Yes they will return. Its just a matter of time. Young deer a whole lot quicker than your older, more mature deer. You may never see that older deer again. They only get smarter the more you shoot and miss.
I think shooting at a deer and clean missing is better than that deer busting you, smelling you, seeing you, in your treestand.
A shot is loud noise. If its a clean miss they dont know where it came from. Their scared but they dont realize what happened. Young deer may clear the area for awhile but if its their home turf they will come back when they have calmed down.
You have to work on getting a good clean shot that will take down the deer on the first try. Is your gun accurate? Are you taking good shots where you can see the kill zone well with no tree limbs etc in the way? You got to work on making the first shot the only one you need.
Several years ago I had 3 does come in about 50 yards away. I wanted 2 of them. I shot the deer that was in the back first. One of the lead deer just ran around in a circle and basically stopped in the same location it started in. The deer was scared because it heard a loud boom. But it didnt know where it came from and therefore didnt know where to run to get away from it. I shot deer #2 then.
If you dont have a clean shot just dont take a shot at all. Then as long as you didnt get busted by that deer they had no idea you were in the woods that day. Getting in and out of the woods without disturbing the deer and their movements is a major accomplishment of deer hunting in and of itself.
We have all missed but it should become a rare occasion the longer you hunt. Hunt smart, shoot smarter. One is all it takes.
Good luck and post us some pics when you get one.
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