When i was a young lad in the 1950's, i read Jack O'Connor in every OutDoor Life that came out once a month. He wrote about point blank range, and calibers, etc., and he took trips to far off places. He also wrote, the best shot on big game was the lung shot. Reason; it was the biggest target. In the years since, i always have aimed for the lungs. Mostly, i guess i have also did a lot of other things his way.

In one article, he wrote about all the places one could aim, to put an animal down. One aim point was the end of the spine; the tail. He wrote, if all else failed, one could drop an animal by shooting it center in the butt, above the anus. Well, not so many year ago, i was trailing a cow and a calf elk, when a Bull appeared in front of me. He may have seen me, or heard me, or winded me. He knew something wasn't right, but wasn't sure what it was. When i first saw him, he was walking toward me, but he turned, and started walking away. I dropped him quickly, right then and there, with a bullet to the end of his spine. It really surprised me, when the cow and calf appeared from behind trees, and brush, between the bull and me. In those years, i was carrying a .358 Winchester, and the 225g Nosler at those speed, did no blood shot to the hinds.

Then of all the weird things, our son dropped a cow the same year with the same shot; a bullet in the tail, at the end of the spine. Neither one of has made that shot since.

I don't remember much, with fondness from my childhood, but OutDoor Life was something i waited for every month. Reading those pages took me away away to wonderful places.