OK, About two weeks ago, I was hunting a spot on our property, I had a decent 8 pointer come in to rattling, he came in fast and I didnt have long to decide so I took the shot. It was a standing slightly quartered away shot at 19 yards. At the shot the buck ducked and spun at the same time but the arrow still appeared to be high in the shoulder with about 12 inches sticking out, it popped really loud when it hit him.He ran hard with his tail down till hewent out of sight(about 80 yards or so).I waited 45 minutes before gathering my gear and climbing down.The trail was hard, and not very much blood at all, but I knew his travel route for a ways, and could see stirred up leaves where he ran, I found half my arrow after about 50 yards. I tracked the first 100 yards, just a little past where I last saw him, and found a large puddle where he stood for a little bit.and there was some tiny bubbles in the blood. I marked the spot, and left, I had to go get my son from my wife so she could leave, and he likes to help track anyway. I came back tw0o hours later with my dad and my son, and we took up the track, expecting to find him quick, After the puddle where he stood for a while, the trail was much better, probably cause he was walking, and not running. It continued a long way, downhill, crossed a creek, and skirted a ridge on the other side. We followed the trail for about a 1/2 mile or so, and was getting very worried, and didnt understand how a deer hit where I was sure I hit him could go so far, he was bleeding down his front leg, and was leaving a bloody track on his right front. Finally when he neared the property boundary where a clearcut and a pine thicket meet our land, it seemed to simply stop. We looked for a good while, and dad and my sone were getting really tired, we had been on the trail for another 2 hours, for a total of 6 hours since the shot. I took them back home and rested for an hour, and returned, I found a little more blood in the next 50 yards or so, and then lost it again, I circled and gride searched as well as I could, when returned to get my dog, she turned up nothing, and hte best I could tell, he went right into the area where the clearcut and the pines meet. I went back every day for a almost a week, and walked the area, listening for crows, and looking for crows and buzzards, nothing, I even went out almost every night and listened for coyotes, thinking they might find it, and never heard one in the area. I had pretty much given up, and wanted to post here to you guys about it, but just dont like the "didnt find him" posts, and knew Id be flamed on here,lol. Well when I had decided I wasnt goint to find him, I get this picture of this buck about 200 yards from where I lost the trail. I am almost 100 percent sure this is the same buck I shot, the body and especially the rack seem the same, and he has a pretty fresh scar high on his shoulder pretty much exactly where I was sure the arrow was at when he turned to run. How is it possible that this buck survived the shot? The arrow was angled down, as I was in a tree about 18 feet high, and even found some spots of blood like he was bleeding a little bit out of his left side too. Ive never believed much about the no mans land above the lungs and below the spine, but is that what I hit? Or did the arrow angle forward and into the brisket, and only get one lung? And can a deer survive that? I dont know whether to be even more sick about him still being alive, or to be relieved that he didnt die and not be found? Whats you guys thoughts on this? Sorry for the long post, thans for taking the time to read this, and let me know what you think. Thanks