Heart Shot!

[Elkslayer]

How far will a bull elk go after being shot through the heart?

[steeliedrew]

Did you stick one?

[carpsniperg2]

It can very so much. Depending how much you cut or if just 1 blade caught the heart or if you center punched it. Also if the animals Adrenalins gets going etc. Hard to really say. The one I shot in the heart was at the top of the heart and went about 40-50 yards on a downhill run

[Elkslayer]

Beeman stuck one! I'll let him share the story. Here is a picture of the heart. Just curious what everyone thought, this bull had a strong desire to live!

[wraithen]

Probably up to 2 full minutes with tons of adrenaline. How far can they run in that timeframe? 

[jrebel]

This deer went 100 yards and diddn't leak a drop of blood.....   My guess is the elk went 300 yards

[gjbruny]

It can very so much. Depending how much you cut or if just 1 blade caught the heart or if you center punched it. Also if the animals Adrenalins gets going etc. Hard to really say. The one I shot in the heart was at the top of the heart and went about 40-50 yards on a downhill run

I have stuck 3 in the heart and they were big *censored* cats..... Down in 30-50 yards. Had a bud clip the back lobe of the heart and we trailed it 1.4 miles before finding the bull. One thing is for sure........ I'd rather hit an elk anywhere in the heart than only get one lung..... Don't think there is a tougher one lunged critter on the planet than an elk.

[RadSav]

It can very so much. Depending how much you cut or if just 1 blade caught the heart or if you center punched it. Also if the animals Adrenalins gets going etc. Hard to really say. The one I shot in the heart was at the top of the heart and went about 40-50 yards on a downhill run

I have stuck 3 in the heart and they were big *censored* cats..... Down in 30-50 yards. Had a bud clip the back lobe of the heart and we trailed it 1.4 miles before finding the bull. One thing is for sure........ I'd rather hit an elk anywhere in the heart than only get one lung..... Don't think there is a tougher one lunged critter on the planet than an elk.

Amen to that!  Would rather have a solid ass shot than one lung on an elk.  The picture of that heart looks like the broadhead was a bit dull when it got there.

[Bean Counter]

My 2011 elk was at 130 yards with a 180 round cheap soft point from a  .30-06. He stumbled back and forth, toppled over his back, and was DRT. Double lungs and the heart was almost complete goo. I know this is an archery question but my story reminds that shot placement means far more than doubling the cost of your projectile and expecting a better result.

[bwhntr350]

One of my Roosevelt's that I had shot, 20 yards, with a bow through the center of the heart went for about 200 yards blowing blood 10 feet, looked like a slaughter house. He bedded down and I watched him in his bed for 10 minutes. He winded me, got up, I hit him again behind the front shoulder but high, he went another 200 yards and bedded down again.

 This time I sneaked in there and watched him for another 10 minutes . His back was to me and there were other hunters int he area. I was kind of panicky as I would have, usually, backed off. I decided to let another arrow go. I thought long and hard on where to hit him and it worked out ok. The bull stood up, looked at me, and then crumpled.

 I will take one lung over a heart shot all day long if that bull was any indication as to how far they will go.

[BeeMan]

Well, thanks to the help of Buckman and Elkslayer and his son I get to share the story of this Elk!

This was my first archery elk and became a great educational experience for me!  Buckman has been getting pics of this guy at one of his stands for about 3 weeks and as time has gone on he had become pretty consistent.  Saturday morning I got a call from Buckman, asking....  Do you want an Elk?....  I sure as heck did as Elk meat is a favorite in my family and we just cooked our last elk steaks about a month ago!  He said make sure you are in the stand by 2 PM as they have been coming in pretty regularly around 3:30.  So just as was advised I was in the stand by about 1:50 PM.  The wind was pretty gusty Saturday and after being in the stand about 15 mins I felt like I was getting a bit of motion sicknes..
I stuck it out and the wind calmed down after about an hour and a half.  The wind was blowing directly into my face and at about 3:15 I had a doe catch my scent directly behind me and she proceeded to spend about 10 minutes blowing and letting everyone know something was up.  She finally disapeared and within another 15 mins I began to hear some noise from directly behind me again. 
     The first elk came in at about 3:35 or so and this young spike was not far behind.  Before i could even get my bow in hand and get lined up in shooting position I had 20 Elk directly below my stand.  Every one within 25 yards!! This 1x2 bull was the only bull in the group and he seemed to think he was King.  I took my time and chose my shot opportunity carefuly as I didnt want to get caught with that many elk so close!  After a couple minutes he turned broadside to lunge at a cow who was "Invading His Territory"  I used the commotion as my opportunity to come to full draw!  I lined up a double lung shot and as I released he began to turn slightly away from me,  my arrow hit about 4 inches forward from where I intended but seemed ok elevation wise and had great penetration!  The elk all took off and stoped about 50 yards away and began "Cow calling" to each other.  They re-organized as a group and bolted out of there about 10 mins later.
     I waited about 20 mins before getting out of the stand and proceeded to go look for some blood where he was standing.  After consulting via cell phone with both Buckman and Elkslayer I was re-assured that even though I felt like I hit a little far forward, If I was accurate with my description of the arrow placement it should still have been a vital shot so he was probably a "Dead Elk Walking" 
     I didnt want to push him to hard so I stuck close to the stand looking for his departure direction via blood trail.  To my dissapointment all I could find was about 30 yards of minimal drops of blood!  By this time it was dark and my headlamp flashlight wasnt the best at illuminating those drops of blood! To top it off there was no snow and everything was still wet from the last 3 weeks rainshowers.  Needless to say I didnt have a very good bloodtrail to follow.     I am grateful to Elkslayer who grabbed his oldest boy and headed my direction to come help look for him.  I went to aquire a better light and met up with Elkslayer and his boy before we all headed back down to look for my Elk. 
     We were able to pick up his blood trail again but would only proceed about 15 yards before loosing it again.  I couldnt believe how hard it was finding some blood!!  We spent the next 2 1/2 hours following the same pattern of finding a few drops and loosing the trail again.  I was litterally on my hands and knees crawling at times to find some drops of blood and get an idea of which direction to look next!  At about 7:45 PM Elkslayer whispers back to me...."There he is.....get your Bow, he's still alive"
Well......I made the mistake of leaving my bow back on the trail a few hundred yards.... ....lesson learned the hardway..... 
     After returning to get my bow...and Elkslayer patiently waiting and hoping those were indeed "Elk Eyes" he saw not "Cougar or Bigfoot Eyes"    We got within about 15 yards and could see he was hurting pretty bad and struggling to breathe.  I couldnt get a "Finish Shot" because of how thick it was, but after watching him for a couple minutes it was clear that he wasnt going anywhere and I walked up to him and put his final "Kill Shot" through both lungs fom about 2 feet away!  
     After all was said and done this Bull went between 300-350 yards and was still alive 4 hours after getting an arrow right through the heart!! The arrow went in on the top of the heart and came out on the other side dead center...the pic Elkslayer shared is the arrow exit hole!  We couldnt believe it!!  But the proof is in the pic!   A Big Thanks to Elkslayer and his boy for helping me with my most difficult tracking job to date, and with getting him out of the woods at 9:00 at night!  Also to Buckman for being generous enough to let me hunt one of his stands and put some Elkmeat back in the freezer!!

