Some good responses here. The good thing is that everyone agrees that you press on searching, even if the chance of finding her is remote. I have to admit that I've helped other hunters look for game and after only a few hours of searching say something like " Well, coyotes gotta eat too..." .
I have one friend that somehow seems to lose a deer every year. Just rushes and takes a shot at a poor angle. I'm usually the first one he calls to help with the recovery. But more than once we have come up empty handed. He does try to find the deer, just not as hard asI do. I'll go back the next day and scour the place for any sign we may have missed, then start doing the circles. I'm not sure if he goes to that much trouble. I say friend because I've known him all my life. Sometimes I wonder though. And what so funny about is that he'll tell me about what happened, knowing that I'm going to bitch him out for taking a bad shot.
How about recovery percentages?
If you had to guess, what percentage of the deer YOU have shot at, have you recovered?
How many recovery missions for others have you been on that have turned up nothing?