RE: Hateful day in the woods.
dpv
You can't hit a deer with a bullet and find NO sign. I am assuming you did find the location the deer was when you shot of course, but if that's the case, there would be some evidence.
Crosshairs on the chest? If you hit it, there would have been plenty of sign.
Reminds me of a buck I shot at. It bucked and bolted. Dead deer I thought, went up there and found my bullet track in the snow, right between the tracks. My bullet had deflected low from hitting a twig, and hit the ground right at his feet. Apparently something did hit him, like maybe something kicked up by the bullet. Tracked him a while and had to leave at dark, but there was never any blood. If there had not been snow, I too would have wondered what happened.
I think something like this happened to you, but you did the right thing by really looking. You can't assume you missed just because you don't find blood.