gtownbuckbuster

well w/ gut shots they dont always bleed at first... my answer to every trakin question is first thing find out if there are any ditches in the direction he was walkin.. deer almost always go to water or follow ditches for hope of water... if no ditches just get 2 or more buddies and you start where you last saw him and one walk a strait line and the others walk at various angles and walk about 200 yds befor givin up ive never lost a deer using this knowledge and friends..... but i dont claim to be and expert traker so im still lookin for more and better ideas if yall have one

tjlindho

If you haven't found him using a few friends going in the general direction he was headed try to see if the slug came out of the deer a rib shot with a 12 gauge at that range should have been through and through. If you find the slug see if the the area around it has spray. If there is no spray at all there is a good chance that you missed him. But you owe it to the deer not to give up on assumptions, you either know you hit or know that you missed him.

wis_bow_huntr

Slug may have tumbled, and you missed, or you shot further back than you think and got guts.

crenshaw

If your shooting slugs with the same chokes you use to shoot clays, my best guess would be that you missed. Also, any deer i have ever shot that close with either a shotgun or rifle does a lot more then just walk off. They usualy stumble and run and collapse or just plain get knocked off there feet.

When the deer walked off was its head down and its back arched? If so thats a good sign you got guts, typically though they run a few feet then start walking, but there back hunches up just like they got punched in the stomach and there head tends to hang low.

No offense but it sounds like you missed, a slug would leave a big hole and one way or another a deer is going to feel that and bleed.