer that was dead for more than 3 hours, I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but letting lie overnight makes me worry about the meat.

If the shot is questionable you should wait til morning unless it is raining but even then you would be better off waiting because even if the deer is gut shot it will not go far before laying down and as for coyotes they might not even find the deer. I know there are places where coyotes would be sure to get your deer but that is a different story I guess.

I have bumped to many bucks I have hit in the liver and never found them so now I wait over night even if it is warm. Finding them is always better then not finding them even if the meat is spoiled.Of course I want to get meat from my deer but if it comes down to it you might have to wait.