Section 7. “The shot.”
Yesterday was a booster. You got into elk finally and have found your second wind.
Today you head out to the same area. You figure it’s about the best place, and even though you scared the elk away, there was way too much sign in this area to ignore it for long. Once again, you pop a few pills and head out.
You take it slower today. You’re playing it by the book. Walk a few yards, stop and glass. You make your way to a draw by where the elk were yesterday and find a good vantage point for glassing. The first 20 minutes are uneventful. It’s about 10:00am already, and you haven’t seen an elk yet. Things have been quiet and you figure “What the heck. Let’s see what a cow call will do.”
“Eeeww—EeeeeEEewww” you chirp. Too your amazement, not 200 yards below you, your efforts are rewarded with a lazy bugle…..
Your heart starts racing, your blood starts boiling, and you are on the verge of panic. “Self….???????? What are we gonna do????” You decide listening would be the best option. Sure enough, you hear nothing else. “Wait…….Was that a stick breaking???”…..
If I was faced with this decision, the first thing I would do is get directly down wind of where that lazy bugle came from and I would do it in a quiet hurry.
You circle about 100 yards down the slope of the draw and now figure the bugle came directly above you, but the wind is perfect for this setup. You quickly hide in some pretty thick cover so the elk has to get close to see you, yet you don’t setup in vegetation so thick there is no shooting lane…..
“EEEEeeeeWWWwww..” you chirp.
This time, the bugle isn’t nearly as lazy and is 100 yards closer to the spot where you first chirped. He isn’t being shy now.
“Pop…..Snap…..” You hear him coming..
Your arrow is knocked. You first see him about 70 yards out. As he moves his head to maneuver his rack around the tree tangles you can hardly contain yourself. From here on out is crunch time. No room for error now. “Self….This is it….Avoid eye contact, Self. Make sure and hold still, Self.” With moving no more then your eyeballs, you survey the surrounding area and where the bull is coming from. Look for shooting lanes either to your left or your right. Try to give an educated guess as to where he will circle to get down wind. Make no mistake about it, he is going to try and smell you.
He hangs up about 50 yards out. You throw one more chirp… He moves closer. He is as big as a horse and it’s like he’s tied to a rope and you are pulling him in. He is now only 30 yards away. You concentrate on his feet and you are hiding your eyes below the brim of your hat. You’re shaking so bad you hope he doesn’t hear the vibration. 5 of the longest minutes of your life pass before he takes another step. “Self….Just hold still…He won’t leave unless given a reason, Self. Calm down, pick a spot, and follow through with the shot, Self!” He starts circling to your right. “Self,….Timing is everything….Don’t blow it now….Hold it TOGETHER, Self!!!!” As his head disappears behind that little sapling, you quickly maneuver your hips so your setup for the shooting lane that puts him within 25 yards. The predator in you has come out 100% and you are running on nothing but adrenalin and instinct. As soon as he is broadside you whistle softly to stop him.
You come to full draw as he snaps to attention……….You pick a spot right behind the front shoulder, and release the arrow…………….
The arrow sinks to the fletching only 1” high and 2”’s to the left of your spot.
You know he is dead but the reality of what just happened hasn’t hit you 100%
It’s very important to listen after the shot. I’ve heard of people having good blood trails with elk. I’ve never been that lucky. I’ve shot them with two blade’s and with Snuffers, I’ve hit them in both lungs and have even dead squared the heart and have yet to have what I would call a good blood trail. I’ve helped track several of my buddy’s elk with the same results. I have been on well over 50 elk tracking jobs and have never been able to rely on blood for tracking.
It’s my opinion; there are no “Good” hits with elk. It’s my opinion there are only two types of hits. There are “Perfect” hits, and “Horrible” hits. If you don’t take out both lungs or the heart with these massive beasts, your chance of recovery is well under 10%. It will blow your mind how far an elk can go on one lung and no liver. However, if you take out the pumpin’ station he will die very quickly. Their size works both ways. Since they are so big, they have huge lungs and heart to supply blood to that enormous body. One lung is plenty big enough to support them for miles and miles. But if you take out both lungs that huge body will get oxygen deprived in a hurry. I’ve never hit an elk in both lungs or the heart and not heard or seen him/her go down.
Most of the blood I have found has been on trees or brush the elk rubbed against while on their death run. Elk are big enough and weigh enough they usually leave hoof prints, but following these can be extremely difficult when in grassy, leafy, conditions or when there is a pile of elk sign.
What I’m getting at is, don’t expect a blood trail. If you get one, great. But don’t count on it. Listening for your elk to crash in my opinion is your best odds for recovery.
Let’s talk about shot placement a little more. I said before that Dr. Ashby has me convinced with his single bevel studies and FOC and such. But nobody will convince me you can get an arrow through the scapula of an elk, PERIOD! Short of a 30-06 and a well constructed bullet there is no way. I like to keep my shots about an inch behind their shoulder crease and in the upper sections of the lower 3rd of their chest cavity. No different then any other critter really.
I would say that I’m not even half way done with this thread. There are still pages and pages to come.
Once again, take from it what you will and shrug what you won’t. I feel I need to keep expressing that none of this is scientifically proven. This information is based off of my experiences alone and is no more then what works for me.
Thank you,
Todd
Topic: Wanna go elk huntin'? 2010 UPDATE. More photos Pg. 5 (Read 2137 times)
