Bad night, a first!!!!!!
 

Boys, I am here to tell you I had my first bad hit/failure to leave with hit tonight.
I shot an adult doe at 24yds only to have her duck it and take a hit about 3 inches below the top of her back on the right side and who knows where it came out on the left. I saw my luma-nock shinning and thats how I know where it hit. No arrow to be found. Sounded like I hit a log though at the shot. Could not see the arrow hanging out as she ran away, was in the timber and getting dark. My stand is 27 feet high and should at least give me far lung on way out at least.
It was at about 1730hrs and I stayed in stand till 1800hrs. I only went to impact site and did not see any blood. I know where she ran up the hill and I followed the kicked up leaves for about 20 yds before heading out and home. It is going to be cool, low 40's tonight, and I have my brother coming at 0800 to help me pick up track and hopefully blood or arrow. Hopefully she layed down and let the broadhead do its job. I am sick!!!!!!!!! First time in 30yrs for this. Either it is a clean miss or clean kill, up to now.
Whatcha ya'll thoughts?

Sometimes there is just no blood or at least no blood that you can see. You will find her tomorrow you did the right thing by not pushing her.

Your right 27 feet you must have hit the lung on the way out.

Good luck in the morning keep us posted. 40 degrees is a perfect temp.

Hope so. She had 2 yearlings with her and she was in the tail of the train. Hopefully they catch up to her and get her to lie down and it keeps her down. Lung hit is almost a had to on exit, considering the exit angle. That and maybe an artery along the spine/backbone. Funny thing though, after I got home, I went and ate chinese and afterwards the fortune cookie stated that I am in for a pleasant surprise in the next day!!! Hopefully so!!

sounds like at that angle it's dead, but no exit and high entry no blood. with the cool temps the meat should be ok, I wouldn't wait that long in the AM to look I would go at sunrise.

my wife just shot a doe with .243, shot her dead in the front shoulder and bounced off the opposite with no exit wound. There was no blood trail, of coursed she didn't go far, but if had gone in timber woulda been a wait till next morning to find for sure.

That's a dead deer. Get in there in the morning, she'll be there. You may not have much of a blood trail, so look good. AT that angle you should have caught some lung. If the arrow didn't pass through hopefully it bounced around enough in there to cut it all up. Let us know!
-Jake

One lung on a high shot, chances are very slim youll find her. Hope you do but one lung deer can go miles or even survive. You may have also hit over the spine and not done anything but flesh damage.

Just giving you other opinions.

Well did you get your penance yet
 

...of a thousand arrow shots at the target range, for the old hunter?

Maybe your joints were just tightening up, as the cold descended.

This is why I aim for heart with my bow. If the deer does drop, you should definitely hit it right where you want it.

first deer i shot i blew the heart in half, but he bled inside. sometimes they just bleed inside. you will find her. good luck and keep us posted

Update. Well we spent 4 hrs looking,crawling and just plain walking and nothing. We found a good pile of blood where she had layed down and bled out a good deal bout 75yds from impact site. Good trail for another 50-75yds, getting more sparse as we went, then it just to stop. We crawled around on hands and knees on each of the trails in the area, brairs and all, nothing. She was heading towards the pond though. I walked ahead and checked that, nothing.
Began to backtrack around and found a spot where she stopped on a trail and bled about 15-20 drops as she just stood there, then it stopped after that again, not to be refound. Hopefully she makes it through this. We never did find the arrow, fletching, nothing. Done our best. There are alot of turkey vultures and crows in that area also, they didn't seem to be keyed in on anything as well.

And Valentine, for what you are not worth mentioning, why post something such as that? I feel that for over 30 yrs of bowhunting, and 40yrs of hunting, I am 46 now, the thousands of animals harvested cleanly with multitude of weapons, this is my first deer of the 100's taken, that I have not been able to take home with me, is not too bad. This is only the second one I have ever shot that I had returned the next morning to retreive for the others went home with me then. So in all, if making this comment makes you feel like a man, then I am glad to say that I did not grow up in a household with such a pathetic example of a man to slate my future and existance after such as you. Even my dad of 72yrs old and replaced hip was out there trying to help recover that deer with us. So did I pay my penance yet, yes, meeting you!!