well...first of all, there is no such thing as LUCK! is doesn' t exist and the word might as well not even be used. yeah i' ve lost a few deer, just bad shot placement, not luck, it has a whole lot to do with how bad you wanna find the deer too. if youll be patient after the shot...remember the last place you saw the deer, listen for it, and really look for a blood trail then you may have a better chance of finding it. tell your buddy to practice and take good shots and he' ll most likely recover his deer.