Originally Posted by MedMinded

Hey all,

I shot a deer with a muzzleloader this evening and was unable to locate it. I followed a pretty consistent blood trail for what I'm guessing was over a mile. It would be pools of blood followed by drops for a while, then pools again, and so on. I'm guessing I kept jumping the deer, but it was dark and so far off my hunting property I just kept after it hoping for the best. Eventually I lost the trail, but have no idea if the wound clotted or I just need to go back and look again during daylight. Since I shot it in low light, I have no idea where I actually hit it. I wasn't sure if muscle hits could bleed that consistently for so long? If so, I'm guessing that's how it traveled so far. The trail seemed to taper off the last few hundred yards, but it was after over a mile of a consistent trail. I just wish I knew if it was a lethal shot or not.

I attached some images of the trail. Any ideas about the possible hit types and/or likelihood of finding the deer would be appreciated. Thanks!