He must be cutting meat on the side..!
I do a little cutting myself, and it never ceases to amaze me how much tougher wild animals are than domestic animals. The bones are harder, the tendons are stronger and the silver skin is thicker.
A friend of mine hit an elk in the shoulder last year. Fortunately he kept shooting until the bull went down. Found a .338 230gr ELD-X on the on-side ribs - did not penetrate the chest cavity. Impact velocity ~2600fps.
Over the years, I've seen bullets do some weird stuff, mostly glancing a bone and turning (sometimes remarkably in the case of elk and moose).
Just this year had a hunter hit a whitetail deer low in the shoulder - 6.5CM, ~100yd. Bullet deflected fore (through the brisket) instead of aft (through the heart). Fortunately 1/2mi later we caught up with the deer just before it crossed a fence.
Wild animals have incredible determination and vitality. They deserve a lot more respect than many hunters give.