Mr. Deer Hunter

That is what I am thinking.

You should have let the deer lay for a couple of hours before you started chasing it. A more experienced hunter would have been more able to determine where you hit the deer by the blood on the arrow and on the ground. Just because you have some drops of red blood does not always mean that you had a perfect shot.

If you were up in a tree stand and you practiced all year - standing on the ground, there is a very good chance that you hit it low or in the front leg and it bled but did not die.

bronko22000

Well it happens. Especially if you follow too quickly. Don't know how soon after the shot it until you started trailing. But even with a perfect shot you should give it at least 30 mins to an hour. They won't get any deader!.
But it happens to all of us.

Bocajnala

You did what you could! Just get back out there and keep hunting. In a few days if the weather is warm, you oughta be able to smell her, and find her. Just for your own sake and know where she is and what happened. Maybe learn a few things too.
Deer are amazing animals and I've seen them do alot even after solid hits. Next time, wait 20 or 30 minutes before even walking over to look at the arrow, give the deer time to lay down and die. Good luck!
-Jake

kswild

I disagree with the give them 30 minutes after the shot to die..... ESPECIALLY in the rain! Which is what the OP said it was doing at the time of the shot. If you wait 30 minutes while it's raining you might as well kiss your blood trail goodbye. I NEVER I repeat NEVER wait after the shot and have only lost 1 deer in 40 years because it got too dark and the blood trail was very thin about 1 drop every 50 yards. Although I did recover the deer the next morning mostly eaten by coyotes. I am not afraid of pushing a wounded deer, but I am afraid of losing a deer because I did not start to track soon enough. Within minutes after the shot I am starting the tracking and recovery. This is what works for me and I will NEVER wait to track a deer that I have shot especially if I can't see the deer after the shot. No matter what the weapon.
Live it up! Doug

SavageSniper78

Don't think the deer went to waste, you just fed all the critters in the woods last nite. It's just part of huntin, most of us have had the same experience. The first year I started bowhunting, I had a doe walk directly under my stand and I leaned over and shot. I was thinking to myself, if I shoot her between the shoulder blades, it will either break her back or hit the vitals on the way through. Boy was I wrong. I hit her shoulder blade and she took off running with my arrow sticking out of her back, like a flag pole. Fortunately, later that year I was able to harvest her with my rifle. She had a slight limp, and my broadhead was still in her shoulder. That was the last time I ever used a fixed blade broadhead. That was also the last time I took a shot like that. Now, I won't shoot unless the deer is broadside or quartering away. Good luck and keep trying.