ORIGINAL: bigcountry
One thing I have seen when shooting in the chest, if you hit the stomach, grass and food in there can stop the best of a bullet like a rock.
Seen that too, a "friend" shot a buck in the gut (broadside) with a 7 mag and had no exit wound, had to shoot it again and made a better shot the second time and he got his buck, but once again, what a mess.