The first nice buck I killed with a bow was a spine shot. The angle was pretty steep and my shot went high. The buck literally dropped in his tracks.

I climbed down and went to the house to get the mule (deer cart) and came back an hour later expecting the buck to be dead, but to my surprise he was still very much alive!! It was the first day of bow season and the temps by 10am were already in the mid 80's with the high that day forcasted for around 90, so I had to do something quick. Although the buck could not get up and run, he could partially raise up on his front legs and move around. So, I came up behind him and grabbed the horns and cut his throat.

I know this is probably not the right way to handle this, but I needed to so something quick and get the meat cooled off b/f there was any spoilage. After I got him back to the barn and dressed out, I spent about $30 on ice just to get him to the check station and then to my buddy's walk in to hang for a few day's.