worst feeling ever

Well last night at last light i had a mature doe come in to the field 20 yds from me.. I drew, settled in and released..I noticed the arrow in the front shoulder as she tore out of there..I gave it 20 minutes and began looking for blood..I noticed right away there was not blood like there should be so i backed out went to gas station and called my brother-in-law to meet me and bring me lights..so now its about an hour after the shot we picked up the faint blood trail.. We followed it to fence that she jumped and blew blood eveywhere on the other side..then she started uphill(which i thought was strange for a good hit on a deer) and the blood was in big piles going up the hill. The blood trial was not great but you could still follow it with ease in the dark with lights...Well now were about 600 yds from where i shot her..The blood is getting smaller and the drops are getting farther and farther apart...I finally found blood where she jumped another fence which i do not have permision to be on..With it being late i knew the landowners were probably asleep and i chose to back out and come back in the morning..I did not know we were suppose to have 2 big storms roll threw last night so all my blood was washed out..This morning i got permissoin to search for the deer ( and to hunt ) from the landowner.. I went to were i last found blood and the rain washed it all away...I grid searched thet entire ridge and the bottoms on both sides.. I searched every brushpile,cedar tree, and downfalls with no luck.. I havent had a sickfeeling like this in a while..I guess all i can do is hope the deer will live and someone can get her this season.. The shot looked good (blood wasnt great but wasnt too bad) but i guess looks can be decieving... I guess what bothers me is that if i would have tresspassed i may have found my deer because the rain washed the blood away overnight.. I just wanted to vent to me WA friends...

that really sucks Justin, it has happened to us all at one time or another, as far as the tresspassing part you did the right thing in my opinion, I know it doesnt make ya feel any better but getting a tresspassing ticket if you would of got caught would of made it worse, like ya said we can hope she lived and someone else or you will get her later in the year

Sounds like you put forth great effort on trying to find her. Keep at it!

Just out of curiosity what broadheads did you use? I ask because I had a similar story. I had a doe at 22 yds and shot. The doe ran 60 yds stopped and stood there for 5 min then walked off. I waited about 45 minutes then got out of my stand found my arrow (complete pass through with good blood on fletchings) then walked the long away around the field trying not to spook her if she bedded down in the woods. I then had my stepdad help me track her 45 minutes after getting down. I too had good blood and was easy to follow even with it raining. We tracked her for 600 yds to a crp field with a pond in it. I decided to end it there knowing i wont have any blood in the morning but knew if i had chance of finding her i couldnt jump her out of that thick crp.
The next day me, a friend, and my best friend harley (chocolate lab) went to where we stopped the night before to try and track her. Harley took me another 100 yds to the sand pit pond. I looked about 100 yds down the pond and there she was floating about 40 ft out. After a very cold dip in the pond to recover her i saw where i hit her. I double lunged her. good shot right behind the shoulder. big entry hole but small exit. I was shooting the bloodrunner 2 blade broadheads. this doe made number 2 with the those broadheads both good shots but hard track jobs. My opinion stay away from 2 blade broadheads. had a similar encounter with 2 blade rage. Thank god for a good dog and good friend to help me find this deer.

I too was using nap bloodrunners 2 blade. I shot a for earlier this year with them and the deer died in sight. Interesting though. Three blade may be the way to go????

I made the switch to the 3 blade bloodrunner cant wait to lay one down. Ill post my findings when i do. I was happy with the accuracy, durability, and penetration using the 2 blade just not the blood trail.

thanks for sharing with me.. i too make the switchto three blade..I like to try several different broadheads each year..Right now i have the 3 blade meatseeker to try out on my next one that walks by. in my quiver i have a muzzy,bloodrunner and meat seeker

im the same wway to. i went from rages to a magnus 100gr buzzcut 4 blade. havent got to try em out...yet.

Sorry, that really sucks. Sounds like she ran a looong way, might be that you hit her shoulder blade and she'll end up recovering. A similar thing happened to me a few years ago, I felt sick to my stomach. If you hunt long enough, it will probably happen.

Sorry to hear that also. Kudos to you for trying hard. They are very tough animals to put down.