Nice post, all great rules of thumb......

Something that I try to follow on the light blood trails, when hitting a deer later in the afternoon/evening, instead of pushing the deer while dark, let it sit for the night and come back and collect it in the morning. (assuming you dont have predators around that will make off with your deer)

With a mortal internal wound with no pass through, (say a low lung shot) the deer is yours, but it is easier to find when it lays down within a couple hundred yards of the shot versus pushing it and having it run the proveberial mile, and then find it while out looking for sheds (had that happen to a buddy 2 seasons ago....)