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Anyone who hunts lots sooner or later is going to wound, perhaps fatally, but nevertheless fail to recover the animal... this may be because a winged game bird buried itself in cover so well that you had no chance of finding it, squirrel escaped to hollow tree, poorly hit deer ran off in the rain leaving no discernible trail or track, and etc. It happens, regretably, but shouldn't be your norm. Self-imposed ethics are supposed to be what we are about, and that would include restricting shots to the conservative limits of your weapons and skills, assiduous follow up on every attempt (I've found animals that I was sure were irretrievably lost, because I persistently and carefully investigated the scene... ) assume you made the shot and follow up on that assumption... With big game, acute tracking skills are helpful, as are helpers' eyes, good light, e.g., Coleman lanterns for night tracking, etc.
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