How long do you wait after you have made a "good" hit? My thinking has changed on this. Used to be that after I made a good, killing shot, I would wait 30 minutes and then start trailing.
A good friend, who is an excellent shot, hunter and woodsman shared an experience he had on a doe this season. My friend made a shot on a mature whitetail doe that he felt was just a bit high. A killing shot for sure, but possible only one lung. The doe bedded down close by and he could actually see bubbly lung blood coming from the broadhead hole in the deer's chest. He felt that it would not be long and held his position in his treestand.
After almost 2 hours, the doe got up and walked a short distance and bedded back down. This time, her back was to him, so he used this opportunity to slip out of his stand and leave the woods. He considered trying a stalk and putting another arrow in her, but the dry leaves changed his mind.
He returned a few hours later and found her dead. Upon field dressing the doe, he found that his broadhead had hit both lungs.
This got me to thinking about the times I have tracked either my own deer or one of my hunting buddies deer and found signs of a good hit only to have an otherwise good blood trail turn into a sparse one. Or finding a the deer after it had traveled way further than expected. Did we get on the trail too soon? I can think of a few lost deer over the past 30 years that the hunter was sure of a good hit, but no deer was found. Maybe we started trailing to soon, even though the generally accepted wait time was followed.
Not wanting to start arguments here, just food for thought. I know that if I don't see the deer hit the ground, I am waiting for at least an hour....even on a "good hit".
Hunt hard, hunt safe! Mike