Shot him Wednesday morning.. shot felt good.. front end buckled .. kicked rear legs .. ran off like a dead deer to me, holding the shoulder I shot through stiff legged.. it was 100 yds broadside. Mature looking 8 point I think, not huge but at least 3.5

Gave him 45 minutes before taking the trail.. Not much blood .. found a wound bed 100 yds out ..blood was dark like maybe I hit him too forward or low. I guess I pushed him out of it. IDK.. Can't wrap my head around it. No more blood after the wound bed.. I guess it clotted up. But It also looked like he was bleeding out of his mouth/nose while laying in that bed. There was some sparse blood out in front of it that was sprayed like he was coughing.

I know you guys know the feeling if you have hunted long enough.. I still hate it.. tried to find a tacking Dog to no avail. grid searched for 4 hours yesterday with two other people.. will go back again mid day Saturday to look again .. mostly for Vultures/Crows at this point.

Had gun camera rolling, not great video.. but shot still looks good to me.. just lamenting with some like minded folks.. I tell you times like this makes me want to quit deer hunting altogether and just stick to what I'm good at.. Turkey Hunting.. I should have never shot him.. he was a borderline pass to me anyway, but my adrenaline got the best of me with a quick decision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bseM4gTwtOQ

Those are tough hunts to get over. It looked like a good shot and reaction. The deer wide open and broad side, can't fault for not taking the shot (good decision). Sounds like maybe caught part of one lung? Great effort on trying to find the deer.
Nope, can't end deer hunting like that, get back out there and make one last quick clean kill. Then just start fall turkey hunting. But semi knowing you, you will have a couple great successful deer stories for us by the end.


Earl

That's hunting. Shake it off and get back in the game. We tracked a doe 400+ yards, found a lot of blood but still bumped her after waiting an hour. When we bumped her she moved off pretty good pace. Surprised us, saw a lot of blood and thought dead deer. Happens to anyone that hunts, and not only deer but turkey too. Heck you might go back out there and see him walking around. We've all been there, it sucks but is part of the game.

Shoot straight!
V

When you go back this weekend I would check the nearest water source. Walk the creek or stream if you don’t find him check.with your neighbors to see if the buck has moved to their property . That’s all you can do; I’ve been there and it sticks with you. Good luck with the rest of your season.