Elk Tactics 101 - Episode #12

[WapitiTalk1]

Date/Time: Late September 2016/1130 AM
Location: Somewhere in the elk woods
Hunt Pressure Status: Minimal
Hunt: Partner Hunt
Tag: Archery season; any branched bull

Some damn fine calling by your partner this morning resulted in a shot for you! Your shot was a hair over 30 yards at a slight downhill angle. You had a feeling that is now confirmed, that you'd hit a bit high on the bull's right side. There was a distinct "crack" at the arrow impact and you feel that you may have hit a rib going in... and you saw the back part of the arrow flagging up and down as the bull ran and you later found the broken piece of arrow (12" of the fletched end) after you began tracking, 150 yards away in some huckleberry brush. After setting down for close to an hour after the shot, you and your buddy began tracking the wounded bull. The blood trail was not good but there was enough blood and sign to follow the bull to the point where you see him now. You and your buddy have a visual on the bedded/wounded bull 40 yards away and 1. He's slowly lifting his head up and down 2. You think you see the arrow/BH sticking out about 10 inches on the left side and quite a bit of blood on his side 3. You have the thermals in your face 4. It's been close to two hours since you had shot the bull 5. The temps are really heating up and it's supposed to be in the 80s this afternoon 6. You are very accurate with your bow at 40 yards but there are wispy spruce and fir branches protruding from the small trees between you and the bull that would require your arrow to be perfectly placed through.

Your move. What do you feel you may do in this situation to take this bull home for dinner?



Reminder that if you save the picture to your desktop and open in MS Paint, you'll be able to place a spot, X, or whatever on the critter before you save it back to a jpg or png and add the marked up pic with your post.

[theleo]

I'd range the trees between me and him and see where the limbs are in my sight when I put the 40 pin on him. If my 40 pin is on him but branches are at 30 and my 30 pin is on them then I'm backing off to where I can keep an eye on him and wait for him to expire. If I can take a shot the location will be dependent on the distance of those branches and the trajectory of my arrow as to where I hold on him. 

[kentrek]

Looks to only be one limb that could be a issue...range the limb...thread the needle and get another arrow in him

I've watched a real nice bull do the head bob thing for nearly two hours only to wonder off into the brush and never be seen again....

Also the only elk I've personally lost was on a shot almost exactly like this scenario....not a fan of High lung

[tonymiller7]

Range the stick, take a knee to take it more out of the equation and let him have it!

[D-Rock425]

Anywhere I can get an arrow into that animal I'll shoot.  Have no problem letting arrows fly. .

[WSU]

Looks to only be one limb that could be a issue...range the limb...thread the needle and get another arrow in him

I've watched a real nice bull do the head bob thing for nearly two hours only to wonder off into the brush and never be seen again....

Also the only elk I've personally lost was on a shot almost exactly like this scenario....not a fan of High lung

I had a bull a few years ago that ran about 40 yards after the shot and starting doing the head bob.  Long story short, I put a finishing shot in him about 2 miles and 5 or so hours later.  It was a liver hit that would have been fatal but certainly not quick.

As others have said, if I could slip an arrow in there I'd let one fly. 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Both you and buddy draw and shoot at the same time.

[Dan-o]

Don't stop shooting at a breathing elk.....

[pianoman9701]

The heat's not going to be a factor until he dies, which will probably be 6-8 hours, unless an artery is severed, and then it'll be quick anyway. If you can't get a shot that you're positive will clear all obstructions, you risk bumping him and losing him altogether. Sit and wait somewhere you can keep an eye on him but where he won't wind you if the thermals turn later in the day.

[Dan-o]

NO!!!!

Shoot him, and then shoot him again if needed!!!!!

[Dan-o]

And then shoot him again!

[theleo]

NO!!!!

Shoot him, and then shoot him again if needed!!!!!

Just curious as to how many shots you can get off with a bow at a target that's 40 yards away in the time it takes a wounded bull to get up and run off? Screw the first shot up by hitting an obstruction and you won't be getting a second shot until you track him down to where he lays down next. Shoot till he's dead is easy enough with a rifle, with archery equipment not so much.

[Dan-o]

As many as it takes!     

If he's still breathing, he needs another arrow.     

Never let a wounded elk walk away if you can do something about it.   

