No blood trail
 

Of course you should go back and look again, you may have only been feet from a blood trail. A 30 yard shot should result in a dead deer. If you thought you heard something drop, you probably did, they don't always drop like you pole axed them. I have had heart shot deer fo almost 100 yards. Get back there and find your deer.

I have shot and seen many deer get shot and NOT leave a blood trail, some never did, , some it took a while for it to start leaking up
so, yes 100% you should be out looking NOW<
try and follow the path it ran and to where you last seen it, and search from there out in grid search patterns
if you know anyone with a deer tracking dog, or know of folks in your area that ofer the services, call them FIRST and take them with you, a dog will find things WAY better than a human will!
and there worth the costs when ecovering a deer IMO, if needed!

Yep you probably have a dead deer. They don't always bleed and they can cover some distance without a pump

-Jake

I hope he comes back and reports if he found the deer.

hopefully its cold out where hes hunting. it can lay out all night without spoiling.

Did you ever find blood? Hair? Any sign of a hit?

If so search the edges of the field all the way around to see if the blood exits. If it doesn't exit you'll have to walk the field carefully. Might want to check with the owner before doing that and be very careful and respectful of the crops.

If no blood, a grid search is about all you can do.

-Jake

Plus one on this. The buck I got this year did not have a blood trail until laying down. I had a solid shot, clipping some of the heart. Luckily I had film footage and reviewed the shot, even though I was 100% sure I hit him. Luckily for me I found him laying 40 yards from where I last seen him. It's not fun just walking blindly. I've trailed enough animals and they almost always stay the same course once wounded. I will say he went through some of the thickest stuff he could find.

You owe it to that animal & go out & grid search for him & look for any kind of clue. If your 100% sure you shot & hit him.

Best thing is to look and listen hard. Take someone you can trust that trusts in you to help. I rely on my ears a lot in archery. Most of my kills have not yielded blood trails. I actually tracked the sound of them running off and crashing down. Sit and do my wait, then start looking for a blood trail and tracks. Over half of my archery elk kills there was no blood trail. Most expired in under 75yrs. Well placed arrows in the boiler room that didn't pass through but broke off inside. Massive damage. Critters were like a waterbed full of blood. Another tip is if you ever have to need help to find an animal without a trail, is don't bring someone that isn't going to listen to what happened. I shot a smallish buck once to fill my tag at end of the season. Shot it with my 7mm08 @131yds. No pass through. Small entry wound. No blood. I knew shot was good. My husband had his dad come help before we had not even started looking yet. Dad didn't listen and stomped all over threw insults and tried to tell me there was no way it went where I said, or standing where I said... which it very much was so. He stepped all over tracks and was literally ruining the trail as well as my good time. He kept trying to go off in a different direction and arguing with me about it. We went back to where I said the buck was standing. Finally my husband picked up one tiny shard of rib bone darn near under dads boot after we got back from looking the wrong direction that he wanted to go. Deer was dead laying up against a log in a stump hole inside the tree line. Deer didn't even make it 60yds. No blood. just one shard of fresh rib. Of course it was where I said I saw it go, but dad said it didn't go that way, when he wasn't there, didn't see the shot. He just wanted to be an ass and discredit me. My husband just needs to not call daddy and help his wife himself. I don't think we really needed help from him in the first place. I think waiting for him to show up and cause drama made it take twice as long in fading light to find my deer. I never got an apology either for this man basically calling me a liar and hurling insults. So definitely take someone you can trust that is supportive and has faith in your abilities to help you blood trail.

This happened to me the last two seasons on 8 points each time. Once using a 243 today using a 308. Both occasions I was using soft point ammo. No exit wounds all internal damage. When deer get hit they sometimes have a tendency to go back were they came from. Worst case scenario get a dog out there.