Many years ago I hunted an area and as I was walking in late morning, ran into a couple of guys who were leaving. Told me they'd shot a buck with a 30-30, found some blood and hair, but never found the deer. They had shot the deer around 8:00. I decided since they had tromped all over the area, I would set up on a well used leading from the vast thicket they said the deer ran toward. This was noon. At 3:30, along walks a buck out of the thicket, with his stomach hanging out his side. It wasn't limping. It wasn't acting like it was even hit. It was just walking like it had someplace to be. When I shot it quartering away at 25 yards, it took off like a scalded dog and made it another 50 yards before folding up. Whitetails are tough. You never know how far or long they will go after being gut shot. Apparently this guy found someplace to hunker down close, then tried to ease out of the area once all got quiet.