Really. deer going to water when shot?

[RAFI]

Catmans posts and many on here I saw over the years got me to thinking again.I have seen many many deer shot and have trailed probably 300 deer if not more.I've never had one go to water.Almost seems like a theory like that wounded deer never go up hill.They do!

I gut shot a buck at LBL and it was right by the water and I hate to say I bought into that theory going to the water bs so it took us much longer to find it than it should have.I'm not saying they won't go to water but from what I've seen they don't

 

[RAFI]

BTw if you read this Catman i hope you don't think i'm saying you did anything wrong.I just want to see what other hunters have seen while tracking deer.

 

[TNTomtaker01]

The only absolute in hunting is there is no absolute! I've had them go to water, go away from water, go up hill, go down hill! They are a animal with a brain of its own that goes where it wants to go. But checking water is always a good rule of thumb when you have no sign to follow.

 

[WhitesCreek]

I shot a decent size basket 8 opening weekend of muzzleloader in 2012. The shot placement was perfect, but the blood trail disappeared about 100 yards from the first drop of blood. I searched for two hours until I decided to look over the edge a 40 ft drop into a creek bed. The buck had jumped off the edge into the shallow creek and died. He even broke off a tall brow tine that I never found. Like I said, the shot placement was perfect, but I'm not certain that's the only thing that killed him.

 

[huntintn]

the only thing to me that hold true is that they wont run toward the truck!

 

[Jcalder]

I shot one a few years ago that we found in a creek

 

[THEdonkey0515]

ive always heard a shot deer or it might be a gut shot deer feels dehydrated and will run to water,i have no idea if thats true or not, we do have more then one stands were there big ridges that are steep and most deer shot there run right down them. but i also shot a nice 11pt at lbl in 2011 shot it with a 30-06 good shot. the buck was coming down the ridge when shot and it tried to run up the ridge after shot only made it 40 yards or so:)

 

[Redwing]

It is my experience that a shot Deer will bolt in the opposite direction it perceives the threat

 

[Woodson223]

I shot one last year that died in the creek in about 3ft of water. Could not find her that night she quit bleeding about 50 yards from the creek.Went back the next morning and found her.It got cold that night she was fine.
But that doesn't prove anything when a deer is shot they can and will do some strange things.

 

[MUP]

In 2010 I blew the heart out of a decent 8pt at the bottom of a very steep ridge at about 90 yds. That buck took off, as if not hit at all, straight up about a 30-35 degree wall of a ridge, all the way to the top! I could only watch with a sick feeling, just knowing I had somehow missed. He stopped at the very top for a few seconds, after about a 100 yr run up that ridge, then realized he was dead I reckon, and came tumbling and sliding back down for about 30 yds or so. They are utterly amazing with a survival instinct to rival any other animal I'd say.

 

[Roost 1]

I think it's safe to assume that deer will most always go to water if it takes awhile for them to die.... Some lay down and die after a short time others may live for a couple days, those will head toward water if they can....

 

[THEdonkey0515]

yeah they do odd things when shot ,killed one last year in bow season setting in a stand at the edge of a field with woods all around the field. instead of heading up into the woods after shot. it ran in circles around the field before falling right in the middle lol. o yeah they were a creek full of water not far away.

 

[THEdonkey0515]

I think it's safe to assume that deer will most always go to water if it takes awhile for them to die.... Some lay down and die after a short time others may live for a couple days, those will head toward water if they can....

i dont know if thats always true dad shot a nice size 8 a few years back were it was shot it could have ran right down a ridge and hit a nice flowing creek in no time. he didnt find the deer that day lost blood but the deer ran the other way higher ground and past up there. and pretty sure it took awhile to die. it could have went to down hill to water probley in the same amount of time.

 

[RAFI]

I think it's safe to assume that deer will most always go to water if it takes awhile for them to die.... Some lay down and die after a short time others may live for a couple days, those will head toward water if they can....

i dont know if thats always true dad shot a nice size 8 a few years back were it was shot it could have ran right down a ridge and hit a nice flowing creek in no time. he didnt find the deer that day lost blood but the deer ran the other way higher ground and past up there. and pretty sure it took awhile to die. it could have went to down hill to water probley in the same amount of time.

agree .That buck I shot was right by the lake and he laid there until my dad walked up on him on finished him off

 

[Roost 1]

I shouldn't of said always but I would think it is a natural tendency especially if it takes a few days to expire...... When the big EHD epidemic hit here here a few yrs ago they would be piled up near the water sources.....

