You will find her on the grid search. She is dead. I tried expandable last year. It was a disaster. My son tried Swackers and it was a disaster for him too early this year. We are both back to Muzzy Fixed Blade and the deer are falling, and quickly. No 100+ yrd tracking jobs with the Fixed Blade. Good luck! She's laying out there. Don't get frustrated. Don't give up.
About 4 years ago I prepped for season shooting even shooting bare shaft arrows to make sure the bow was on. I sat and shot the second 8 pointer I saw and had a broadside shot and the hit was good but no pass thru I thought well when a broad head hits a deer weird stuff can happen. I found the buck tracking was difficult at first I had to go to the very last place I saw him to even find a speck of blood, then once the blood level got up to the entry hole it was easy to track. I had a bonus tag that year and I shot the old herd bully and matriarch. 25 yard shot broad side no pass thru, the doe did not go far but I did not see her go down and she ran into the thickest brush I have on the property by the swamp so I did not have a far line of sight. I knew the does bedded in a certain point by the edge of the swamp in an area with brush, vines, and deadfalls. I didn't even try to find blood I went to the bedding area and there she was. After season I went in to get new strings and cables and at the shop I was shown that the serving has slightly separated around my cams because my strings had stretched out. My point is it is possible for a bow to shoot accurately (some what, I am no william tell) but be out of tune. I got lucky that year that there were no lost deer. I have since made a habit of always bringing in the bow for inspection and tuning before I hunt for the season.
dont feel to bad, from the details in your story I can say that I think what you have shot was a "rakshasa," it's means undead one in Native American, the legends say that they are usually the ghosts of a doe that had been gored to death by a buck during the previous rut. The problem is, if you try to kill one, you become cursed and your luck will go from bad to worse until you find a way to break the curse, or if you can put the rakshasa to rest before the full moon of the next rut. Those who have encountered such creatures and fail to finish them are for the most part okay. But every year, just before the full moon of the rut(the hunters moon) they can always hear something following them, just a continual dragging sound. And a faint moan.....But of course its all just legend... HappyHalloween!