[Dan-o]

P.S.   This bull is still head bobbing two hours after being shot. If he's still bleeding out, he's not doing it with much enthusiasm.    Give him a reason to die.    Shoot him again already.

[pianoman9701]

Dan-O, you may have missed the part that said there were branches in the way. Why not wait if he's lying down and bobbing his head? If you wait, there's absolutely no chance of alarming and pushing him. If you shoot and your arrow is deflected, he's gone. I've lost an elk due to over-zealousness. I'll try never to do that again.

[theleo]

P.S.   This bull is still head bobbing two hours after being shot. If he's still bleeding out, he's not doing it with much enthusiasm.    Give him a reason to die.    Shoot him again already.

I agree with you that he needs another arrow, as does every post on this thread. What I don't get is why you don't take into account that there are possible obstructions in the way of the arrow. If you take the shot and hit the branch that bull is gone. If there's no shot available, you let him lie until thermals or something else changes and you can move to an open shooting lane. See bull the bull = fling arrow, could just make a bad situation worse.

[kentrek]

If that shot looks intimidating I'd highly recommend people to start practicing threading the needle in brush

Things are rarely this good in this situation

[Jonathan_S]

Sheesh, this is a pretty unobstructed shot for places that I elk hunt. Let er rip. I take a knee and float the pin anywhere behind the shoulder, mid body

[Dan-o]

You have plenty of time to figure out how not to hit the limb....    and if he's alive two hours after the shot, he's not hit good enough for me.

A marginally hit elk could just decide to get up and leave the county.    Hit like that he might not leave a blood trail - he's had time to clot up.

i'd take the air out of him right there.

[notsosneaky]

Sneak in behind him and finish him off with your havalon.

[Karl Blanchard]

The gap between branches is wider than the elk's body.  All but the slowest bows out there are gonna shoot flat enough to clear the branches.  As long as your top pin is under that limb, send it.  Anything can happpen in this scenario.  Heck a cow or another bull can come by and bump him up out of his bed, never to be seen again.  Side step, kneel, sit, hop on one leg, etc, but do what you have to do to get a second drain hole in him.  That is not a mortal wound in my opinion, its no mans land above the lungs and below the spine.

[Karl Blanchard]

As far as shot placement goes, I would put it directly under my first hole. That scapula is all the way back and I don't want to be hitting there.

[pianoman9701]

Good discussion. It is interesting the different opinions and how many people are clearly wrong!!! 

[Jonathan_S]

Good discussion. It is interesting the different opinions and how many people are clearly wrong!!! 

You're a big man to admit it when you're wrong. 

[Dan-o]

 

Good of you to admit it, Pman

 

[pianoman9701]

 

[coachcw]

Two options on shot for me . I will aim low on a bedded elk I'd put my fourty pin on that branch right bellow the original arrow , clears the branch and sticks the bull . Option two is drill him where the neck meets the head . I will always try and slip another arrow in always . The dead spot between lungs and spine never end well .Im surprised  that bull would even bed  after  being tracked .

[Tbob]

I'm with you guys. More arrows asap. I feel like I could maneuver enough to get around any limbs.. I too have seen a "down animal" post high-five, get up and leave to never be found again.. Keep shooting till dead..

[MtnMuley]

The gap between branches is wider than the elk's body.  All but the slowest bows out there are gonna shoot flat enough to clear the branches.  As long as your top pin is under that limb, send it.  Anything can happpen in this scenario.  Heck a cow or another bull can come by and bump him up out of his bed, never to be seen again.  Side step, kneel, sit, hop on one leg, etc, but do what you have to do to get a second drain hole in him.  That is not a mortal wound in my opinion, its no mans land above the lungs and below the spine.

All these posts about seeing the limbs in the way for a shot: The way I read it, the shooter is where the arrow points in the picture, leading us to not be able to see/judge the limbs we're going to have to punch through from the angle of the picture.   Also, I definitely don't think this shot is in the "void" area, because no animal I've seen is going to bed up right away and especially bob his head on a void shot.  I feel the bull was hit in the high lungs, which can take a while longer to keel him over.   Plus, look at all the blood in the pic

I will agree with most about getting another arrow in him at first chance with a predetermined clear lane.  I also like the idea of the caller (second hunter) shooting simultaneously. Especially if you've decided to try and thread the needle on a semi clear lane.