you know, i was trying to look for some pictures and ran across an elk hunt from 08 or 09 i forget which. But my brother in laws nephew shot a cow elk with a 30-06, you could hear the solid hit. We tracked her for a mile and a half. She'd lay down, leave a puddle of blood, get up and walk another 300 yards or so, lay down. We never found her at the end. Maybe a low chest shot in the breast bone, who knows.

You'll have better luck next time out.