Um, this is not really true. It CAN happen this way if you are using a high powered rifle. However hunting deer with a rifle, muzzle loader or shotgun does not insure that the deer will drop in it's tracks when you shoot it. As a matter of fact it has never happened to me.

Deer die the same way irregardless of what you shoot them with. They still die from lack of oxygen to the brain, normally due to blood loss or damage to the lungs. A bullet just does the damage in a different way than a arrow does. Because the hydrodynamic shock a bullet creates a larger wound channel. And in most cases deer that drop on the spot when you shoot them with a rifle are not dead yet. They are stunned and don't move while dying. Down and dead are not the same thing.

The exception to this would be one that you shoot in the head causing massive brain damage. It doesn't matter what weapon you use, bullet placement is still critical. I always go for the vitals no matter what weapon I use.

I shot a deer a few years ago with some brenneke gold magnums which are full bore 12 ga slugs that weigh 600 grns and have over 3,000 ft/lbs of energy. I shot it at 20 yards in the vitals and it still ran 90 yards. That is farther than most bow kills run.

And there are plenty of people that kill deer with .22 rimfires every year, most of them are poachers. Shoot them in the head or lungs at a close range and it will kill them.

Here is some reading on this subject while we are in the reading long studies mode.

Terminal Ballistics

Paul