Roskoe

About a week ago, I was in one of our local sporting good stores and a slightly heated discussion came up on the subject of shot placement on elk. I have always been one to go for the lungs - so my opinions on the best calibers and bullets are based on what has worked best for me on maybe 30 elk killed over the years with mostly lung shots.

Dissenting opinion #1 came from a guy who does the shoulder shot every time - if possible - and, of course, it drops them right on the spot if done right. No surprise - he favors the .338 calibers and likes Barnes X, Nosler partitions, Failsafe bullets. .300 Win Mag is about minimum. He is also only interested in shooting big bulls.

Dissenting opinon #2 is from another guy (real good shot) who uses only a .25-06 - and shoots all elk in the neck. This high neck shot will also drop them in their tracks. He likes 117 gr. Sierras. Would go to a .243 if he had to switch calibers.

Certainly was a thought stimulating discussion . . . . .

manboy

all i will say is the #2. must like to eat elk meat also!

Hunter06FlKy

i would go with #2 personally. you don't destroy as much meat and is probably the most humane way to do it. that's what i do on deer.

charlie brown

I go with # 1 before I will agree with # 2. I would rather have something that can make it into the heart/lung area every time, no matter what it has to go through to get there. That doesn't matter if its deer, elk, whatever, the target is the same for me. I shoot a .30-06 and .50 Muzzle loader for hunting. Those are my two rifles of choice. I hope to finally draw a ML tag, and of course, that is what I will be using, with 350 grain lead bullets. I can't risk trying to do a precision guided shot into the neck with open sights and a rifle that will group 2" at 50 yards. (my .30-06 will do much better group wise, but I still feel the lungs/heart are the best target). If the shoulder gets in the way, and there is no chance that the shoulder will get out of the way, the bullet will be going through the shoulder. I would prefer to get it right into the lungs, but will take any shot I can get. I have yet to shoot anything with that ML, so I do not know exactly what kind of damage will be expected. I doubt a bullet traveling 1300 FPS at the muzzle will do too much damage to the meat if the bullet were to go through the shoulder. We shall see!!

Slamfire

To me it is none of the above, shoot 'em in the heart/aorta they won't go far without blood gettin to the brain. Cartridges that make mush outa a deer's lungs just drill holes through an elk's. I'm assumin' by shoulder they mean the scapula it's the biggerst bone up there, Not a bad deal if you hit the one on the off side.

jones123

There was an old thread on this that I brought to the top by answering it, I don't know how to paste the link to the thread.

Check out the "Shot placement on elk" near this thread.

manboy

charlie= i have not shot elk with ml at all, my dad hunted that way for years in N.M. and he used 50 caliber, but i don't think he used 350 grain bullets. how much powder u use? and u are not using pyrodex are u! is that a 209 cap if so u maybe fine with pyrodex. but i sure wouldn't use it!and one other thing u might want to shoot just a little back with the old smoke pole.

huntnmuleys

id have to be awful close to try a neck shot. at least for me its behind the shoulder for sure

brad

Hunter06FlKy

with a centerfire rifle i would go with the neck. but i hadn't really thought about using an open sighted or and muzzleloader period. i would definately go with the heart lung area then.

charlie brown

manboy - Actually, I shoot both Goex 2F and Pyrodex RS. I have not done a comparison side by side with each one, but have shot them both at different times of each other. It would obviously not be a good idea to try and aim for the shoulder blade if faced with a quartering to you shot, but I am meaning to aim for the upper joint in the arm. That bone is large, but the likelihood of actually hitting it would probably be pretty small. Either way, if you put a bullet into that area, it would still easily make it into the heart/lung area. (according to the diagram on the other post).