You didn't sever the spinal cord but were close enough to impact it. Years ago, I shot a spike buck in the neck with my .50 Hawken. Apparently missed the spine but cut the jugular vein. The deer went a couple hundred yards leaving a blood trail that Stevie Wonder could follow. Another time, I killed a doe that another hunter had shot through the jaw. She was standing broadside so I took the neck shot; she went right down but her head kept flopping. I had to shoot her a second time -- in the chest.
