Yep, that's definitely a bullet issue, a shooting issue, or a tracking issue. Or maybe a bit of all of them. It's definitely not a caliber issue. A deer running 30-40 yards after being hit is not uncommon depending on where it's hit. Thinking about it, I've actually never shot a deer with anything other than a 7mm-08 or a .270. Except for one I shot with a .270 around 1990 or so that I shot too low and clipped his brisket, I've never lost a deer I've hit with either caliber (and that deer recovered and was killed later in the season, with a limp). I did have quite a tracking job on a doe that I unintentionally gut shot with a 7mm-08 while I was still-hunting a clearcut about a decade ago, but I still found her after about a quarter-mile track with very little blood. But virtually all of the deer I've shot with either caliber have either dropped where I've shot them, or were fairly easily trackable and found within 30-75 yards.

I did swear off Ballistic Tips because I felt they were more prone to having the deer run off than drop, and were more likely to blow up on bone and not exit, leaving me with a harder tracking job.