LTK, sorry to hear that man. Bad things happen from time to time even to the best. The only thing that I would have done differently is when you jumped the first deer and thought that maybe it was the one you shot you should have backed out and came back 6-8 hours later. A gut shot will not usually bleed very much and can take that long to kill them. Your only hope when you gut one is to back out and let them die. Usually you will find them right by a fence that they didn't want to jumpor near water, but they need a long time to die. When they get up and run the blood trail is very tough to follow because they just aren't bleeding enough. Just my 2 cents. Hopefully you will find him.