It pays to follow your shot is what Austin Holder says. It paid off for him this year in northern Utah.

Austin writes, "After days of sitting my ground blind, and not seeing much of anything, I was about ready to call it quits on this spot, but on the 6th day of my hunt, my luck was about to change. Four good bucks came in at 51 yards and when I realized they weren't going to come in any closer, I decided I better take the shot. I drew back and stopped the biggest one, and let it fly. I actually thought I missed completely because I watched my arrow sailing over his back and I didn't hear the unmistakable thud of the arrow hitting. So after a few disappointing texts sent out to my friends explaining what just happened, I went to look for my arrow and couldn't find it, I searched and searched for probably a half hour and was ready to give up when I looked down and saw a few drops of blood on a rock! I couldn't believe my eyes! I was 99% sure I missed! I guess when I saw the arrow above his back it hadn't quite reached him yet! Nonetheless, I got on the phone to my dad and had him come help track him. After about 200 yards of tracking, we lost the blood trail. I told my dad that we should just stay on his tracks and hopefully we'll find blood again. After about 15 yards of carefully following tracks, we lose sign of him completely. I thought we had lost him for sure! I was starting to feel sick to my stomach when I took 2 more steps, looked down the hill, and there he was! "He's down!" I yelled with excitement.
This is the biggest deer I've killed and I couldn't be happier for a general archery Wasatch permit. I guess persistence pays off and it's always a good idea to follow up on your shot even when you're "positive" you missed."