Opinions Needed

My dad and I hunt a property in Grayson county. Have some nice bucks on camera and last night 2 bucks show up for my dad. This is his first year bow hunting and he hunts with a crossbow because of an arm injury. The better of the 2 bucks presents a 20yd broadside shot and he pulls the trigger. He hears a thump, but never sees the arrow enter (grim reaper broadhead from a ground blind). He misjudged the distance and used his 30yd pin for a 20yd shot. The deer does not react much at all, although my dad thinks he made a good shot. Deer walks away slowly about 100yds and stands under a tree for 3-4 min with his tongue hanging out, then walks away. Very long story short, we didnt find a single drop of blood last night or all day today, nor did we find the arrow. We are both completely sick about the situation.

Any opinions on the situation? No blood and the deer didnt react much at the shot. I would think that the deer would rear up, hunch over, or bolt completely after being hit. I'm hoping that he missed all together. We searched all day today and zero sign of the deer.

Lumenok

Hard to tell. No arrow, no sign, no video. I would look on the other side of the deer for the bolt real hard. And check cam pics to see if he shows back up. Tongue out it almost seems like he may have been struggling to breath which a high and back chest wound could cause.

^^^ that.

Sounds like a miss. Not sure what the "thump" your dad heard could be.

No reaction from deer sounds like miss. Xbow packs a big punch on a deer when hit with a bolt. Even a bad hit would cause a jump or fall run off etc. I would check trees in the line of fire even far off a xbow is pretty fast I bet that's the thump he heard. When the deer stopped there should be sign.
That's archery for you sometimes. Hell hunting period. Nockturnal or luminock help answer shot questions quickly. U can always go back to look for buzzards a day or two after if he did hit him they will show u were he went

I don't have any experience with crossbows but have seen deer react that way with a high shot through the "void" above the vitals and below the spine. Arrow typically makes a "thump", and leaves very little to no blood. Many times, we end up seeing the deer later on TC or in person with a scar. With a bow, the arrow typically passes completely through and carries a long distance beyond impact so it can be difficult to find. I would assume a crossbow could go even farther, so the bolt can be difficult to find.

Arrow will be the tall tell sign on that. Covered in fat very little blood.

But also a high lung shot will have very little blood until the lungs fill up, or cavity fills up.

I've had several deer walk away after a hit, they where totally relaxed. If an arrow zips through and doesn't hit bone it doesn't spoke them. Top it off that the pop up muffled the bow noise it's very likely what happened.

Bet that deer is dead from high lung. 20 vs 30 yard pin with cross bow is very likely less then three inches.

Hopefully either a miss or that dead zone under the spine ...in either case you should be able to find the bolt and the deer should be alive.

I think a high lung shot is a possibility..in that case he is dead somewhere and maybe a grid search would turn him up. But a deer shot in one lung or a high lung shoot can go a ways.f

Not so sure. Double lunged one this past weekend and watched him walk 75 yards out of sight. Strangest thing I've ever seen. Found just a little bit of blood, but luckily he wasn't but 20 yds from where I last saw him. Hard to say man.