BOWDACIOUS
I do not know what happened to the deer so I will not even try to guess?
My guess is that the elk was hit in what may of us elk hunters call never never land. If you hit them just under the spine you are not hitting anything vital. Basically you body pierced the elk & thats it. My guess is he has a 99% chance of survival. Heck you might even kill the same bull next year?