A piece of advise that has been handed down through my family for many generations. If you are going to hunt with archery gear, and yes a crossbow is still archery gear, then you must do one of 2 things or even both, learn to track without blood, that means identify the hit animal by hoof and learn to crawl through all kinds of stuff, or get a good tracking dog. Tracking hit animals with a dog on a leash and no weapons on your person is legal in almost every state now. I don't care if you are Robin Hood, you will eventually make a bad hit as I think you have discovered.