As a side note: Often on sunny and/or windy days you'll have some dried and wet blood on a trail. What's in the sun or wind will dry faster than what's in the shade. That may be why you saw wet blood in the thicket, but dried blood after that.

Personally, I'd go to the last blood on the trail (dry, wet, or otherwise) and start grid searching. I've got the feeling that you're grind searching that thicket, which isn't where your last blood is really at.

Was any of the pink & bubbly blood a couple to three feet off the ground, like on saplings? If so, it's coming out the deer's nose, which is a dead give-a-way on a lung hit.

Best of luck.

JRW

kgkoon,
You have spent a great deal of time and energy in your attempt to recover this deer. My hats off to you.

JRW,
Excellent trailing points re: the blood in or out of the sun and/or wind.....and especially re: the sign off the ground level. Often missed by many hunters who get tunnel vision on the ground.

JRW, thanks for the tip, I had not thought of that either. I will go back to where I thought the deer started back tracking (the end of the trail) and start searching there again (though I have searched that area somewhat).
The only pink and bubbly blood I found was on the ground. The blood on the trees and bushes was solid red.
Something strange did happen on Sunday that I did not report. As I was in the woods looking for sign, I saw 3 buzzards circling in the sky about 300-400 yards away. I got excited and ran out to an open field to get a better look at where they were and . . . they disappeared. I cannot explain what happened but I walked and drove around and those buzzards never showed up again. I just knew it was my deer. I live near a highway so it could have been roadkill.
I had to go back to work yesterday so I have not been able to look. I get home right before dark, just enough time to look out the back window and see if the deer are in the food plot. Will let everyone know if I see the deer again. Thanks again for all the help.