same thing happened four years ago with me and my dad. he shot a decent buck the night before and decided to wait till the morning so i could come help him track and just enjoy the experience. we tracked it across a bean field and went right to where he last saw it. no sign of a blood trail or anything anymore once it hit the woods. after carefully searching the edge of the field for any sign i finally smelled something and right away i knew it smelled like a deer. well, what i was smelling was a gut pile. we knew the other guy hunting the piece and we drove to his house and there is my dads deer hanging from a tree in the backyard. we knocked on the guys house and there was no answer even though his and his wifes car was in the driveway. a week later we were told we were not allowed to hunt there anymore. i was only 17 when this happened and it totally changed my outlook on other hunters. never will i leave a deer lay over night again.