The problem is the bullet. A tmk or eldm would likely have shortened the distance traveled after the shot significantly.
Wasn't my thread, but just last year my group was lucky to recover a cow that got shot by a 300wm/swift scirocco. It was only a 200y shot but assumed a miss after hours of searching for blood. Luckily my buddy and I happened to be on the ridge the herd ran to and found her at least a half mile from the shot and 4 hours later by pure luck. The wound went through the liver and the back of the lungs, scirocco looking like a perfect advertisement on the opposite side. I'm not a .223 convert, but I also don't believe heavy magnums are quite the terminal safety blanket some people think they are.