Just my .02. I doubt it was the bullet. Blood trails are somewhat problematic. Sometimes they don't exist or they are very light and/or don't start until 20 yards or so. Good blood trails are dependant on how much of the heart/lung area have been hit and even then it's not a sure thing.
Vital zone hit deer often can go 150 yards, personally I've never seen them go much farther. Often they circle back to the direction they came in and were shot but after 150 yard it leaves a lot of ground to look around. In the dark and heavy cover it's not easy.
I've never had an issue with Partitions but Accubonds have been a different story. I used to swear by them but in two case after recovering and cleaning the deer they clearly did not expand. Now it's only TSX, TTSX, Ballistic Tips and Partitions.
Don't even get me started on using match bullets for hunting
