If that was the case then as nny243 said What put him down? Did you poisen the tip of your arrow? Trust me if you had missed both lungs and all arteries he wouldn' t have been on the ground when you found him. There are two shots responcible for this MYTH. First is the shot that goes over the spine. There is a lot more space between a deers spinal column and the top of his back than most people realize. Put an arrow above the spinal cord and there is simply nothing lethal up there to hit. You will get lots of superficial bleeding but no dead deer. And second is the high lung hit. This shot usually takes longer to kill a deer so they run farther before they die. This shot also gives you a higher than normal exit hole so the blood trail may be poor or virtually nonexistent. Combine slower death with poor bloodtrail and you wind up with a lot of lost deer.