How quickly fatal is a single-lung hit? and how bout a paunch hit?

Answer:
In talking with a veterinarian about this kind of hit, we learned that most single-lung hits will be fatal, but the animal may not die quickly. Healthy deer have been shot that had only one lung proving that some deer can recover from a single-lung hit, but most will not. The length of time it takes for the animal to die depends on many factors. First, if there is an open wound to the chest cavity the animal won’t be able to create a vacuum with its diaphragm and will suffocate. But if the entry and exit holes plug, a deer hit through one lung can live for many hours. We’ve been on tracking missions in which we found deer shot through one lung still alive as much as 16 hours later.

Obviously, this is not a good shot. Intentionally trying to make a single-lung hit is not ethical. Any sharp downward angle from a tree stand is likely to produce a single lung and should be avoided. You should wait for a better shot.

Follow Up Question:  I shot a buck through the paunch/liver area last season and began following him after one hour because it started to rain. I jumped the deer and came back the next day but I never found him. Tracking in the face of rain brings tough decisions. What should I have done differently?

Answer:
This is easily the toughest decision in tracking. It has been our experience that most fatally hit deer will bed within 200 yards of your stand if not bothered. While they may get up and move from this bed, they won’t move far. It is our position that you should not track the deer until the proper amount of time has passed regardless of weather. In your case, you should have waited at least four hours for the liver hit and 8 to 12 hours for a paunch hit.

If you carefully mark with a compass reading the last place you saw the deer before it disappeared, you should be able to find it fairly easily the next day even without a blood trail.