Some "biologists" have claimed you can not hit a deer under the spine, but over the lungs to get a non-lethal hit.
Contrary to those thoughts, many hunters have stepped forward saying otherwise. It's said by the ones who have witnessed it, that one can shoot under the spine and miss the lungs. One incident a guy made a shot on a deer, but after hard trailing, couldn't find his deer. Don't recall if it was a neighbor or another hunting party, or him for that matter, but that deer was shot again later and found that there was an entrance and exit wound under the spine.
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