Springer, what kind of bullet are you using in your muzzle loader. When I first started hunting with a ML I was using hornady XTP bullets. I was killing deer with them but noticed often times little or no blood trails. I started asking on here and other sites and many people had the same issue. I was told the bullet was basically a hand gun bullet sometimes would not preform well at the speeds my ML was shooting them. I shot a doe once with fresh snow on the ground and not a hint of blood for the first 50 yards or so. Had there been no snow to track I would not have been able to find her. I switched to Barnes for my ML after reading reviews on the XTP.