I know, it sucks when you know you hit something and you cant find it. Last week I took a shot at a spruce grouse, but my shotgun missfired. After hearing the click the chicken flew into a tree and my dad shot it through the body with a .22 LR. I couldnt believe it, the grouse flew after that and we heard it crashing into trees, so we went looking for it and finally found it dead under a tree. Thats why I always use a shotgun for birds, because sometimes they flop right over after being hit with a .22 and other times they fly on you.
hahaha when I was bird hunting on sat.I had a crafty snowshoe elude me in the thick bush and I never got a shot. O'well mabye next time ill catch him sitting. They are nearly white here already, which is nice cause theres hardly any snow yet.