My anticipation was at an all-time high as I settled into my treestand for a late-October bow hunt in the agricultural country of northern Missouri. Less than a week earlier, I had sat in that very stand and watched my target buck for the 2024-25 season, a heavy-bodied deer I had nicknamed Tank, feed in a brassica food plot just out of my comfortable bow range. The encounter had me counting down the days until my next sit. This time, I was determined to punch my tag.
The evening unfolded the way every hunter dreams it will. I watched as over a dozen young bucks and just as many does and fawns flooded into the food plot. Then, about an hour and a half before the close of legal shooting light, Tank stepped out of the brush and made his long-awaited appearance.
As he worked his way closer, time seemed to crawl. My heart was pounding out of my chest as he finally got within 40 yards. I came to full draw, settled the pin, released the arrow, and watched in horror as the buck began to walk forward a fraction of a second later. My stomach dropped as I watched the arrow hit the deer squarely in the paunch.
The buck tore out of the food plot before stopping in the security of thick cover and slowly walking out of sight. Though I knew the shot would ultimately prove fatal, I was devastated. This was not the outcome I had envisioned after months of preparation and anticipation, and I knew I likely had a sleepless night and a whole lot of worrying ahead.
No matter how many arrows we’ve sent downrange in practice or how confident we feel behind the bow, every hunter is human. At some point in our hunting journey, we are all bound to make a marginal shot. In those low moments, the actions we take after the shot are just as important as the shot itself.
As I can unfortunately attest to, a gut shot is one of the most challenging situations a bowhunter can face. The shot is lethal, but what you do next is crucial to the recovery of the animal. If you pick up the track too soon, you risk bumping the deer and turning an already difficult recovery into a nearly impossible one. Wait too long, and the venison you were hoping to enjoy may spoil or be enjoyed by a hungry coyote. Navigating that balance and knowing when to take up the trail is what ultimately determines whether you’re making a trip to the taxidermist or replaying your mistakes for weeks to come.
As the photo above shows, my patience and the right recovery approach paid off, and I was able to recover Tank the following morning. If you ever find yourself facing the challenge of tracking a stomach-shot deer, keep these five rules of thumb in mind to hopefully turn a difficult situation into a successful recovery and spare you from a long season of regret and what-ifs.
Familiarize Yourself with Whitetail Anatomy
Knowledge of a whitetail’s anatomy is crucial when things don’t go as planned. If your shot lands farther back than intended, knowing the location of the liver, stomach and intestines allows you to make decisions on recovery of the animal. That understanding can be the difference between a successful recovery and never finding the deer.
Of course, knowledge of deer anatomy can keep you from being in this situation in the first place. Our responsibility in the field is to make a quick, clean, ethical kill each time we release an arrow or squeeze the trigger. That begins with knowing the anatomy of the animal you’re hunting and practicing at the range.
Practicing on anatomically correct 3D targets and watching shot-placement videos can help build the confidence you need when the moment of truth arrives. When a deer or any other animal that you plan to shoot finally steps into range, your decision on where to settle your pin or place the crosshairs should be second nature.
Get Your Bearings, Literally
Shooting at a live animal is very different than practicing at the range, and a lot can happen in the seconds after you release an arrow or squeeze the trigger. The adrenaline rush and excitement can make it easy to forget simple details that can become critical to recovery later. By the time you’ve calmed down enough to think clearly, simple but critical information like exactly where the deer was standing when you shot, where your arrow hit, or the last place you saw it can start to slip away.
That’s why one of the smartest things you can do immediately after the shot is to mark the deer’s line of travel. Along with remembering where your arrow impacted, knowing the last place you saw the deer and the direction it was headed gives you a huge advantage later when you take up the track.
The good news? You don’t need a fancy gadget to capture that information. One of the most valuable tools is already in your pocket: your smartphone. Open up the compass app and take a quick screenshot of the exact bearing the deer traveled. That small step can serve as your starting point hours later when you’re ready to pick up the track.
Of course, there are other ways to accomplish the same goal. Dropping a pin on a mapping app like onX Hunt, or snapping a quick photo can also work, but a compass reading has one big advantage: it’s precise. Instead of second-guessing your every move and trying to find familiar landmarks, a compass bearing can point you straight toward the area where your track should begin.
When in Doubt, Back Out
This is a phrase you’ll hear time and again in the world of whitetail recovery, and it couldn’t be more true when dealing with a gut-shot deer. The temptation to sneak down from the stand and check your arrow, examine the site of impact, and take a quick look around for blood is real. Those very same thoughts ran through my head the moment the buck disappeared from my view.
Instead of jumping the gun, I decided it would be best to quietly climb down from my stand and leave the deer alone overnight. I didn’t want to risk bumping him from his first bed or spooking other deer in his direction. Even though the shortest path back to my truck was the same way the wounded deer had traveled, I decided to take the long way around to ensure I wouldn’t risk bumping him.
