i wouldnt be so hard on yourself. the deer did not go to waste, and theres more out there. just keep lookin high and low next time. good luck to your son for the next one he lays down

lol are you kidding?

It happens I Noked one down last season with a 3006 useing 165 gr corloks at 20. Yards I saw him hit the ground he got up ran off got one drop of blood the size of a penny and never found no more never found the deer. I've killed 30+ deer and have only lost that one made me sick. Chalk it up for leasson learnd

What was the lesson?

It does happen. I've tracked a deer for a quarter mile bleeding only one small drop of blood every fifty yards.. Tracked it for three hours in the dark. Quit till morning. I even tracked it across a creek. Found one drop of blood on one side and searched the other side till I found One small drop. Found the deer about one hundred yards from where I quit the night before. Coyotes had almost ate the whole deer in about six hours. You just have to keep at it. Hope all goes well next time. Best of luck.
Live it up! Doug

really would not fret over it to much. its a mistake dont beat yourself up. only thing you could have done(if the temp was low enough to keep it fresh) is get a fresh start looking the next day. but dont worry about that.

[quote=HuntingKS;3685920]
We immedately go to the spot he thought it was at. We search far and wide for blood, hair, anything and find nothing. We fan out for about 30 yards into the very dense woods (everything is very thick, still green, and growing right now) next to the field. We still find nothing. I ask him more about where the deer was standing and where it went. To the best of our knowledge, we've looked for it and can't find any evidence that it was hit. I assume he missed, and we move on. quote]

Don't beat yourself up over it.
If you didn't find any evidence of hitting the doe, blood, hair, or anything.
Then how would you know that the doe was hit.
Especially when your son missed the doe, the first time.
So go back, and try again.
Sometimes things just don't turn out like we think it will.
Good Luck getting another one.
Tell your son thats just how real life is some times.

JMHO

Best response is get him back out there and keep working hard. One thing I've noticed with younger hunters is that they really have no clue where the animal was when they shot. They get very focused on one thing-the game- and lose sight of everything else. At that age it's very important for you to know where things are and closely watch what's going on. Sometimes deer don't bleed. And that may be the case here, or maybe the deer just wasn't where he though it was. Get out there, and keep him interested! Good luck and let us know when he connects on one!
-Jake