[BeeMan]

The picture of that heart looks like the broadhead was a bit dull when it got there.

Thats because my nephew and i proceeded to stick our fingers into the arrow hole a few times while examining the heart!!       

[Elkslayer]

Completely forgot to get any field photos of this guy, but here is one after all the chores were done. Good job Beeman and congrats on your first archery elk!

[buck man]

Glad you were able to get it done beeman.. The only problem is you and elkslayer have killed more elk out of my stands than me ...congrats and good job.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

Congrats on your bull. It is nice to have friends for sure.

I had a buck deer go 400 yards on a heart shot. The thing about it is, the front part of the heart is a lot of muscle and had I hit the buck an inch farther back he would have been down quickly.

I have heart shot 4 deer 1 of which was down in 20 yards and 2 were down inside of 40 yards.

[C-Money]

Congrats on your bull! amazing how far he went!

[romaknows]

Good job!!!    Just curious, did you find your arrow ? and if you did what did it look like ( hair, blood, fat ?)

[Austrian Hunter]

That's just awesome!!!!!!!!!!!   Good job! 

[RadSav]

The picture of that heart looks like the broadhead was a bit dull when it got there.

Thats because my nephew and i proceeded to stick our fingers into the arrow hole a few times while examining the heart!!       

I find myself doing that too   Looks a lot like my Thanksgiving retard from 1989 (one of my favorites).  That bull was tough to put down too.  Congratulations on the bull

[sakoshooter]

Let me guess - 900' - 1050' +or- an inch or two.
Congrats on a perfect shot.

[brianmtsinc]

WOW!  I can't believe it went that far and lived that long with a heart shot! 

I have killed several elk and a few deer with my bow.  Most all of them lung shots, however last year I shot my elk at 50 yrds right thru the heart.  He took a couple steps, turned back to look at me and immediately laid down.  20 seconds later his head fell over and it was done!  It was my first heart shot so I just assumed that was what always happened with a heart shot.  Lesson learned.  Thanks for sharing and congrats on your elk!!!   

[erk444]

What kind of broadhead?

[csaaphill]

grats nice elk that one side is fat cool

[Dan-o]

That's unbelievable.....   Not saying I don't believe you, but I just never thought an elk could go that far with a center punched heart.

I've seen them exhibit an incredible will to live after some poor shots (e.g. single lung) but I've never seen one take it to the heart and go all that far.


WOW........

[Kowsrule30]

Congrats!!

I've never shot big game with a bow... But a mature Rocky Mtn bull I shot with my ML went over 125 yards up and down hill with no heart at all... Just a pile of mush... And a decent buck went 400+ with a heart blown in two from a rifle... That was cross hilling down slope..

[kentrek]

montects ? not bashing

[BeeMan]

What kind of broadhead?

Montec's CS (Carbon Steele).....100 gr.

[BeeMan]

Good job!!!    Just curious, did you find your arrow ? and if you did what did it look like ( hair, blood, fat ?)

The last 5 inches of my arrow busted off in his chest cavity, didnt find the front half.

[BeeMan]

Thanks everyone....  Im just glad we found him!  Elk are impressive animals and they taste even better!!

[kentrek]

What kind of broadhead?

Montec's CS (Carbon Steele).....100 gr.

yup i knew id seen a hole like that before..this one went like 150 yards with no blood to follow,had a few inches of arrow actually inside the heart..