That decision to back out is never easy. You have to worry about spoilage and coyotes. Worst of all, it is a solemn admission that you failed to make a quick, ethical kill. But when you’re dealing with a stomach hit, the wait time is necessary. Unlike a double-lung or heart shot where you can immediately pick up the track, a gut shot requires patience. Pushing a wounded deer too soon can send him across property lines, miles down a creek bottom, or into cover so thick that you may never find him.
As a rule of thumb, waiting 8 to 12 hours dramatically increases your chances of recovering the animal in its first bed. It’s no fun to wait, and those hours will feel like the longest of your life, but they often make the difference between a successful recovery and crushing loss.
If your shot comes in the morning, it is best to wait until evening before picking up the trail. If it happens late in the evening, as mine did, plan on a sleepless night and wait until the following morning to track. Returning with daylight on your side is one of the best decisions you can make.
Even when waiting the appropriate amount of time, the deer could still be alive when you find it. Be sure to bring a weapon with you on the track job in case a follow-up shot is needed.
Take the Track Slow
When it’s finally time to take up the track, the most important thing you can do is slow down. Recovering a gut-shot deer is a marathon, not a sprint. Move carefully and quietly, scanning the ground for blood, tracks, or disturbed leaves. Glass ahead for the deer itself. Mark the trail as you go – orange flagging tape or even a biodegradable option like toilet paper works well – to help you visualize the deer’s line of travel. Turning on a mapping or tracking app provides another layer of insurance. Later, if you need to regroup or bring in help, the track can guide you back to specific spots that may deserve a second look or show you areas you missed.
It also helps to understand how gut-shot deer typically behave. Unlike a deer hit in the vitals, which dies quickly from shock and blood loss, a paunch-hit deer usually succumbs slowly to septicemia, or blood poisoning. Much like a person battling a severe case of the flu, the deer may suffer fever, nausea, and exhaustion. These symptoms can offer your first real clue about where to look.
One of the most consistent tendencies of a gut-shot deer is to seek out water. The fever that comes with septicemia creates an overwhelming thirst. This is why hunters so often recover these deer close to ponds, creeks, or other water sources. In my own case, the buck I shot died in his very first bed, lying just a few feet from the edge of a creek. Though this isn’t always the case, sometimes the old adage that gut-shot deer head for water holds true.
Above all else, persistence is what will carry you through. Tracking a gut-shot deer can test your resolve more than almost any other recovery. Sign may be sparse, progress may feel slow, and doubt will creep in, but patience is key.
Call in the Cavalry
Recovering a gut-shot deer often requires pulling out all the stops. Because of the fat and tissue in a whitetail’s midsection, both entry and exit wounds tend to seal up quickly, which means you may have little to no blood trail to follow. This lack of sign is one of the biggest challenges hunters face when tracking a gut shot, and it’s where persistence and resourcefulness come into play.
When the blood trail dries up, don’t be afraid to call in the cavalry! A well-trained tracking dog can be invaluable. Their noses can pick up microscopic scent particles that humans could never hope to follow, even in areas with no visible blood. Many states now allow licensed dog trackers, and it’s worth researching contacts in your area before you ever find yourself in need. You may be able to find one through United Blood Trackers.
Another growing resource is the use of thermal drones, where legal. This technological advancement allows operators to search large areas quickly and detect heat signatures from a deer that may be hidden in dense cover much faster than a person on foot ever could.
Though it can be challenging, even gathering a small group of friends, family members, or hunting partners to grid-search a property can tip the recovery odds back in your favor. A small, organized group can cover more ground, search difficult areas, and keep morale high when the hours drag on.
The bottom line is this: recovery is as much a part of the hunt as the shot itself. Using every ethical resource available ensures that the animal you worked so hard to hunt is recovered and respected.
Conclusion
As hunters, our goal every time we head out into the woods should be to make a quick, clean ethical kill on the animal we are pursuing. However, I will be the first to admit that “deer fever” is real, and our aim does not always hit the ideal mark. Last season’s late-October bow hunt was one of those unfortunate situations.
At daylight the morning after my hunt, I returned with help from my dad and a neighbor. After two hours of slow, methodical blood-trailing, we began to grid search. About 20 minutes later, my dad called out. He had found the buck. Tank traveled about 250 yards from where I last saw him and a total distance of 300 yards from the point of the shot. My arrow hit at the perfect height but about a foot too far back, in the rumen and intestines. Our strategic recovery effort turned what could have been my biggest heartbreak of the season into a freezer full of venison and a subsequent trip to the taxidermist. Though the entire hunt was a rollercoaster of emotions from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, it is a memory I will cherish forever.
So, if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of trailing a gut-shot deer, I encourage you to hold onto hope. Every deer will succumb to a lethal stomach hit – it may just take time. Get your bearings, give the deer plenty of time to expire, take the track slow, and call in the cavalry. With these steps in mind, you can increase your odds of recovery and enjoy some fresh venison backstraps and a celebration back at deer camp.