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

the only thing to me that hold true is that they wont run toward the truck!

That is the only absolute.

 

[RAFI]

I shouldn't of said always but I would think it is a natural tendency especially if it takes a few days to expire...... When the big EHD epidemic hit here here a few yrs ago they would be piled up near the water sources.....

I can see what you mean.Most deer I tracked didn't make it long so I can see how they would go to water if they didn't die in a day or so.

 

[bigtex]

I had a lease in middle Tn. For over 20 years. It had a small pond on it. The surrounding farms were all hunted hard.
Almost every year I would find a couple of dead deer either in the pond or right beside it.
I once made a bad shot with my bow on a doe (gut shot) I backed out and waited for several hours before looking. I found her dead.........in the pond.
I do believe that under the right circumstances deer when wounded will seek out a source of water.

 

[jlmustain]

As I've experienced it, they don't bolt from the shot in the direction of water, but if and/or when they stop long enough to figure out "where do I go from here?," water seems be a larger percentage than otherwise.

Also, I'm not Catman, but it's hard to swallow that you weren't calling him out since you used the "bs" abbreviation. He's no stranger to being called out on here, and he certainly doesn't need any of our help in defense, but from the moment I read the title, I knew it was a reference to him. Just something to think about. Text on a screen is so unstable.

Anyway, I don't think anyone would consider anyone to be off by using a little traditional thinking, especially when the options seem to have run dry.

 

[Trevor2]

I've always heard a shot deer goes to water to put the burning feeling out lol but only had one go to water

 

[Boll Weevil]

Where I hunt it doesn't matter which way he runs, he's pretty much gonna be headed toward running or standing water...a creek, ditch, river, or slough. That being said, I've only shot/tracked 4 that were hit farther back than intended.

Only 1 was recovered IN the water. All others were recovered in a dry bed such that it didn't appear to me they had thirst on their mind. They just laid down, didnt push'em, and they croaked.

 

[THEdonkey0515]

they do seem to run to water MOST the time. i seen a pic of a monster 8 skull found on catoosa over the summer in a creek someone must have shot and never found, and my cousion found a 13pt skull in a creek around are hunting area. why do the big ones always get away lol

 

[Engine2c]

I'm screwed if a deer goes to water. Got the river on one side of me and a chute on the other. Not to mention all the little water holes in between.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I'm screwed if a deer goes to water.

Ditto. I swear, deer over this way have webbed feet and quack.

 

[Mike Belt]

I've seen deer go water twice. I've seen them die says from water 100's of times.

 

[infoman jr.]

The buck I shot a few weeks ago went along a dry creek bed on way to a creek with water when he died. YMMV.

 

[catman529]

Nothing is absolute.... deer do often go to water, at least in the areas where I hunt. Sometimes they will just go for safe cover that might not be near water, but I have seen more than once a deer that took a little longer to die that went toward a creek.

 

[BSK]

ive always heard a shot deer or it might be a gut shot deer feels dehydrated and will run to water...

EVENTUALLY gut-shot deer will seek water to drink and to cool a fevered body, given enough time. But this generally requires infection and fever to set in, which could take days.

 

[RAFI]

As I've experienced it, they don't bolt from the shot in the direction of water, but if and/or when they stop long enough to figure out "where do I go from here?," water seems be a larger percentage than otherwise.

Also, I'm not Catman, but it's hard to swallow that you weren't calling him out since you used the "bs" abbreviation. He's no stranger to being called out on here, and he certainly doesn't need any of our help in defense, but from the moment I read the title, I knew it was a reference to him. Just something to think about. Text on a screen is so unstable.

Anyway, I don't think anyone would consider anyone to be off by using a little traditional thinking, especially when the options seem to have run dry.

i wasn't saying anything about Catman.I like him.AGAIN this tread was not a shot a Catman

 

[Deer Assassin]

i gut shot one opening day 2004 came back 8 hours seen red in creek deer was 50 yds up creek dead