How long.....

[tn24]

can a gut shot deer live? Had a friend kill one this morning that had been gut shot and we were wondering if maybe it had been spotlighted last night.

 

[AJared]

Depends on what is damaged, but I would imagine many days until it would die from sepsis.

 

[Ski]

Hard to say. Usually within 12hrs but I've heard of them still being alive several days later and not recovered because they were still spry enough to get away. I'd suppose it's not impossible for one to survive, given the severity and its ability to fight the infection. That said, a gut hit is the most lethal hit shy of blowing out a heart or brain. I've heard of outfitters instructing hunters to shoot mid body because they have 95% success rate of recovery on gut hit deer, apparently better odds than aiming for vitals.

 

[webfeet7]

Had a buddy shoot one this past bow season and they jumped it up about 15 hours after the shot. Ended up recovering it dead around the 24 hour mark.

 

[philsanchez76]

Hard to say. Usually within 12hrs but I've heard of them still being alive several days later and not recovered because they were still spry enough to get away. I'd suppose it's not impossible for one to survive, given the severity and its ability to fight the infection. That said, a gut hit is the most lethal hit shy of blowing out a heart or brain. I've heard of outfitters instructing hunters to shoot mid body because they have 95% success rate of recovery on gut hit deer, apparently better odds than aiming for vitals.

That's really interesting? Is that because there were too many single lung shots or something?

 

[Ski]

That's really interesting? Is that because there were too many single lung shots or something?

I don't really know. I suspect because of misses, bad hits, and poor penetration from hitting bone. Mid body is a gigantic target with no hard bone to worry about, and it's nearly 100% fatal. Seems bass ackwards especially for an outfitter to instruct such a thing, but I guess it makes money sense. Folks are paying to hunt trophies, not freezer fillers. Increased odds equal increased money.

I've only ever hit two deer in the gut and both deer were recovered within sight of the stand. I helped my brother track one that he gut hit and it went about 300yds. I think it would have been much closer but coyotes got on it. If they're not chased or spooked they usually just lay down right away.

To contrast, I have hit 5 deer in the vitals area & never recovered. One was zero penetration. I watched the arrow bounce off the shoulder like he was wearing armor. I was a kid maybe 15 or 16yrs old & remember every detail like it happened this morning. I was shooting a Bear Whitetail-II, Easton 2117 aluminum arrows with 125gr Thunderheads. I'd never seen anything like it nor have I since. It hit just right I guess.

Another was what should have been a double lung but she didn't die. Led me on a several hundred yard track with a good bubbly bright blood trail. I followed it to a busy road, looked on the other side & couldn't see her anywhere. Blood was getting too spotty to follow so I quit. Fast forward to the following summer and I begin getting pics of her wearing a Rage tattoo right where I saw the arrow hit. She had a matching tattoo on opposite side where it exited. I've killed many, many deer with that shot right there but like they sometimes do, she simply refused to die. Healing from the trauma obviously left her a little thin for a bit but she healed well and hung around for several more years. She was easy to identify. I never shot at her again. Until you punch your tag, you can't assume a deer is dead. Been bow hunting since the early mid 90's and have seen a few head scratchers to know there are no concrete rules.

 

[deerhunter10]

Most say 12 to 48 hours. 12 being pretty early. Most I've been apart of are seem to be around 18 to 24. There's many pictures and videos of deer walking with very good shots. Sometimes nature just seems to win. Their will to survive is crazy.

 

[Bone Collector]

My nephew and friend shot one last week. Gut shot. Said they could see guts hanging out and hear them flapping against the deer's side. Waited 45 minutes and crept up into the field to the top of the hill it ran over. Deer was standing at the bottom. They went to shoot it and it trotted into the woods. It was getting dark so they waited some more and went to see if it had died and never found any blood or the deer. Next morning my brother (his dad) and I were hunting there. When we got done they showed up and we went and looked. We looked everywhere to no avail. We were coming back into the field and were coming up the hill and to the right side (would have been behind us on our way in) I see what appears to be a really big crow and then I realize it is a buzzard and something is on the ground. We walked over and it was the head, neck and front quarters. Deer was bare to bone from there back. Coyotes must have got it and dragged it out. Who knows how long it lived, but I hope it was dead before they got it.

 

[Ski]

Ouch! Poor deer. They've got a tough life and usually their best death is by a hunter. Natural death by predators is often brutal for them.

 

[redblood]

can a gut shot deer live? Had a friend kill one this morning that had been gut shot and we were wondering if maybe it had been spotlighted last night.

I wouldnt think very long. Sepsis works pretty quickly