There are times in broad daylight that I have not seen the arrow impact and I have dipped arrows. Of course that is not the norm but it does happen.

As far as to dark to shoot goes, for me at least, it becomes a matter of, is it to dark to be able to see details on the animal? So with that in mind a twenty yard shot might be to far but a ten yard shot could be acceptable at the same time of day (legal shooting hours). It all depends on the circumstances at the time.

Something that is often over looked are the subtle angles. Those are the ones where the animal looks broadside but in reality is not. There are a number of deer that I have shot that appeared to me to be perfectly broadside. Upon recovery, some will show that they were obviously not broadside. The interesting thing about this is, almost never will the wound channel show a quartering away shot when this allusion happens. In low light the percentage of making a misjudgement on the angle of the animal and the angle of the entry and exit of the arrow climbs dramatically.

Mathewsboy, chances are you hit to far back. From your description, at best you got one lung. I doubt you got kidneys, because contrary to what a lot of people believe, kidneys usually bleed pretty good (and why wouldn't they, they have a direct vein to them to help cleanse the blood). You probably got liver and intestines. A shot like this doesn't always show stomach or fecal matter on the arrow. In fact I have witnessed where this has happened and you couldn't smell it on the arrow. Dark blood is the norm. Early good blood is also not unusual. However in most cases it is shut off by fat and the insides of the animal plugging up the hole. I have seen cases where eight or ten inches of "innards" are sticking out of the exit wounds upon recovering.

My guess is this deer will succumb to septic shock. As has been disgust over and over, many times the deer will bed within two hundred yards if not pushed. However, on more than one occasion I have seen an animal that has been hit in this manner, not pressured, still travel a half mile before he beds. Nothing is set in stone in this game. Many believe they go to water because of the fever associated with the wound. That would seemly makes sense if you think about it logically. However I have seen just the opposite in many cases like this, by at least a two to one margin. Crazy I know, nevertheless that is what I have honestly experienced in well over 100 blood trailing experiences.

Good luck, I hope you find him.