I have killed a bunch of deer and did lose 1 until the next morning many years ago while bow hunting. I followed the sporadic trail until almost midnight and decided it was not going to be found so I did pull out. I went back the next day and in the daylight was able to sort out the trail picking it up on the wooded side of the swamp and when I found the deer it was dead. I gutted and actually processed the deer thinking it would be OK. The meat was bad and the whole deer had to be thrown out. The shot was a liver shot and was partially due to a deer that was quartered more than I thought when I took the shot near last light. My fault for sure and that made me much more careful going forward. I seldom wait more than 10 minutes before trailing a bow shot deer. If I know the shot was in the boiler works I am right after it immediately. Almost 100% of them have been dead when I got to them.
Last edited by Champlain Islander; 09-22-2017 at 02:16 PM.