Here’s an honest question and not trolling for arguments. I always hear how easy deer are to kill. Living in Michigan I’m a deer hunter as far as bigger game goes. I’ve only killed one bear, that was with a 45/70 and he ran about 60 yards. I have zero experience with other big game so maybe deer are easy to kill as “big game” goes IDK. It’s never made sense to me though reading how easy deer are to kill.

A typical deer double lung shot low and tight behind the front leg with a fairly big deer gun say .308 Win or 30/06 ect is going to run 20-50 yards in my experience. I watched my son shoot a few with a .223 and they still ran about the same distance albeit with a lesser blood trail based on a small sample size. Occasionally they drop in their tracks and very rarely they might go a 100 yards shot like that. If you shoot them poorly they run back into a swamp or other thick cover and odds are you won’t find them or it will be a major tracking job and a some luck if you do.

I can’t imagine that other similar sized North American or even African Plains game would be all that different or tougher. Punch a halfway decent bullet through both lungs and I’d think anything will die fast but if you don’t you have a challenge on your hands even if it’s a deer.