I've been around a lot of clubs, and I work in forest management. I find remains of deer all the time, and a higher concentration around food plots. And a lot of them never get 100 yards out of a plot. I've killed deer on plots and try hard not to judge, but that way of hunting goes hand in hand with this issue. If it didn't fall right there, I'm not tracking it in that thick stuff, I'm just gonna stroll down this open road back to my truck.
I've had friends who fit the stories written above concerning the lack of checking for blood and wounded deer. It's frustrating.
Concerning bow vs gun. The myth is that more are lost to bow hunters. The percentage is likely the same, and the number shot at with a rifle is way higher. More are lost with a rifle - period. Plus a higher percentage of those hunters are young, inexperienced, and overall less motivated for one reason or the other. That's not very true with bow hunters.
Based on that - percentage is probably 25%. It's just hard to accept this as truth.
