Nice buck and I'm glad you were able to recover it! That's great that you kept up the search when some would have given up. Sounds like the bullet did just fine, kinda strange that you didn't get more of a blood trail. I've shot a few with the 200 SST that didn't leave much of a blood trail, although none has made it more that 50 yards or so, so no trail needed. The 250 Gold Dot/Deep Curls have a good reputation for putting deer down fast and/or with good blood trails. I've only taken 1 deer with the 250 Deep Curl, but it did leave a very good blood trail (1 deer is not enough to make conclusions).

I guess blood trails haven't been an issue when shooting muzzy's - for me the vast majority of the time the deer falls within sight, and if not, it only goes a short distance.