If it's a "buck of a lifetime" situation that implies the angle is so diagonally steep that you wouldn't ordinarily take the shot, why not just crack his pelvis and be done with it?
I might,but I still want to know I have as much penetration capability as possible.I have been known to miss my spot a few inches either way,and in such a case I want to know I can do as much tissue damage as possible.
I shot a mature buck a couple years ago,not a great trophy but a big bodied buck. This one was facing me straight on. I missed a little high and to the left and only took out a small part of the top of a lung. I've tracked deer a long way shot like that before and it was a hard job with little blood, but this time my bonded bullet came out the bottom of his gut and gave me a great blood trail plus enough internal damage to drop blood pressure so that he only went about 150 yards.
