The hit was NOT behind the diaphragm, or at most entered right on the edge, but the buck was quartering away enough for the bullet to get the top of both lungs--but NOT the liver, because the liver is on the other side of the body.
So in this instance, the deer most likely would have bled more/died quicker with a shot farther back that would have raked through the liver (what many might call a "gut shot"). In my experience seeing liver-shot animals, they go into shock almost immediately and start stiffening up while on their feet.
