Shoot or No Shot 2026 – Episode #2

[WapitiTalk1]

Date/Time: Early September 2026/5:15 PM
Location: Somewhere in the elk woods
Hunt Pressure Status: Minimal
Hunt: Solo hunt; 25' up in a tree stand
Tag: Archery season; any branched bull

After game camming this active wallow since early August, you finally get to hunt it! You've worked your way in to your established fixed stand working the prevailing winds properly, and have climbed up and settled in around 4:30 for the evening sit. You've seen this guy on your trail cam images quite a few times when checking the card and have titled him "ninja bull". He always seems to hit the wallow from various directions, usually in the afternoon/evening, sometimes wallows, sometimes just sniffs the edges, and then is outa there pretty quick (never seems to stay long). OK, at 5:15 this guy walks onto the scene and stops where he is standing now. Of course, you're at full draw. It's 35 yards from your tree to the rotten log where the yellow dot is. I'll tell you that the ninja bull is not going to be any different this time than when you've seen him on your cam pics. He's gonna only be in the wallow for less than a minute and will give you three various angles to potentially shoot at. What you're seeing now is where he stopped after he walked in; this is angle #1. Are you shooting at this time? YES or NO. If you're touching off an arrow, show us where your POI is and which yardage you're using. I'll run image/angle #1 one for a bit then move on to #2, and then, #3.

[Kingofthemountain83]

I can't shoot a bow to save my life... I have 2... But I have a Ten Point Viper S415 crossbow that I'll play along with... I've practiced extensively with it out to 70 yards... It's a tack driver and know it shoots flat enough to use the 40 yard reticle from 0-40 on deer sized vitals... Knowing he's under 35 I'd put the 30 yard reticle on him and split the front legs with the 100 gr 3 blade Muzzy on the 400 gr arrow... Betting it would stick out the lower side... Maybe even pass through... I don't know how far he'd go... But it'd be a hell of a blood trail to him...

[High Climber]

I’m waiting. That’s a tough angle at any yardage. Not steep enough to go in front of the leg bone and too steep to get both lungs unless you thread the needle… a bull like that and a guy may be shaking a little

[Longfield1]

I agree with waiting, only way i would shoot that shot is the exact spot where Kingofthemountain83 pointed out but only if i had 600+ grain arrow with single bevel broadhead. Too much bone in that area. I would dial to 30 yards.

[Pathfinder101]

I think there's a lotta lung behind that shoulder blade, even at that angle.  The good thing about that angle is that you don't have to worry about hitting that dead-zone.  Even a shot that goes high will still take the arrow down through the lungs. 

[boneaddict]

    Dead elk

[thom9719]

If he's that close and not spooked, I'm waiting for a better shot.

[Dan-o]

Honestly, this is why I muzzleload.

Having a masher that close and offering a marginal shot would just tempt me too much to send an arrow I'd regret.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Honestly, this is why I muzzleload.

Having a masher that close and offering a marginal shot would just tempt me too much to send an arrow I'd regret.

I'm with you on that... I still want to shoot something with my crossbow and check it out but man I had to pass a few shots or didn't know the range but knew it was farther then my one aim point to 40... Run out of patience then grab the muzzy... Missed a few opportunities carrying that damn thing already... I'm kinda selective where I bring it now... The time will come...

[WapitiTalk1]

Maybe I should have tried a shot at that first position, it wasn't an impossible angle for sure from my/our position in the tree stand. Well hell, now he wheeled on a dime and stopped, dropped, and is rolling like the woods are on fire. Anybody shooting here?

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.

[HntnFsh]

Looks to me like that front leg,  shoulder have the vitals pretty covered.

[High Climber]

Nope not yet!

[WapitiTalk1]

Up jumps Ninja bull from his muddy bath and he stops here for just a few seconds before heading into the woods. Shooting now? I don't think any of the other two shooting opportunities were un-doable, but for those who just didn't want to touch off an arrow at either of the other two angles, now's your chance to show your arrow POI on this fine fellow.

Remember, if you say "shoot", save the image to your desktop. Then, open it with MS Paint (or another editing app), place your X or spot, save it... then add it to your post.

[Shawn Ryan]

I don't think I'm a shooter in the first 2 positions. 3rd position, I'm shooting at the red dot.