First of all Lady Arwen I think you need to take a long honest look at what you did and decide for yourself if you did everything you could to prevent what happened or if in fact your actions are the cause behind this situation.
I am not being nasty at all............just honest.
By the sounds of your arrow findings you did not get much penetration at all........with a fixed Muzzy that is not good. Either the arrow did in fact strike bone or you lack the power to get good penetration at 23 yards.
23 yards is not a SUPER far shot but it also is not a slam dunk piece of cake either. I believe the avg distance a deer in my state of NY is taken at is 17...........Are you sure you are comfortable taking a shot at 23????......if so why did you miss??? Was your form bad?? Were you nervous?? or Did you just blow it???
You said you "believe" you hit too far back.....what makes you "believe" that?? What did the deer do when hit? Did you see it run away?? If so you should have seen your arrow sticking out of his side if it only went in 6".
Now for the last and harshest question of all..........Why did you get on the trail of a poorly hit deer instead of waiting?? Judging by the distance you found your arrow away from the hit I would say you pushed her all the way across the county by now. Ask yourself if you knew this BEFORE you went in the woods.......if so why didn't you trust your knowledge and wait........if not, you just learned the hard way.
In conclusion......only you know if what you did was more your fault or just something that will happen statistically if you hunt long enough. If I were you I would be making sure your bow is tuned right, that your heads are sharp, and that your bow packs enough punch to take a deer at 20+ yards........if not then shorten your effective shot range......go to the range and make sure your grouping tight as ever so your form isn't to blame................
THEN GET BACK IN THE WOODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It speaks volumes that you have enough remorse and feel responable for your actions in a situation where you could have easily just said "Oh Well....it happens I guess" You looked for her hard(too hard probably<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> and you know you could have done better.
Now you sound like to nice of a person/hunter to give up........we need more people like you in the woods(understatement of the year!!!)
Find out what caused the bad outcome......was it you?? your equipment?? both?? none of above?? and fix it. Then get back in your stand ASAP and post the pics of your next deer......and you better be smiling!!!!!
Keep your head up kiddo