Big 8, can't find him!

[WoodieSC]

How long can a deer lay until the meat is no longer edible? I'm sure it varies by temperature, but what do ya'll use as a general guide?

Not an expert, but the general rule of thumb I've always tried to follow is to get the meat chilled to below 45 degrees F within 2 hours. Pretty hard to do, but it's a good goal.

Essentially the meat begins to spoil immediately after death, so you're working against the clock any way you look at it.

Any deer laying dead in the woods overnight when it's 70 degrees out isn't something I'd stick in my belly anytime soon. I'd have to hear from an expert before I'd even consider it.

[GBelly]

i agree, and when buckpro mentioned ice and knife for saving the meat...i puked alittle.

frig the meat after its been laying dead all night in these temps.

now if the deer was still alive this morning, he carried a shotgun in and finshed him off, i would consider eating all the meat thats nowhere near the shot wound.

[buckpro]

i agree, and when buckpro mentioned ice and knife for saving the meat...i puked alittle.

frig the meat after its been laying dead all night in these temps.

now if the deer was still alive this morning, he carried a shotgun in and finshed him off, i would consider eating all the meat thats nowhere near the shot wound.

that was just in case, hell i couldn't sleep, needed somethin to do, general rule, if you can pull hair out dont eat it.

wish me luck, off to look some more

[Swamp Rat]

Blood trail dogs are where it's at. Guy I used to know had what I consider to be an almost-perfect "deer finding dog". Part lab, part border collie or spaniel. Like Catdaddy said, he put a bell on it and turned it loose. It would follow a blood trail if it was there, otherwise, it would just circle and look/wind. It found every deer we turned it loose on. It would be funny... you'd hear that dang bell, then it would stop. Go to where it stopped, and shine the light... there'd be (if the angle was right ) two eyes staring back horizontal, and two eyes on the ground next to it, vertical.

Dog was also an AWESOME mini-drive dog. Work a weedy cutover, jump shooting deer, the dog would quarter back and forth like a dog working for pheasant. If it jumped one, it would run it hard, going yip yip yip, then stop and come back. Never ran into issues with neighbors, never lost the dog, and the deer would slow down by the time it got to a stander....

[ceddy]

We have used a bloodhound to find a deer before and it made for the easiest find we ever had. Unfortunately a couple weeks later a kid gut shot a deer and they brought the dog back out to track it and got on the trail too soon, the deer wasn't dead yet and the baying of the dog along with all other noise ran him off our land.

[b-stick]

buck you could of only gotten one lung and a deer will tote an arrow with one lung..

had it happen to me before..

old boss had a giant rat terrier..some days she was amazing some days she couldnt follow her own scent..

good luck on finding it.

[triplebeard]

Had the same thing happen to me, too. I hate the way it makes you feel.

[quack head 11]

What's the latest Buckpro??

[CAJUN LAB]

no update last night im betting on a negative report...

[DMP]

Can't be to good if he hasen't posted anything yet.

[SCDkhntr]

Can't be to good if he hasen't posted anything yet.

That's what I'm thinking. Man that sucks!

[buckpro]

went back and picked through the spray/blood trail, i was following it quick becuase i just knew he was just ahead yesterday morning and i didnt look real close. I felt my mistake was not looking at the blood trail close enough so i went right back to it. It was alot harder to find. i found 3 spots in the thick were he layed down and bled everywhere, had to put my hand it, couldnt hardly see it in the mud. Couldnt get ahold of the neighbor to go into the thicket he went into and it was hunting hours so i circled around and checked every water hole i could find anyway. After finding all that blood in pools, i feel i can lay my hand on him. Probably wont be able to go in there till midday saturday.
i carried in two liters of water, a .45 and the bowtech, i'm still wore out.

Highlight of the day....more confidence i can lay my hand on him soon, and with the one SLICK TRICK in my quiver, i smoked a 100lb sow on the way back to the hill after a quick stalk, she ran 20 yards and piled up.

[Tmbrhntr]

i carried in two liters of water, a .45 and the bowtech, i'm still wore out.

What were you going to do?? Give him a drink before you finished him off??

[dixiedeerslaya]

you wore out from carrying all that damn water...

[buckpro]

What were you going to do?? Give him a drink before you finished him off??

I sweated out more than that. drank every damn ounce of it before i was half way through.
I thought i smelt bad during hell week at el cid, yesterday topped that, never sweated that much in my life.

[tradorion]

smart man carrying water with you.

another trick- get one of the "micro mist" spray bottles and put peroxide in it... even old dried blood will foam up on contact when you are having trouble finding it by sight. Much cheaper than the custom blood sprays.

[fro]

smart man carrying water with you.

another trick- get one of the "micro mist" spray bottles and put peroxide in it... even old dried blood will foam up on contact when you are having trouble finding it by sight. Much cheaper than the custom blood sprays.

No that is a PRO TIP*

thanks!

[rp]

No that is a PRO TIP*

thanks!

Use fresh peroxide. It will go bad in a hot truck.

[rp]

Any word on this deer.

Reading this thread enlightens me as to a mistake I made on a deer quartered away from me with a 25-06.

[duckduckdog]

First of all good luck finding it

Second, I don't believe that your arrow went "right where you wanted it." You said you were focusing on the exit point, but got no exit. My guess would be a one lung. I know it's a sick feeling and I hope you'll be able to put your hands on him.