So I shot a buck at about 75 yards with a 30-06 using iron sights. I saw him do a little jump and run off in the direction he was traveling. I waited a while and went to check it out, but I couldn't find a single drop of blood or hairs. I missed? Gun is pretty accurate and so am I, especially at that range. Did have a bit of buck fever though. That ever happen to anyone?

I messed up a couple years ago and bought ammo for tough skinned animals for my 30-06. They don't leave a blood trail on whitetail deer. I have used them on 4 different deer now. 3 of the 4 ran with no blood trail, the other was a neck shot. All 3 that ran were perfect heart shots and the deer only ran 20 to 30 yards. Start making circles in the direction he ran.

Please explain..

He read the silver Winchester box that said tough skinned animals lol

Using iron sights to shoot a deer at 75 yards is not a good choice.

Might need to take another look around, depending on how much time you spent yesterday. I have shot deer and never saw a single drop of blood on the ground near area of impact, but was confident with my shot...searched around, and eventually found the deer down. Done the same for friends that swore they hit one, and then they went to the spot where the deer was and didn't find blood and "thought" they must have missed it. I'll show up, and after a continued search, we find their deer. They think I'm a magic tracker (who am I to try to tell them otherwise, right? ). truth is, I just spent a little more time searching than they did and I found their deer down. If you feel confident with your shot, and saw a good hit type reaction, I'd say your deer might be one the ground.

If I think I've hit a deer, I'll spend a LONG time looking for it. My two cents.

Yes I've missed and so has everyone else just some won't admit to it. Iron sites are fine at that distance.

Hunters have different definitions when it comes to looking for a deer. While some might look for five minutes or less, others will say you haven't looked at all if you haven't spent at least an hour.

I shot a doe this weekend that broke every rule in the book for how they react when hit with a bullet. She kicked her hind legs like a gut shot, then turned and ran back from the way she came, jumping once as if she hadn't been hit at all. I found her on my circle back about 20 yards from where she stood at the time of the shot. It was a clean, heart and lung shot.

I would challenge anyone who says their hit deer always crumble without taking a step. All deer are different just like all shots are different. Some might crumble immediately, while others might run some distance with just the blood left in their veins.