RE: How many of you have had this happen?
The deer is dead, you just have to find it. Water is a good place to look, but don't get locked into one way of thinking. How far did you trail her last night? If you are quite confident its a gut shot, I'd wait 8 hr minimum, should this ever happen again. Looking in the closest, thick nasty brush areas is probably a good place to look also, just look hard because in thick places like that you can be within feet of your deer and not see her. Good luck.