RE: Lowest point in my bowhunting career....
 

Don't beat yourself to death over it. I just had a similar thing happen to me. I had a doe come in at 24 yards anda perfect broadside shot. She came to a full sotp on her own without knowing I was even there. Just as I touched off the release, she took a step forward. The shot hit her what I assumed to be in the hip. She stood there for a few seconds and ran off into the thick brush. I gave her plenty of time to lay down, put my stuff in the truck, got the flashlights and headed back in for the search. I found the blood trail at the point of impact, and followed it for about 50 yards before it started to fade to very small drops. It was really getting dark and the lights were going dead after about 1 1/2 hours of looking. Came back the next day and followed the trail for close to 3/4 mile until the blood trail stopped. No deer in sight. I called my DNR agent and told him what had happened and he just so happened to be in the area. He came to the area and we tried looking for two more hours and nothing. We had a long talk about what happened and he really helped me through the exact same feelings you had. He said that he has had people turn their equipment into him because they didn't think they could hunt again. Thanks to him and his advice, I am not going to give up but like it was said above, learn from your mistakes and it will make me double check myself and the shooting conditions more carefully.