If you hit a deer in front of its leg bones on a broadside shot with mechanical or fixed, it will likely live or be unrecoverable.
if you hit a deer square in the leg On a broadside shot with a high integrity heavy enough fixed head system that retains sharpness, the deer is dead within seconds. If you make that same shot with a mechanical on a light arrow you’re likely going to have a living deer, or a difficult to recover one.
if you hit a deer just behind the legs in a broadside shot with either setup, the deer will be dead within seconds.
if you hit a deer 6” behind the leg with a fixed or mechanical, many variables are introduced into the equation as to whether or not the deer will go down in seconds or minutes. Those have been explored over and over.
if you hit a deer 12-16” behind the front leg with either set up, many variables are introduced into the equation as to whether or not the deer will go down in seconds or minutes or hours or days. Those have been explored over amd over.
it’s pretty simple. If you want the best odds of killing a deer - aim center mass with whatever broadhead and arrow weight you like.
if you want the best odds of killing the deer within seconds, and not minutes hours or days, and thus increasing your odds of finding it, aim further forward than you normally would, and shoot an arrow system that will reach the plumbing every time while it’s still razor sharp.
I understand the arguments for both. I don’t like trailing deer, waiting overnight, telling strangers on the internet boring stories, etc. I like killing, immediately finding, and eating deer.