Lots of opinions on how to kill deer.... Lol.
I've killed closing in on 100 whitetails. I've lost count anymore but it's somewhere around 80, maybe a few more.
The only consistent thing I've seen is that a spine or brain hit is DRT. Otherwise, weird stuff can happen.
That said, I often heard about the "gap" between the lungs and spine. I started looking at deer. Not diagrams, not drawings. At deer. Dead ones. I went looking for a gap and couldn't find one. What I did find was that lungs by need and design fill the thoracic cavity. The top of the thoracic cavity is...... drumroll.... Ribs and their attachment to the spinal column.
The spinal column does dip down between the shoulders, however, and the spinous process.... the "wing" off the top of the vertebral body...projects up to where we see the top of the deer's back. A hit above the lungs is very possible, but it will also be above the spinal column, too. Not under it. Next time you guys dress or butcher a deer, give it a good look-see.
I'm sort of perplexed to see people saying not to shoot at the lungs. Yeah, the heart is lethal but the lungs are big and also lethal.
I've had deer shot with marginal shots simply die on the spot and I can't explain it. I've also had deer hit with beautiful shots and hard hitting projectiles run. Critters are critters. Sometimes they just don't know they're dead.
That said, I hunt in PA too and I use a 62-cal happily.
