Wilkesfastjay, Last year my son had to hunt with a rifle because of a broken arm. He had a big 8 point come up at 40 yds. He shot using a .300 Win Mag. and the deer hit the ground stiff legged just like you described. The difference is, he went right to it and touched it's eye with the barrel and the deer blinked! He stepped back and shot it through the neck. When we got home we discovered the first shot had skimmed the head and just nicked the base of the right antler knocking the deer out momentarily. I'm 100% sure if he would have waited 3 or 4 minutes it would have escaped just fine. (We put a scope on the gun just in case he needed it again someday!)