After being shaken up like that I am not sure I would have been able to make the shot either. Elk are hard to bring down. Just for future reference, if you leave them for a while to let them die, you will usually find them in the lowest spot they can find in water. At least that has been my experience, and one hit too far back will usually not cross a fence after a quarter to half mile. A lot of times they are piled up at a fence in a creek. Again, just my experiences not law by any means.