I killed a buck with my .270 once. He was running away from me, I hit in in the rear hind quarter and spun him around, I fired again and this time I grazed him across the briskit (spelling?) with the bullet. The deer dropped like a bag of potatoes upon the second shot. This deer was within 30 yards of me when I fired at it, (For some reason, buck fever no doubt, I aimed at him through the scope instead of the iron sights, clearly visible through see through mounts. I surmised that was the reason for all the mis aiming I did, and he was running full bore away from me.
When I field dressed the deer, the hind quarter was a total loss, and I recovered the bullet, a Nosler Ballistic tip, which was a reload behind 59 grains of IMR-4350.
The chest cavity, which had not been penetrated, was a bloody mess inside. A bullet had not entered the chest cavity , nor did it draw blood on that wound. It was simply a "cut" across the skin enough to slice the skin. Again, it drew no blood. There were no entry wounds in to the chest. The heart and lungs were soup.
I still do not understand how a bullet could do that much damage without actually entering the chest. Is there that much compression shock from the bullet going by at 2900- 3000fps?