I have been watching this thread since it's inception, waiting to see if anyone would actually give what I consider to be THE best answer. A couple have touched upon it, but nobody has really put it into concise terms.
The answer is (drumroll please):
Shoot the deer where the scapula and humerus meet (Or just slightly behind it). Break that joint and it's good night Irene every time. It will produce a bang flop (with quick death, no running, struggling, or getting up) more reliably than any other shot placement, including head, neck, heart or high shoulder.....
A few years back I shot a 100-110 lb fawn an inch up or less. At 50 yards, 1700 FPS, 250 grain Barnes T-EZ, dead square broadside, identical damage to both scapula, about an inch and a half just gone. It sounded like a turd hitting pavement from 30 stories up when those bones went. Not only didn't it go down at the shot, it managed some over 60 yards. 3/4s of the heart was gone. only a fist size chunk of one lung remained. Golf ball size hole all the way through. I could have run a shovel handle through and carried it out to the road.
When the bullet hit the deer just swayed back a little, then turned and ran straight away and in the 30 or so yards I could watch it it ran well enough I wasn't certain I hit it where I did. The chest was so thoroughly demolished it only bled for about three jumps, then nothing til where it went down. I have no idea how it stayed upright, much less ran. The front legs were floppy.
I have never seen a head shot do anything but drop. I more frequently shoot then just below the skull, clipping the brain stem. Never saw one of them do anything but drop.3 years ago I high shouldered 4 with the ML because I wanted no runners. Every one of them dropped where they stood.
