RE: Text book kill?
Not an ethical shot?!?! What video were you guys wathcing? It was a quartering away shot within bow range. That is a bowhunter's dream shot. Now the execution was not great. He hit high, but was fortunate to catch the spine. There may have been a follow up shot, but we don't know.
As far as the comments go, there were only 5 up there that I saw and none of them said anything about textbook. It sounds like a lot of the posters were young hunters so in their view dropping a buck in it's tracks may not be a bad thing. That's all a part of learning. The shot selection though was good, with the only exception being that the buck startled coming in. I know I would have taken that shot.
I think all these shows on TV and the videos that try to preach proper shot selection (which is a good thing) have made us all a bit quick to judge each other and immediately criticize someone instead of trying to offer constructive help. Honestly, it gets a little old.