I agree that if you can't make a good shot, don'tsqueeze the trigger....if it were up to me it wouldn't be permitted to hunt whitetail with dogs either... why would you want to shoot at a moving whitetail and increase your chances of wounding an animal and not finding it? -now please, I don't need to be slammed by that last comment..... to each their own!

We've used a few different methods.

The best method I find is this...

1- Have onehunter stand where a blood trail was last seen.
2- Have another hunter walk around the first in a large circle.
If any blood is found this way, it will give you the direction the deer is heading based on the last blood point.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you find it!

NOTE-> I find that the deer always seem to circle back.. seems like they make a loop from where you shot around and back out near where you shot....

If the deer didn't fall immediately after the shot, it's VERY important to wait. He likely wont go much further than 200 yards if left alone. By waiting I mean minimum an hour! I've read a few good sites that suggest to wait even longer then that. Stay at your stand, be quiet and patient. As soon as you leave your stand, place something bright like your orange hunting toque where the deer was standing when you took the shot. Leave it there until you recover the animal.

I hope some of this is helpul!