re: How many big game animals have you shot that were never recovered.

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He had just gotten rusty

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Yea, well I don't miss! So it has to be the guns, shells, thicker squirrel hides...

2, both does. on both-small blood trail that ended soon. Couple of hours circle and sector search. nada. They probably lived

Two does. One this year and one last year. Both were hit and left no blood trail other than where they were standing. Both were shot with my 7 wsm which is now on the shelf as the two other deer I shot and recovered also didn't leave a trail.

Lost 3 does and 1 small buck. My first deer down was going to be a doe. I was 11 and didn't know better. I got down immediately after the shot and she shot off into the canal. Never saw her again.
The others were bad shots. The other 2 does were gut shots the 2 hunts immediately following my 10 point in '05. Talk about short lived glory

I failed to recover 2 deer, both does. Both were shot w/ a 6.5 cal T/C Contender at 100-125 yds. Both were victims to what I think happened to Dayne O: hit high in the chest area resulting in temporary paralysis, but not a fatal shot as both deer shortly got up and ran off. One I trailed a mile or so through mesquite trees and saw a palm sized patch of blood very high on the offside shoulder. The first deer moved as I shot. The second deer was the victim of a change in my scope's point of impact: I went to NM on a mule deer hunt one week earlier w/ the gun sighted in 3" high at 100 yds; when I shot the gun after wounding the deer it was hitting 8" high at 100. Never had any indication that either deer died.

I've lost 2 doe with my bow. I've been fortunate enough to have never lost a deer with a gun, although I'm sure it will happen eventually.