Not to be a jerk about this, but I' m going to anyway.

50 FREAKING YARDS??????!!?!!!!!???? THEN YOU STOPPED TRACKING????

I' m not Mr. Fred Bear or bow hunting expert by any stretch and have had my share of bad shots (the name is misleading, it' s a joke, trust me), but after 24 years of hunting have learned a thing or two. One thing I learned? Track the deer you just shot. Learn how to track with no blood. Learn how be more tenacious when it comes to your sport. Our sport. Please, get your butt back out there and find the animal. Go further than 50 yards. Remember, he' s bleeding out the top of his back. The blood has to go up and out of a wound, then run down the deer' s body and eventually land on the ground. This blood trail is going to be sparse. There may not be any blood for 50 or more yards apart from last blood. BUT, there' s going to be blood and eventually a dead deer or one that you can put out of his misery. The pool of blood you found is the pool where he stopped to gather his composure. He may have been only another 50 yards away still alive when you found this pool and never moved because you didn' t go further. Or maybe even laying there piled up.

Ok. I' m done. Whew. Sorry.