Not sure if I missed it but what broad head did you use? Congrats on the awesome buck! Based on the pics looks like he bled like a pig. Possibly pooled up inside him. Well even though you found him. Some guys brought up some good points I wanted to mention for future hunts. Looking straight down is usually the worst. When I've had those poor blood trails I would always find huge smeers of blood on tree trunks, or branches, leaves etc. because the wound on a deer is a couple feet off the ground so look at that height. Either way awesome!!! A deer like that would have haunted you the rest of your life if you didn't find him. I know it would have for me.
No telling how many deer are lost because of poor blood trails with great hits that aren't adequately searched for. I shot a doe with an expandable a few years back 3 blade/2 inch cut. Not a drop of blood. I heard her crash, so I looked where I heard her go down... found her easily but there was zero blood to follow. Shot an eight point last year... he took my arrow and left not a single drop that I ever found. He was dead on the edge of a thicket about 100 yards away... I actually smelled him. I would have a long list of lessons learned from watching, listening and waiting before trailing a deer and a long list of lessons learned from my many mistakes. I wonder if there was a lesson learned in your success that you could share?
OP were you in a tree or ground blind? Just curious? Reason why I say this is the two animals I did find but had a hell of a time doing it were both when I hunted a ground blind. Your eye level with the animal, on broadside your shooting basically straight through them parallel to the ground. I realize on a pass thru blood should still come out but you have a higher chance of a internal pooling. When up high in a tree it's normally a steep downward angle. I normally will aim for the boiler room the same way and the exit wound then is nice and low on the deer. This way it's like a drain plug. I now no longer look at a target on the animals side. I now try to see through the deer and envision the exit side when I'm aiming. This deer above I was literally following a carpet of blood.
I would say the best advice I could give is don't give up...I was so frustrated and mad It was unreal. Not that I did this but try to be calm and move slow looking everywhere. I was within 10 ft of the deer multiple times before ever finding him mostly because I was moving to fast and just a wreck mentally couldn't focus. Also I was about 12ft in the air, the exit was in the shoulder maybe the meat was causing it to be clogged. He ran about 50 yards from being shot
AWESOME and CONGRATS!!! Learn from what you stated though...don't take a too dark shot again, they don't all turn out so good. Again congrats awesome buck and just awesome it was your personal best!!!!
