I would never purposely pick the spine as the exact spot when I'm aiming. Once I shot a small buck right in the back between the shoulders with a magnus 2 bladed head(from a tree). The buck ran off with the arrow implanted solidly.
Hardly any blood, never found the buck. Eleven days later, hunting on another farm in the area, I noticed fresh tracks going into a corn strip. With my shotgun in hand I eased along the tracks. I kicked up a small buck and luckily it ran straight away and I dropped it in its tracks. Upon skinning the deer my knife struck metal and I found my magnus 2 blade head.The tipcompletely penetrated through the spinal canal and was lodged tightly. The blades were parallel to the spinal cord so it never affected his motor functions or mobility.
I was shooting a recurve so I didn't have the power of todays compounds. So basically a spine shot doesn't always put the animal down. You have to severe the spinal cord.


Dan