“Drop shot” placement on a moose??

[idahohuntr]

I have been on 6 moose hunts in North Idaho.  5 of the 6 went smoothly with normal behind the shoulder shots and the moose did not go far at all...less than 10 yards in all cases. 

The one that did not go smoothly...the otherwise experienced hunter got caught up in how big moose are and rumors of moose being shot and running miles.  He got some barstool advice about shooting moose in the neck because their lungs are so big...bla bla bla...long story short, we get in on a good bull and I watch this guy shoot it 3x in the neck...and then the moose ran off and we never found it.  Distance was 70 yards and I watched the hair/meat fly out of this moose neck with each shot from his newly acquired .375.  Never found this moose. 

Moral of this story in my eyes...don't change your approach to shooting big game animals just because its a moose.  Shoot your moose where you would shoot your elk or deer.   

[DOUBLELUNG]

To be sure to drop any big game animal on the spot, you need to bust the brain or spinal cord. 

Your best shot and greatest margin of error with a bull moose is broadside, directly below the highest point of the hump and in line with his back behind the hump.  Perfectly executed, you will break both shoulders and sever the spine; miss by a few inches and he will still die fast and be a fast recovery.  If you take that shot and he DOESN'T drop, keep shooting because you didn't hit point of aim.

Doublelung, who am I to quibble with an internet picture, but that diagram of the moose sure looks to me like it has the spine way too high as it passes between the shoulders under the hump.  In my recall, there is a LOT more hump above the spine than is shown in that diagram.  I'm likely wrong...  but if shooting at a moose today, I'd aim lower than the diagram shows if I wanted to hit the spine under the hump. 

This to basically repeat, that if a hunter isn't sure where the spine is, hold on the low side of best guess.

Point taken, I've only shot and butchered one moose, shot behind the shoulder.  That advice comes from a lot of collective New England and eastern Canada moose hunter wisdom, and quite a few I know who have taken it with desired outcome.  I don't advocate CNS shots for any big game, but I was trying to answer the question.  Personally, I'm going to shoot my next moose behind the shoulder and uphill from the road.

[Karl Blanchard]

Not this year, might go scout out the Selkirk. Honestly that shoot is a blast but the traffic and amount of people make it not worth it, going to miss going.  Really hoping for a crystal mnt location someday. If I didn’t need to save all my vacation time for moose, I might have went anyway.

well you suck then

[PA BEN]

I have been on 6 moose hunts in North Idaho.  5 of the 6 went smoothly with normal behind the shoulder shots and the moose did not go far at all...less than 10 yards in all cases. 

The one that did not go smoothly...the otherwise experienced hunter got caught up in how big moose are and rumors of moose being shot and running miles.  He got some barstool advice about shooting moose in the neck because their lungs are so big...bla bla bla...long story short, we get in on a good bull and I watch this guy shoot it 3x in the neck...and then the moose ran off and we never found it.  Distance was 70 yards and I watched the hair/meat fly out of this moose neck with each shot from his newly acquired .375.  Never found this moose. 

Moral of this story in my eyes...don't change your approach to shooting big game animals just because its a moose.  Shoot your moose where you would shoot your elk or deer. 

The advice I got was never take side shot on the neck. The neck is so wide you might miss the bone. That being said I shot my moose at 37 yds with a 7mm rem mag, 175 gr rem corelock in the back of the neck. He was facing away from me and there was no way I would miss the bone on this shot. Well I shot and he ran off, did not go to his knees he didn't flinch at all I thought I missed him. I put 2 more in him on a heavy quorting away shot behind the shoulder. He ran about 100uds or so. When I boned out the neck I saw a round hole between 2 vertebrae, I stuck my finger in it and picked my perfect mushroomed bullet out. Between 3/8 inches of hide plus hair and 12 inches or so of meat it took all the punch out of the bullet. I handload now and one of my bonded  bullets would have broken the neck.

[Grizzlykiller]

I've worked as meat cutter since 1990 and cut many moose over the years with shot up shoulders.
I see no reason at all to keep poking holes in a moose hemorrhaging the best game meat there is.
A shot 6-8 inches below the hump will drop them immediately in their tracks.
We've killed about 60 and that shot placements been used on over 40 of them.

[JoeE]

I’ve heard the hump shot too. The moose in the pic above trotted about 100 yards with a lung shot. The other moose I shot dropped within 10 steps or so.

Thats a sweet pic Joe!  And running 100 yards is what I’m trying to avoid, what gun did you use?

300 WSM with 200 grain accubonds. That bull was rutted up and hot on the trail of a cow when I shot him. He wasn’t giving up easy!

[steeleywhopper]

They don't usually go anywhere with a "high shoulder" shot. Both my bulls dropped with that shot and my cow got hers in the back of the head and she did not do anything but lay her head down and never moved again.

Out of curiosity......when you say lay her head down, did she tip over or stay standing for a bit??  My bull took a 212 grain bullet out of a 300 win mag to the head at 40 yards.  His head dropped and his legs locked up.  He stood standing for enough time for me to get better line of site and put two more behind the shoulder before he tipped over (approx 20 - 30 seconds total time).

The Cow Moose was bedded facing away from me and I shot her in her bed. Normally I would never take a head shot but this time it felt doable as I knew what I was capable of with that gun. The bullet went into her head where the spine connects to the skull.

[Macs B]

Try this

[Timberstalker]

I can't say I would head shoot a moose.
Pound the shoulders and be done with it.

[trophyhunt]

Try this

I sure hope I see a bull like that!!! 

[Timberstalker]

That bull moose fever would overtake you, Jerry!

[bigmacc]

I've worked as meat cutter since 1990 and cut many moose over the years with shot up shoulders.
I see no reason at all to keep poking holes in a moose hemorrhaging the best game meat there is.
A shot 6-8 inches below the hump will drop them immediately in their tracks.
We've killed about 60 and that shot placements been used on over 40 of them.

 
I never killed a bull moose but my grandparents killed around 30(between the 2 of them) back when they spent half their time in Alaska. Like Grizzlykiller and DOUBLELUNG stated there number one shot preference was, "find the hump and drop down about half a foot, drops em like a bad habit"

[AMBUSH OUTFITTERS BC]

   Macs B thats the spot 

[Okanagan]

Try this

That is a much more accurate diagram of moose anatomy IME.

When we say to aim/drop six inches or so below the hump, do we mean from the top of the hump or from its baseline?  If we measure down from the top of the hump, six inches is not far enough down to hit the spine.  That is a BIG animal, much farther from top of withers to spine than on a deer or even on an elk.

And to add another complication:   sometimes the hair on a moose's hump is standing straight up, especially when he is coming to a call.  The hair on a moose hump is some of the longest on its body, sort of a mane, and can easily add 8 inches of vertical height to the hump, and likely more.

I shot a moose at close range that had his hackles up, angry at me.  I dropped well down from the top of his hump and expected to hit his spine.  I shot through the hump.  All of that empty hair standing up above the hump fooled me.

Our mileage does vary, but I would go/and have gone for the middle of the shoulder or 1/3 of the way up the shoulder at the front leg for a more sure shot, and aim for spine only if it was critical to put him down on the exact spot.

[coachcw]

mines gonna get a 140 berger through the pumper !