mooseslayer3

this past weekend i went out for my cow elk and the elk that i shot i was told it was about 320 yards away and my guide told me to aim about 2 inches over its spine with my 30-06 so i did and fired.after the shot i thought i did everything right but the elk just took off like i missed them but anyways we went down there to were it was and found some blood and found it like 80 yards away. My shot was one of the best placed shots i have ever made on a big game animal entered behind one shoulder and exited straight through the other shoulder. iam just amazed on how tough elk are i cant believe it.

Colorado Bob

Conglads on getting some fine winter meat. What bullet were you using out of your 30/06? CB

ELKampMaster

Mooseslayer 3, Good Job!
Your's is not an uncommon experience for someone elk hunting for the first (I think) time.

They are for sure tough. Deer flinch when you hit'em, if not stagger and drop immediately. Elk, shy of a CNS shot or bone hit, have a tendency under normal circumstancesto act like nothing happened and run off.

Due to the aforementioneddifferences between elk and deer, some of us advocate using stronger medicenefor elk to more consistentlyanchor them where you shot them instead of doing the "archery thing" i.e. poke a hole in them with a light rifle and then follow blood until you you hopefully find out where they died. Make such a suggestion and the deer rifle folks will certainly "sing a song" for you though.

Most folks I know, after they have ACTUALLY usedthe heavieriron onelkafter experiencingusing deer rifles, will stick with the heavier iron (unless they are injured or getting too old to take some recoil and at that point in life hopefully they have an offsetting skill set).

IMHO, a "30-06 power equivalent" rifle with 180 gr Partitions is a very satisfactory minimum. We have established that as our camp minimum and the tracking jobs have dropped off to essentially nothing.

Bigmoose2003

Similar thing happend to a friend of mines dad for a cow elk, we stalked up to about 125 yards away from her, he hit her right above the heart, really good lung shot and yet she just trotted away as if nothing happend, we went in trackin and she died about 50 yrds away from where she was shot,very tough animals.

game4lunch

My first thought . . . elk hunting in January.
Lucky bastard! God for you. Musy have had that '06 sighted in for 100 yards, would have about a 15" drop with a 180 grain Nosler. Great feeling isn't it.
Congrats . . . you lucky bastard! Not just the Elk, but you had an excellent guide. That's one of the most important things a guide can do for a client, range it, then know the balistics well enough to say, "put the crosshairs 2" over the spine."
Meat in the freezer my friend, meat in the freezer.

mooseslayer3

for this hunt i was using the new federal fusion in 180 grain

lethalconnection

A similiar thing also happened to me. I was stand on a cut line and i seen a cow elk standing there but it's vitals were covered by a baby spruce tree but i decided to take the shot and i hit her right in the liver and she just stood. I tried to get another shot but i was shaking so much (because it was the first animal i had ever shot) i couldnt and then suddenly after what seemed like a few minutes she finally started rolling down the hill. I just couldn't she just stood there with out moving making noise nothing and then just started rolling down the hill.

moosehunter21

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f397/moosehunter21/elk0.jpg
Here she is. Mooseslayer3 is the one in the camo.

A link to the elk pic.

mooseslayer3

sorry about that guys we couldnt get the pic to work

halcon

Congrats on your elk. I still have to fill my cow tag if it ever stops snowing for awhile . I have to the end of March to do itsoI know the snow will stop sometimebefore then .