Gut shot deer in warm weather??

Just looking for people's input. So this morning I shot a doe and made a bad shot. I hit her in the guts. I checked my arrow and it was all guts. I know I have to let her lay a while and am willing to but just wondering if anybody has an idea on how long they can lay there before the meat starts spoiling? I've heard 4-6 hours but wondering if anybody has experience with this. It's suppose to be a high of 77 today

The deer doesn't start to spoil until after it dies. If it lives for 10 hours, then no matter the temperature the meat is good at 10 hours. When you have a gut shot deer, you take your best guess how long it will take to expire. Other factors weigh in too, such as veins and arteries cut on the way thru. When a deer is hit and there is minimal trauma ( no big bones impated, no gun going off etc) they will normally run a bit and duck into cover, from which they can watch their back trail. If you stay in your tree and quiet, or sneak out the back and leave them, they will likely bed right there and you will later find them, right there. As stated, if you follow too soon, the deer will run again and you may not find it. Congrat's on finding it. ChuckC

Glad that you found the deer. A lost deer is hard to forget, always second guessing what went wrong.

Nice! That is a good feeling.

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up giving her 8 hours before I went looking for her. I ended up finding her the last spot where I saw her standing. She only ran 50 yds from where I shot her. It seemed like she was dead for a while cause she was stiff and when I gutted her she was kinda cool inside. Meat and everything seemed good but it probably helped that it was pretty shady where she was laying. Definately a big stress relief when I found her!!!

a gut shot deer in warm weather can last 12 hours before expiring. if it's cold 6 to 8, like 32 degrees or less cold. you bump that deer it will run another 200 yards...good luck finding it. you should have used a Rage, then it wouldn't have run away, it would have cut the deer in half. I"m kidding, i hate Rage, worst head on the market.

I shot one when it was 80 out and did not find it until 8 hours later. It was mostly shot, meat was sour smelling and it was the nastiest deer I ever gutted. I don't get queezy very easily but I almost threw up. Black ooze came out of it. People could not believe I gutted it but I didn't want to waste it. Turned out that most of it was wasted anyway, I felt pretty bad about that one. I think about that one every time its warm out. I would gamble if it was me. Give it 6 hours and go for it. You'll either find it and the meat will be okay or it might get up and run. At least then you know the meat is okay yet I guess. But if you wait too long the whole thing is shot, equivalent of losing it completely.

You are in a tough spot. The longer you wait the more potential for the deer to expire, likewise this wait time can lead to bloating and spoilage. If you look and bump the deer up is it likely to travel far before finding thick cover again? A short look at the blood trail will help in your decision. Little blood could mean guts only and no vitals involved or if the shot was high and on top there may be little outward drainage and just pooling on the inside. If the wind is in your favor a slow silent stalk on the blood trail may give you a second shot. The leaf cover will make it tough but can be to your advantage as well. If the wind is not in your favor I would wait no more than 4 hours, if you bump it take note of what the new blood trail looks like compared to what you had. Assess your next move from there. A spoiled deer in tomorrow morning is no better than a bumped and unrecovered deer tonight. Looking sooner than later does give you a chance for recovery before things go bad.

Find it gut it wash it out and ice it down and get the hide off asap