Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
Articles
Latest reviews
Author list
Classifieds
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Hunting
Long Range Hunting & Shooting
The BEST way to kill Elk
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="bigngreen" data-source="post: 567316" data-attributes="member: 13632"><p>For me the best way to kill an elk is to put a bullet through both lungs and the heavy blood vessels above the heart, shooting mid way up right at the crease behind the shoulder. Animal standing broadside or quartering away or if I'm sneaky I put one just under their ear while they are napping gun)</p><p>In the area I usually hunt knocking them down where they stand isn't needed, they just do the wobble a few yards and fall over, if they go 50 yards no big deal in my ground they are just getting closer to where I would drag them out any way, I'm an above average tracker and usually shoot in snow if any tracking is needed. I usually shoot elk on the edges of timber clearings and seeing them go down is typical. </p><p>I like to shoot a bullet that will expand trash the insides but has enough sectional density to make it to the other side, I used to shoot 100% mono metal bullets but after learning some lessons about bullet deflection on bone and I changed to a softer copper and lead bullet.</p><p></p><p>I've shot my fair share of elk through the shoulder blade and it dumps them like a sack of potatoes but the issue lies in the size of the target, hitting a shoulder blade will not kill an elk or disable him, only hitting the spine within a few inches will do the trick 100%. Hit a little low and you may knock him out and give him a bad wing which they can revive from as people find out every year. Also hit him high taking the top of the vertebra of and if your lucky it will spine him.</p><p>I've cut a pile or two of elk and it is not uncommon to find front shoulders broken up and healed I've also seen it a few times where the are missing the top of a couple vertebra. There has been several cases of animals getting blown through the shoulders but trying to make of after watching it drop. I've had two cases my self with a mono metal bullet from a 300 WBY did not penetrate the lower shoulder bone, the first one was not an issue because it knocked it down but did not knock it out so I knew I needed to put one more in it. The second time it happened could have bit me bad and I would have had one of those stories "shot them in the shoulder but the tough SOB got a way".</p><p>That bullet hit the same place and turned out the front of her chest, fortunately I shot when she put her head down to eat and the bullet re entered her neck and cut her jugular. At the shot her legs came up and she bounced of the ground DRT, I watched for a second then moved on and helped with getting an other one killed, when we went out to gather dead elk she had her head up and was trying to get up. This was not cool at all, I do not like having to dispatch animals so after that was done I set out to figure out what happened so I would not repeat it. The issue was to hard of a bullet on to hard of bone with to small a chambering. </p><p>I've taken a good number of guys out to kill elk and your average guy will screw up a shoulder shot more times than not, last one was a 300 WSM with a 180 Accubond on the point of the shoulder at 75yrds. That elk took 3 days to kill out of a large herd.</p><p>If I shoot one with a 338 Ultra with 300 gr bullets or something like Roys 375 AM elk slayer then it a none issue, put it on the point of the shoulder and be done with it but a .30 cal bullet can most certainly fail from the bottom of the shoulder blade down an but elk with two holes through the lungs/heart is 100% dead and recoverable every time and that is the primary goal.</p><p>A little perspective to kill an elk out right with a high shoulder shot you have to break the spine, how big is the spine? About the size of a head shot but everyone freaks out at the thought of that. Out of all the elk that come down on the ranch I work for I've never seen a failed head shot but every year a dozen or so elk die out there from failed shoulder shot and a couple from gut shots while they are coming down from the mountains. Taking that small sample the shoulder shot has the highest chance of wounding elk.</p><p></p><p>Anyway that's my two cents <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="bigngreen, post: 567316, member: 13632"] For me the best way to kill an elk is to put a bullet through both lungs and the heavy blood vessels above the heart, shooting mid way up right at the crease behind the shoulder. Animal standing broadside or quartering away or if I'm sneaky I put one just under their ear while they are napping gun) In the area I usually hunt knocking them down where they stand isn't needed, they just do the wobble a few yards and fall over, if they go 50 yards no big deal in my ground they are just getting closer to where I would drag them out any way, I'm an above average tracker and usually shoot in snow if any tracking is needed. I usually shoot elk on the edges of timber clearings and seeing them go down is typical. I like to shoot a bullet that will expand trash the insides but has enough sectional density to make it to the other side, I used to shoot 100% mono metal bullets but after learning some lessons about bullet deflection on bone and I changed to a softer copper and lead bullet. I've shot my fair share of elk through the shoulder blade and it dumps them like a sack of potatoes but the issue lies in the size of the target, hitting a shoulder blade will not kill an elk or disable him, only hitting the spine within a few inches will do the trick 100%. Hit a little low and you may knock him out and give him a bad wing which they can revive from as people find out every year. Also hit him high taking the top of the vertebra of and if your lucky it will spine him. I've cut a pile or two of elk and it is not uncommon to find front shoulders broken up and healed I've also seen it a few times where the are missing the top of a couple vertebra. There has been several cases of animals getting blown through the shoulders but trying to make of after watching it drop. I've had two cases my self with a mono metal bullet from a 300 WBY did not penetrate the lower shoulder bone, the first one was not an issue because it knocked it down but did not knock it out so I knew I needed to put one more in it. The second time it happened could have bit me bad and I would have had one of those stories "shot them in the shoulder but the tough SOB got a way". That bullet hit the same place and turned out the front of her chest, fortunately I shot when she put her head down to eat and the bullet re entered her neck and cut her jugular. At the shot her legs came up and she bounced of the ground DRT, I watched for a second then moved on and helped with getting an other one killed, when we went out to gather dead elk she had her head up and was trying to get up. This was not cool at all, I do not like having to dispatch animals so after that was done I set out to figure out what happened so I would not repeat it. The issue was to hard of a bullet on to hard of bone with to small a chambering. I've taken a good number of guys out to kill elk and your average guy will screw up a shoulder shot more times than not, last one was a 300 WSM with a 180 Accubond on the point of the shoulder at 75yrds. That elk took 3 days to kill out of a large herd. If I shoot one with a 338 Ultra with 300 gr bullets or something like Roys 375 AM elk slayer then it a none issue, put it on the point of the shoulder and be done with it but a .30 cal bullet can most certainly fail from the bottom of the shoulder blade down an but elk with two holes through the lungs/heart is 100% dead and recoverable every time and that is the primary goal. A little perspective to kill an elk out right with a high shoulder shot you have to break the spine, how big is the spine? About the size of a head shot but everyone freaks out at the thought of that. Out of all the elk that come down on the ranch I work for I've never seen a failed head shot but every year a dozen or so elk die out there from failed shoulder shot and a couple from gut shots while they are coming down from the mountains. Taking that small sample the shoulder shot has the highest chance of wounding elk. Anyway that's my two cents :cool: [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Hunting
Long Range Hunting & Shooting
The BEST way to kill Elk
Top