I was hunting out of a pop-up blind yesterday, overlooking some deer trails/feeding area. I took a shot at a doe, and appeared to make a good hit. The deer ran off, and I lost sight of it. Time was about 5:15, plenty of light left. I searched the direction the deer was going, and could not find it. Back to the blind, to retrace exactly where the deer was. No sign of blood/hair, or anything. The search continued, no luck. Now it is almost dark, I wrote this off as a miss, and returned to the blind to pack up my gear. I then hesitated because really felt that I hit the deer, and decided to press on. Out comes the flashlight, I looked some more, and found the deer in a clump of tall grass. Very hard to see. The deer was heart shot, and ran about 85 yards. I was glad I put in the effort. It turned out that the deer I thought was running away, was not even the same deer, so I was not looking in the right area. The motto of my story is don't give up to soon.

Glad you stuck with the search
Congrats on putting some meat in the freezer

Good job. They don't all bang flop. Mine certainly all don't and found them all except my very first. Done same on doe few years ago with a 30.06 that just ran and finally found about 100 yards away but was looking in the wrong direction. Then took a monster hog that ran too. Found 75 yards away in pitch black. Never give up. That's why I called tracking dogs last weekend for my sons buck. Found 483 yards ago. I really question when people say gun was off, didn't find anything...

Congratulations and good job for not giving up!
I have my own tracking dogs and track for free in my area. Each legal tracking state has a blood tracking network where trackers track for free. Check facebook or the interwebs. Even If you think you may have missed. Trackers don't mind coming to check!!

They definitely charge in Texas no matter what.

Upon looking I didn't see the organization that I was referring to in Texas. That sucks. We have ones that charge here in Louisiana too but I don't really see why anyone would use them when they can get a free dog from Louisiana Blood Trailing Network (LABTN).
Hunter can tip whatever they see fit but no payment can be requested by trackers.

This is the worst. I remember the story from one of y'all about the guy who supposedly kept missing, because he shot but the deer didn't go straight down. They searched the area and found 6-8 carcasses of the ones he never looked for.

Unfortunately, some folks think a rifle is a magic wand.

My grandson recently tracked a doe close to 300 yards. He had some small specks here and there and the further the deer went the specks were few and smaller. Was proud of him for sticking with the search.

Good job