Frontal Shots

[coachcw]

Tough call in the moment. if presented with a frontal shot id rather aim for the base of the skull and hit the spine or a main artery , that way if i miss it would be a clean miss. my other thaught is to draw and settle in and wait for the bull to turn if your at full draw and ready to shoot I think its a better shot .

[MIKEXRAY]

I also would not take it and as discussed not my place to tell others what they should do. I will say that this shot taken @ 40 yards is very risky, such a small window & just think how small of a movement the elk needs to make to have this shot go way bad.  Also @ 40 yards your penetration would come into play.  I hear everyone talking about all the practice they do but it is a hell of a lot different when you have a bull facing you , blowing snot & bugling.  Makes it a lot harder to hit the softball size frontal kill shot . Mike

[Encore 280]

Ok, I'm not a bow hunter so I have to ask a *censored* question here, sorry. Would it be possible to take a shot for the throat say about halfway up and could/would a broadhead break the neck? I realize that it's a very small target but I would think that a little to the left or right and you're up the creek. Let's say 30 yds and under. Just wondering.

[buglelk]

Just to add to the discussion....

I will take a frontal shot IF the conditions are right and the shot is right. It is the most devastating shot imaginable when taken correctly. If there is too much angle, you risk hitting the offside shoulder before getting into the vitals. If there is a very slight angle, you run the risk of "glancing" along the ribs and your arrow not getting inside the body cavity (sliding along between the rib cage and the shoulder blade). The angle has to be just right or head on....if it is and you hit your spot, you won't need to track the elk. Another mistake many hunters make with this shot is aiming too low and glancing off the sternum. You want to be above the sternum....if you are, the target is actually a bit bigger than you might imagine.

The long hair on the neck of an elk definitely doesn't prevent a good blood trail if the arrow is placed correctly. Nearly every major artery runs through this area from the brain to the front of the heart. If you put an arrow into the pocket, you have a mass of arteries, heart, lungs....complete devastation.

As far as the choice to make the shot, it is no different than how far you choose to shoot at a broadside elk. If you know your target and are confident in your abilities, a frontal shot is not necessarily a lower percentage shot. I would say that a frontal shot at 40 yards is a lower percentage shot than a broadside shot at 40 yards, but I would also personally be more comfortable taking a 20 yard frontal shot than a 40 yard broadside shot...

Many thanks,
Corey Jacobsen
Elk101.com - Extreme Elk Magazine

[ELKBURGER]

All the sucess stories tend to give a less experieced archer the belief that with practice this shot is OK. Everyone that has tried this shot at some point told themselves to shoot at this angle. Some got lucky, some didnt. Confidence is huge in bowhunting and it should be gained by your successes in the field, not someone elses successes.

[BULLBLASTER]

I killed my first archery bull with a frontal shot at 8 yards. Arrow went through the opening that the exsofigus and gains go through. I was at full draw when the bull was broadside at 35 but he turned and walked straight in and wasn't going to stop or turn unless he bolted. He went 15 yards and not a drop of blood on the ground. Arrow hit both lungs and the heart then went through the liver and the head stopped in the guts. Can't get that much damage from any other shot. I would have no problem making that shot again on a bull inside 20 yards. That is a point and shoot range for a well practiced archer/bowhinter.

[mrmoskillz]

anyone one have a story of a frontal stot that went wrong they can share?

[blacktail luv]

I have never taken the shot personally but have seen it taken and heard horror stories.  I bugeled in a bull for a buddy and this thing came on a dead run down off the hill.  At twenty yards I hit the cow call and the bull hit the brakes and turned facing my buddy who was at full draw at about 10 yards.  He whispered " should I shoot".  I replied "no" but he shot anyway, hitting the bull a little too high and slightly to the right.  Never did find it.  He was sick about it and spent weeks looking for it.  He will never take that shot again.  The shot can definitely kill an elk but when you have a bull starring you down your nerves can get the best of you...I've never been in the situation so I can't say what I would do, but if a bull was inside 20 yards and I felt like that shot was all I was going to get I'd probably take it

[Button Nubbs]

That's a no no for me personally. I am very confident in my gear and my shooting abilities but I know that elk can turn me into a puddle of goo. I jumped my bull twice this year after destroying a lung and the liver, he still lived for 8-10 hours. They are tough critters and I never want the feeling I had when that bull jumped up on me again. Luckily persistence payed off and I found him.

