Let me start out by saying that I have shot a deer in the head with an arrow. HOWEVER... it was not on purpose. I am definitely an idiot for having done so, but I am not dumb enough to have TRIED to hit him in the head. It was a long shot - too long - about 40-45 yards. As I shot, he jumped (dropped down, actually, as they do) and turned, and I hit him behind the antlers toward the left side. He ran off, shaking his head. We were able to pick up the blood trail in the shelterbelt that he ran into and about 45 yards into it, we found the arrow. It hadn't penetrated very far. About 25 yards after that, the blood trail stopped and we were not able to find any more. I'm praying that the wound was not a fatal one.

I deeply regret taking that shot. I would have preferred not to admit to doing something so stupid, but I just wanted to point out that this can happen, even if you're aiming for the lungs. Maybe the guy who shot that muley WAS aiming for the head, but I doubt it. For the arrow to only penetrate that far into the eye socket, the shot distance must have been aways. At that distance, I would expect that the muley would have been able to react and move his head OUT of the arrow's path. My guess - for what it's worth - is that the muley jumped and ended up getting his head INTO the arrow's path, like what happened in my case.

Also, with an aluminum like that, I can't imagine that arrow being stuck there more than 2 minutes for it to be straight yet. That buck would have mangled it trying to get it out.