Two seasons ago my son had a big 8 point come through and he shot it with a .300 Mag. At the sound of the gun it dropped. He went over and touched it on the eye just because you should and it blinked! He shot it through the neck and upon skinning it we found his first shot had just grazed the skull between the antlers hitting the base of one. I've seen other times when a graze on the head puts them down kicking but when they recover there's no sign at all. Just a thought!