[rebal69972]

anyone one have a story of a frontal stot that went wrong they can share?

personally i will never take a frontal shot again. i have not tried it with elk but i did with a deer many years ago 30 yards walking dead at me and go figure i pulled. The shot went through the rib cage and out just behind the front leg and never touched anything. we tracked it with maybe pencil size drops of blood for over 8 hours luckily we found him in a small black berry patch and was able to put another in him.  i will never try it again  but that's just me and i really think my hunting partners would kill me if i did try. 10 menx8 hours =1 deer

[Basket Rack]

I do not take the frontal shot.  I have been tempted on occassion with some nice bulls but passed as too many things can go wrong.  I know other bowhunters that have taken this shot and some killed the bull but several others ended up with a wounded elk that was not recovered.  All were bowhunters that pound the practice range in the off season and are very good shots but alot can go wrong to even the best archers when a bull is in close screaming at you.

[MAVsled]

years ago, I took a frontal shot on a bull in GMU 356.
the beast was at 25 yards, passed behind a small tree before I could settle pin & release then turned around the tree and headed straight head on and now downwind of my position. at draw noticed that its eyes got big, ears tipped back>I'd been made and just felt the bull was going to spin and bolt. I hit that pocket and it was over in less than 40 yards with bull down.
And I felt my shot was good but I was lucky, because an instant more and the bull would have turned. The end result might not have been what it was.
but with any kind of angle, I'd pass on a frontal shot choice. And I've passed on all front shots later on, too risky.
And never a frontal shot on deer, way too small a pocket.

IMHO: your end result was good, and that is all that's good about your shot decision.
I was shocked to watch your vid and hear the release, with those branches within the target zone and an angled animal facing forward. Then the branch getting hit and falling, not surprised at this from the arch of the arrow's path at 31 yards. Watching the elk move off; and noticing the arrow shaft at an angle from but bulls left-front side toward front chest. not an ideal front shot placement. You got lucky too.

We all live and learn....

[JPhelps]

It looks like a lot of people have taken the shot at least once.  Some had good results and some not so good.

I was aiming to the left of center.  In my mind visualizing the vitals this would give me the front of one lung and the back of the other.  The bull was quartered slightly at 10* or so.  During the autopsy I confirmed that I got both lungs (only about the back 2.5" of the off side lung) and the liver.  Ultimate result the bull expired within about 5 minutes of being shot.

With that being said looking back I did have some luck on my side (I have no problem admitting that I had a few things go my way).  The branch could have deflected my arrow.  On this shot there was no room for that.  Also the bull didn't move until the arrow struck. 

If I could do it all over I would pass on that shot and see if the bull ever presented a broadside shot.  If not, I still have a tag in my pocket and I am doing what I love, calling in bulls.  If I am ever to take a true frontal shot again the bull will have to be close (<20 yards) and ............... nah maybe I'll just wait for him to turn broadside.

[flinter]

Many years ago I took that shot at one of the biggest blacktail bucks I think I have ever seen, 5 or 6 pts on top with a sticker coming off one side. The shot was 6-8 feet and I was sitting down and twisting trying to shoot almost behind me just before dark. My 3 blade Savora went between the ribs and the front leg. 5 of us looked for that buck all the next day with no luck. I wont be taking that shot again.

[Elknut1]

Bottom line, if not comfortable with this shot avoid it! If comfortable with it limit yourself to 25yds or less, after that it really becomes a crap shoot that the elk doesn't move! My son & I have take 6 elk with this shot, it's doable but not for everyone! He did lose a bull at 15 yds this year with his compound, it turned at the shot, it went through the brisket & exited out his shoulder missing  all vitals! This bull survived thank God as we saw him a couple days later. Thing is I lost a bull before to a broadside shot by hitting too high, will I take another? You bet, & I'll take another frontal shot too! (grin) Crap happens, fortunately will kill most those bulls!

  Here's a frontal shot kill at 14 yds with a longbow I took!

  ElkNut1