Son hit one .
 

He got out at 4 pm after work. Sees a buck coming in. Waits for a shot. Shoots. It jumps and takes off. He waits for a while and goes to where it stood. Blood ! Goes further. More blood ? Getting dark. He and his buddy keep trying to track the blood. Wind picks up blowing leaves away and it is hard to find the trail ! Jumped it and it ran. Lots of blood in the bed ! Waited a while ? Started to try to follow the blood but winds were really high there.
Looking with flash lights. Then it happens ? He rams a stick into his eye in the dark ! Blood and pain from his eye. Hard to see ! Off to the ER.
Back to look for it with his brother but the wind had blown the tracking blood away ? They wonder around in circles for hours and no deer .
Eye is very painful and now has to miss work. He is a welder and needs both eye to do his job !
By now if it is down ,in our area,Bears or Coyotes have it gone !
I just had to tell this to some one.

Sorry to hear that. When you say he waited awhile before tracking deer how long is that. If i dont see the deer drop i wait atleast 3 hrs before i look for blood. If i question my shot at all then i wait till morning before looking. I know some areas you cant wait til morning because of bears and coyotes. Dont give up. That buck layed down to die and if you do a good grid search you have a good chance at finding him. Make sure to check leaves on the bushes and brush. Deer will leave blood about waist high on leaves and brush as they run by. Good luck hope you find him.

In my experience (42 years hunting), the fact that he got to where it layed down (in the dark) is a sign it was hit reasonably hard. If I was to bet I’d say that deer layed down again as soon as it felt safe, which would be beyond the point where they gave up. That may well be closer than you think and possibly within a couple hundred yards. Walking a grid pattern looking for a deer might work. All of this is naturally dependent on the wound type...vascular injuries like leg or neck wounds bleed a lot but may never kill a deer. Wounds to the chest cavity, where air is getting into the chestand messing with the internal,pressures, make it very difficult for a deer to breath. In those cases they will lay down quicker and is very hard for them to recover from. Liver is fatal as well, but can take a while, but often the deer lays down fairly quick. Finally, watch for crows and/or buzzards...they circle quickly and if it’s cold and the deer hasn’t been eaten they may lead you right to it.

The wind was bad enough but then it rained ! They did the grid search thing to no avail.
YTCLT,i do think he must have hit in the neck. No buzzards or crows to be seen.
Could be another hunter finished it off the next day ?
Gut piles in that area only last over night and then they are gone !
He is Bummed .