what do you think of this shot placement?

[desperatehills]

 

[smitty]

looks effective.

 

[Sherlock]

Looks dead. So 'good'?

Although, hypothetically, if that were a quartering toward entry wound, I'd wonder how long it took you to find it.

 

[nripepi]

That bottom hole is barely in there if it is in there, almost in the no go hole between the heart, lungs and liver, really close (depending on the angle it could have got any of the 3).

Curious if there is a 2nd hole up higher? If so, that higher shot might actually have been the kill shot if broadside and clipping the back end of both lungs...I am curious how far this animal ran and how many holes are in it?

Here is a good image of the the kill zones:
[

 

[jm77]

>That bottom hole is barely in
>there if it is in
>there, almost in the no
>go hole between the heart,
>lungs and liver, really close
>(depending on the angle it
>could have got any of
>the 3).

"no go hole" between the heart and lungs? Thanks I needed a laugh this morning!

 

[nripepi]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-16 AT 09:39AM (MST)[p]I will be more specific for you jm77, behind the heart, below the lungs and in front/below the liver. I just call it the area between the 3 major killing organs where you could easily shoot an animal and think it is a killing shot and it is not. I just saw an elk shot in that exact spot (arrow pass through) running around 2 days later like nothing happened. The shot in the photo appears to be an awesome shot, I just was pointing out it is close to that zone. Did you compare the organ photo to the shot photo?

I put a yellow dot on where I think the bullet hole is. Thoughts?

 

[desperatehills]

Well if I were giving out prizes pepi would win. This is almost the "no go hole". I was happy with the shot but would move it forward 3" if I could. The shot was broadside 20 yards. He was walking so I waited for his leg to go forward when I shot. He broke the arrow off with his first step. After a one hour wait I started tracking him. With little blood after one hundred yards I look up to see him walking away. I dogged him for half a mile trying to get another arrow in him. He never ran but I never got another shot. I watched him stand in one spot for 15 minutes as it got dark. Not wanting to push him any farther from the truck ( I was hunting by myself) I decided to leave him over night. I found him dead not far from where I left him. I like the height of this shot but if we are going that low we need to get closer to the crease.

 

[nripepi]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-16 AT 09:42AM (MST)[p]I told you all it was close! It barely made it in to the kill zone. I feel like I am vindicated! Congrats desperatehills, on an elk and a good shot. Was it a bull?

 

[desperatehills]

This is how I found him. Luckily the meat was still good.

 

[nripepi]

He's a beauty, congrats! Awesome that the meat was still good...based on another recent thread...that might mean he lived a few more hours and you did the right thing leaving him overnight. Tough decision for sure when your shot appears to be right in there, but might have been the difference between getting the bull and bumping him out of the country.

 

[CAelknuts]

We don't know the shot angle, but I'd swear that's a dead elk, so shot looks good to me.

I've left September elk out overnight in Arizona and New Mexico and never lost any meat. Gotta get on them at first light the next morning.

 

[goforbroke]

Great post. Here is my shot on a bull at 55yds. He only walked 30 yards. But after 25 minutes he was still standing. A follow up shot finished the job, but easy to go low on elk. Shoot angle was uphill. The cool part is my 7 y.o. called him in. The bad part I was going to hold out for 350 or better. But it was way too cool with my daughter

Here is bull and some new age camo

 

[bowhunt]

Here is a better view of the vital.
Straight up the leg!! Do not be afraid to shoot forward and a little high on a bull.

 

[DW]

I've seen that pic somewhere before

 

[desperatehills]

Nice bull GFB, that must have been fun with your daughter there. I hit my Oregon bull in almost the exact same place as you. It ran 20 yards and stood for a minute or so and fell over dead. I didn't do a autopsy but I figured the shot to be right through the heart. Looking at the cut away I am going to start crowding the shoulder more. I like the lower shot for blood tracking, but I also like to find them dead. I always worried about hitting the shoulder blade but its much higher than I figured.

 

[jm77]

Two elk shot in the "no go hole", two dead elk. Not saying they run out and die like they are gun shot, but they are dead just the same. Very, very few elk shot in the ribs, in front of the diaphragm, with a broadhead, survive. It is the exception, not the rule. Some, like one lung hits or low lung hits, take a little longer.

 

[MoGreen]

Terrible. As you found out, you will lose your animal every time if you hit them there.

In all seriousness, nice shot. Congrats!

--------------------------
--------------------------
------------
I hunt, therefore I am.
Harvest the land.
Taking of the fallen lamb.

 

[nripepi]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-29-16 AT 08:25AM (MST)[p]Come on jm77, don't be a smart donkey here. The OP asked the question because he thought his shot would have killed the elk immediately and it was walking around an hour after he shot and it was NOT bleeding! That easily could have been a situation where he bumped the elk and never found it, heck, I bet greater than 75% of the time that elk gets bumped and never found.

I told of a complete pass through 2 weeks ago where the bull was back in the herd 2 days later, right through the crease, just 4 inches up from the belly line.

The 3rd story you are referring to, the guy hit the elk in the heart...obviously a dead elk in a minute or less, but as I mentioned it is just a few inches away.

The 4th story by goforbroke with a picture of a shot in the exact same spot needed a follow-up shot as the elk was standing there 25 minutes later!

I know there is an area where you can miss the heart, lungs and liver where you think you should have got one of the three...as I said in my original post it depends on the angle and the angle of the elk. Perfectly broadside and you can sneak a shot through there that won't hit a vital. Ask the OP if he hit anything vital?

Another poster said don't be afraid to go higher and closer to the shoulder bone on an elk, I agree, 2 holes in the lungs and that is a dead elk everytime.

So look at this photo and let me know what you think might happen if you shoot here? I believe this is where the OP hit or close to it.

 

[sticksender]

Congrats on your elk. Since you've mentioned that it was a direct broadside shot, the impact is about 6"-7" too far back, and a couple inches low. Straight up the centerline of the leg is about perfect for a standing broadside shot. You will hit the top of the heart or the artery cluster above the heart, and the front section of the lungs.

 

[HUNTER231]

This bull did not bleed much luckily he only went 138 yards before piling up!!

 

[desperatehills]

From now on my aim point will be 3" right of the last post, maybe a inch higher. If you asked me last year I would say the above picture is right in the middle of the shoulder blade. I know better now and will crowd the shoulder more.

 

[desperatehills]

>[font size="1"
>

As for my shot on the bull at the start of this post, it was a little higher than the yellow mark pictured. I think it caught that small section of lung behind the heart. I thought lung when I saw the foamy blood pile where he stood for a minute.

 

[Deepcolor]

I have been a victim of the "no go hole", watched his stand just out of range for 20 minutes and then he walked into the trees. We never found another drop of blood but did find him laying under a flock of crows 11 days and 1 mile away from the original shot.

My son shot his first archery elk last year at 8 yds, she went about 30 yds and was done moving in 15 seconds. I have always been a bottom third guy for tracking but have changed my aiming point since watching his shot.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2016/74280image.jpeg

 

[Joe2Kool]

Another post I'm marking so I can find later!?

 

[lang]

That superimposed picture gets a lot of exposure, but I think it is quite misleading with the scapula too far forward and liver too far back and too big. What does everyone else think?

 

[Mallards_Only]

It's a very accurate representation of the true anatomy of an elk, unlike the one pepi posted which has the liver and heart too small.

 

[txhunter58]

I love Deepcolors placement. I aim directly above the elbow 1/2 way up the body on a broadside shot

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[DW]

Yep, gives you plenty of room for error. A double lunged elk is as dead as a heart shot elk.