you and Erin are totally correct , lost 2 in the last 25 years that were both were as good as or better than this buck .
one was in a similar situation leaving and turned slightly , shot his shoulder almost off and it started to pour rain as he ran off on 3 never to be seen again ,had light blood even in the rain and it was gone within minutes of the down pour.
second one bled gallons all over the place and we jumped him more than once and never found him either ,one thing for certain the common denominator was this buck and those 2 were all angling away from me , shot placement in these situations is often difficult to determine and often seems like a gut shot if done properly and even might be, to angle the bullet into the vitals .