I finally got a shot at a decent buck, and I can't find any blood. I've never missed any animal I've shot at, so I'm a little frazzled. I'm back in my blind just in case he comes back. I'll check for blood and the buck again this afternoon. I'm assuming I got a clean miss. Boy how heart-wrenching.

Where were you aiming & how did he act?

Did you see the shot or know full well that your eyes were open and seeing the spot on the animal that was your aim point? Did you see his reaction when the gun fired? If yes to both of these, and you know the rifle is accurate because you checked it recently, then you probably just overlooked him.

Not sure how many deer you've taken, but a well hit deer can easily run 50 yards or more before hitting the ground. And some might run even more and show little or no reaction to the hit.

Whatever the case, if you didn't spend at least a half hour looking, then you need to go back and keep looking.

I have a good friend who took up deer hunting without a mentor and later admitted he didn't know how many deer he may have left in the woods after we found a deer he had shot that had run off. He had never been told that deer often run some distance after being hit. He honestly believed that if he hit a deer, it would always drop immediately.

I was watching him for 10 minutes, waiting for a shot. Maybe a little adrenaline got to me. He finally turned towards me, quartering somewhat. I aimed at the brisket left side. My rifle is accurate to about 300 yds. This shot was approximately 175-200yds. I didn't see his reaction.

I looked for about 30 min so far, but I came back to the blind just in case he comes back out. I'm waiting for my father-in-law to get here so that we can spend the afternoon searching.

If you didn't see his reaction given the distance, I'm leaning towards a miss.

It will be a wonder if he returns today. Not to sound negative, but you'll be lucky if he returns to that same spot this season.

Good Luck...

I'll update the outcome later. Thanks.

Pulled any and hit front shoulder at that angle there won't be squat for blood but deer won't usually go that far.

I'm hoping you're right.

I used my 300 win mag by the way. 150 grain.

Agree, depending on which direction you pulled, either clean miss, or you go some "looking " to do.

Good luck.

200 isn't a slam dunk, particularly if he's somewhat facing you and you've had extra time to think about the shot and let a little adrenaline flow. Good luck on the search, check all the possible trails in the direction he headed and see what you can find.

Good luck.

Also keep and eye on bushes or shrubs around where he was standing for signs of hair, blood or meat. Thought I missed once because no blood and my dad went back to the spot and saw some hair and meat 2 feet off the ground on a shrub branch, we found the deer 30 yards from there.

If you've never missed an animal, I wouldn't bet you missed this buck. More likely just not bleeding a bunch.

I'd spend a long time looking in circles of 30 yards where you think he was standing. I shot a doe earlier this year and thought I knew exactly where she went into the woods. Not 1 drop of blood. Moved 20 yards further away and it was like a scene from Friday the 13th.

No sign of him. Spent all morning and afternoon looking. There was absolutely no sign of a connection. No blood, meat, hair. I'm gonna take a couple of days off this week and get him.

good luck on the recovery

You more than likely made a clean miss. I use a .300 Win Mag with 150 grain as well. I've had even marginal hits and never had one get out of his tracks from the shock of the bullet. I did miss one clean one time because I was an idiot and rested the barrel instead of the forearm on the blind and it shot a lil high over it's back. is it possible you in a rush made the same mistake?

Off topic but seems like a good place to ask it. Has anybody ever used a handheld black light to look for blood? I've never tried it but thought it might be helpful in situations where animals aren't bleeding very much.

I think I definitely rushed the shot. I waited like 10 minutes with my sights on him, waiting for a shot. When he finally gave me one, I rushed it. Lesson learned the hard way. As far as blood spatter, I think they spray luminal first in order to get the blood to react. But what do I know?! I only watch Dexter.
I'm going to search some more for him.

We had a couple deer get shot with 30-06 this year and there was not any blood. We followed the tracks or were just lucky looking around in the brush and found them. I only found one drop of blood the other day and that was right behind where the buck was standing. You just never know!

I'm still going to look for him. Hopefully I'll get lucky.

Thing I would concentrate most on is making sure your looking in the right spot. Climb back up in the stand and see if you can determine exactly where he was standing. At 200 yards things look a lot different on the ground than they did from the stand. Good luck

Stop watching deer through the scope! Only use the scope when you're ready to shoot.

Sounds like you have plenty of experience though. A miss is a hard thing do deal with. But given the evidence, you probably didn't hit him.

Did any dust fly up behind him?