Unless you see the deer fall, I would wait at least 30 minutes after the shot is made. For bow, probably longer.

A wounded deer will lie down if not pursued. Hopefully, he will bleed out and die in that time. Any pressure, and you may never find him.

Of course, there is always an exception. Several years ago, I dropped a nice buck right in his tracks with a slug at about 20 yards. I waited maybe 5 minutes to get down from my stand because I could clearly see he was dead, right? Wrong!

As soon as I took one step on the ground, he sprang to life and bolted through the woods over the hill. I never had time to reload. I found just a trace of blood where he had laid, but nothing after that. I got help and we tried to track him, to no avail.

That was a difficult lesson to learn, but I haven't made that mistake since.

the only study that I know of says differently with over 300 examples.
to be the devils advocate you could argue that since the deer had time to lie down the blood pressure decreased causing the blood to clot and the ability to continue running. Or a shot in the stomach has this very same effect.One of the things a Dr. does is to relieve pain slowing adreniline slowing/ decreasing pressure to a normal level. This slows internal/external bleeding and causes clotting the body can then try to stop the bleeding.
This is contrary to the theory we have all grown up with as far as letting animals rest and bleed. A heart pumping slower gives the deer more time to walk farther. Now I know bullet placement, performance of bullet etc etc maybe even the moon all are variables that will effect the outcome. Maybe too many variables to ever know. I have hunted all animals in N america except for that big rat down south in La and a big white bear(which I doubt will ever happen) up North. and I am a firm believer that no other animal wants to live more than a white tail deer. I have allmost the same story as you but I was using a 375HnH a very soft big bullet, 2500fps right through both lungs. Ran over he got up and ran away. This little 4 point went allmost 4 miles!!! The hole was a very large one too.
I just want to know if any other studies have been done on this question. thanks for your input I will allways guestion the norm but untill I know dif I am gonna hang out and smoke one of my Macanudo's

Very seldom is a deer standing perfectly when you see it or shoot it. One shoulder is almost always disaligned with the other(look closely at some pics) So what you beleive to be a perfect lung shot may in fact be a gut shot for example.
If a deer is down, approach s l o w l y . You can get close enough to finishit off without running.
A deer shot through both lungs ,or even one ,is droping blood pressure rapidly and is not going very far.
I've never seen a deer shot in the lungs run more that 75 yards or so before it fell, but I've seen some that were probably hit in the guts, well, they're still going.

I don't know of any studies or really care about them. All I know is what i've learned from personal experience, and I will never approach a deer quickly. I have recovered every deer i've waited on and i've lost deer (in my early hunting years) that i've rushed in on. Maybe just lucky, but I'll stick to waiting. That's all the studying I need.

Exactly.

Hammer I don't know if that comment was toward me but we did recover that deer and it was a large hole in both lungs. I lived in the south for a while and shooting 10 to 15 deer a season you see many things. Oh and none of that meat goes to waist or the hides. Talking to a Dr this minute he says that since there are no big arteries or veins in most of the lungs (big ones at the top then branch out to the smallest in the body) pressure can be held for a long time in some instances. Also lungs are like sponges and can absorb some of that hydraulic seration aka meat jelly, other times I have seen them explode into little pieces that look like coffe grinds. Again too many variables for one or two even 15 shootings for me to narrow my view.
Every one has an example of walking up too soon on a deer and it runs. But if you have hunted alot and take notes (i would suggest everyone to do so)look at how many times you waited and the deer got away. Chaulking it up as a bad shot or no more blood while tracking or it tried crossing the Pearl river and did not make it or something.
Allways curious and allways willing to learn.

The waiting thing is a good idea if a deer sees you his adrenalin rush will kick back in and off he goes. Also another reason th wait and what I think is the main reason a deer will lay down and often their muscles will stiffen up and they cant get back up to run. I shot a 10 point with a slug through the liver I waited 20 min and went looking when I found him he layed down but didnt have strength to get up.

I am still not sure the adrenilin ever quits after a large hole has just been poked into an animal. A human shot in the liver or stabbed is allmost unrecoverable due to the large amount of blood that is in the liver, same with deer.
You could play the devils advocate and say this animal could have bled to death faster if the heart would have been beating faster. But then again not much ever gets up after being hit with a slug. kinda a moot point.
All I am saying is everone waits because it has been passed down to us by dads grampas and other great hunter/writers. I will even hang out, smoke a half a cigar (save the other have for gutting) and then go find the deer. We all have examples to back this up.
But why then does the only study I know of say dif. Then why did Plains Indians (real hunters) never wait. Yes I have done quite a bit of studyng in this area. Now that I think about it I don't even think in the writings of Lewis and Clark they waited. I will look again to see if I can find any clues. Also read watch African spear and arrow hunters none of em wait(except those using poison they walk not run). If it truely is a better way than these people would be doing it. Or are we just better hunters cause we now have cable?

Just curious thats all.

A number of years ago, I beleive it was the FBI, released to law enforcement a video of a shooting in a hotel room between an undercover police officer and a drug dealer, I beleive., capturered on camera. Here's what happened.

One shot was fired during an altercation into the suspect who died(stopped fighting) 19 seconds later. Autopsy finding...Shot through the heart.

That is about as documented as it gets to prove that just because you are fataly shot, you're not necessarily dead yet.
With a deer, in the exact same senario, could cover quite a distance in that time, but I have not personaly witnessed it.

Never do we hurry tracking a deer we can't see down. In this area there are so many ponds and a river that a pushed wounded animal will head for water once in the cold water the wound closes and the trail becomes difficult to pick up on the other side thats if the deer makes it across the water.I once tracked a doe for 2 miles after it swam a beaver pond ,she was gut shot and still alive when I found her but to weak to stand.There was only a drop every 20-30 feet after she swam that pond. The guy that shot her walked straight for her and she got up and went straight for the pond that is what the blood trail told me.
Patience gets deer!