It can happen with guns too even on a well placed shot. I saw a buddy of mine shoot at a deer with a 35 Rem and hit it perfect. The bullet ricochet off a rib headed straight up and broke the spine. This very large doe (biggest I ever saw) was still alive when we walked up on her.

The rest is gory and not one of my favorite stories.

Another similar story that can speak to the "food" nature of farmers is, my uncle shot a running deer but hit it in the spine. The deer was still alive when we walked up to it. We were accompanied by a farmer buddy of ours who over sees the land when we aren't there. Before we could do or say anthing the farmer was already gutting it. Pretty damn viscious those farmers are.

Tom