The arrow went in about 1/4 inch behind the last rib. When I released the arrow, I felt like he was nearly broadside, but he was quartering to me more than I thought. The arrow exited though one of the muscles on the front side of his hind quarter. The shot was from a pretty steep angle, so I hit him pretty high on the entry side as planned. The diaphragm was still intact so I can only assume I clipped the aortic artery on the entry side since the stomach cavity was completely full of blood. I made a couple errors on the shot. I didn't stop him, he stepped forward with his left front leg, opening up and he dropped his head at the same time. I felt like he was stopped, but he wasn't and he drifted forward. I rushed the shot, I should have let him take a couple more steps to let him get broadside, but I was afraid he was about to charge the decoy. I also feel like I punched the trigger and pulled a little to the right too.
Congrats on a great buck. Bad shots happen sometimes and it's nice to get lucky once in awhile. Certainly beats the alternative!
I'm certainly counting my blessings because this could have easily ended badly for both me and the buck.
