I guess maybe that was a risky shot if you use a poor bullet or are a poor shot. My shooting was right on the money. I also shot a moose with those sierra 180's in 300 mag. Bull was angling away at about 150yrds and I put the bullet right behind the rib cage so it would angle the full lengthof the chest cavity. I did kill that bull but found the bullet did not make it past the liver. Bullet also didn't hit any bone and only penetrated around 6" before dissenigrating. I suppose that sounds like a wonderful performing bullet to you Bigcountry? rwire, save the sierras for groundsquirrels. If your bullet won't take out an elk with a well placed shoulder shot, obviously you got the wrong bullet. There are times when you need to break an animal down.