Shoot or Pass
 

Just a little fun...

Let's say you win an elk hunt to Montana from some $10 raffle. You are on the last day of your bow hunt. You have seen many good sized elk, but none within 100 yards. There are only a few more hours to hunt when the guide calls in the biggest 7 x 7 bull you've ever seen - even in pictures. The bull comes in to 28 yards. You are well concealed and the wind is in your favor, but starting to change. The bull hangs up at 28 yards in a small clear lane, but solid brush on both sides of him. He is quartered to you at 25 degrees. If he turns to broadside, he'll be in the brush. He has hung up and is concentrating on the changing winds.

What do you do?

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

I sit tight and wait for a shot. A quartering tward shot is a poor percentage shot IMO. Can I stick it, probably but the marging of error is too small.
If it's meant to be the shot will develope, otherwise the bull wins the right to be hunted again next year.:)

I look at hunting as a game of match wits between myself and the game. If the shot isn't there, It isn't there. A lot can go wrong trying to force a shot that dosen't exist.

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

28 yds, put it thru his eye hole. ;)

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Though I agree that a quartering to shot is definitely low percentage I think this then is determined by the ability of the individual shooter. Some guys have the mental discipline and the physical skills to be able to accurately place a kill shot in this situation.

Am I one of them?

:)...can't say...never been there.

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

If he's quartered at me at 25 degrees as you say... he's all done with a perfect double lunger. Right behind the shoulder gives you plenty of room to spare on that rear lung.

If he angles much more that window closes fast, but 25 degrees isn't much at all.

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

Agreed. There's plenty of lung still unobstructed by the shoulder at that angle. Take a deep breath and drill him through! If the the angle increases much beyond 25, the lungs will be protected by shoulder... no shot.

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Hedge your shot bet a tad away to avoid that leg bone and drill him. Minimally you are going to get 1 lung and liver, ideally both lungs, both of them result in a very dead elk.

Of course this assumes I can stop the shaking long enough to make the shot :eek:

--Bob

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I wait for a better shot, and if it does not present itself...I cry and he walks.

An elk is one tough critter...especially looking straight on. Not worth it.

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You didn't say morning, day or evening, which may make a difference. Last night - forget about it, I wouldn't shoot. Morning, maybe I would. I should be able to get both lungs at that slight angle which is exactly what I'd be shooting for, but lets say that I don't both, I would definetely get one and a liver, which is still deadly. Problem is, I'd have to wait a while before tracking.

But, depending on the circumstances, I still may not shoot. I guess, I'd have to be there.

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I've double lunged a deer that way so I would probably take the shot as long as I had time to wait and track him. Although if I didn't have time to wait and track him I wouldn't be hunting in the first place.

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First, I did say you only have a few hours left to hunt.

I didn't think about this, but what if the angle was 25 degrees from full broadside versus 25 degrees from full frontal?

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Bust him!
Time to deflate some lungs:D;):D

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I pray he turns broadside and then pray for a better shot. personally that would be tough to pass up (hopefully i had put in my time and practiced out to at least 40 yards) but most likely if a shot didn't improve i would have to let him walk. i would hate to wound a critter like that and never recover him. now rifle or muzzleloader wave bye bye to the bull.

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I figured my answer on 25 degrees from the horizontal plane (aka pure broadside) as that is how angles are typically measured. If you are asking if it was from head on .. or 65 degrees from the horizontal plane .. no, I would not shoot. That is to steep an angle.

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You know... I never once stopped to figure out if it was 25, 26, 36, or 46 degrees. If the picture I saw said I could make the shot I'd let it fly. You got to know your abilities, the abilities of your equipment and the anatomy of the critter you're hunting. Being a heavy boned bugger like an elk takes away a lot of shots I take with a whitetail. I would never take a shot simply because I felt if he turned he's in the brush. Either I have a shot or I don't. If I don't,.... I wait for a better one. If it doesn't come(which happens a lot) you just don't get the shot. I've waited and often been surprised with a shot better than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams. I wouldn't care if it was the biggest bull elk or a cow... the shots the same.

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

Shoot him in the neck;)

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This would a hunt once in a lifetime for my broke butt.....shoot just behind the shoulder.
may be tracking a bit...but I would be in a tree.

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I would bust him especially if the front leg on your side is forward.

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Sorry, I missed that.

I wouldn't shoot.

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BobCo - That's ok. I'm not sure of Montana's regs, but a few hours left to hunt could be 12 noon. It is in parts Texas for Eastern Turkeys. And I think Florida has the same rule.

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Quite honestly, at that point I would be so pumped with adrenaline that all rationale would have vanished from my psyche and I would most certainly be pulling the trigger and letting the arrow fly.

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That's not good.

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Some pretty bad decisions here. Neck shot...NO WAY. Some others...NO WAY.

Last year when we were elk hunting (Muzzle loader) my one buddy shot a bull in this near scenario, at probably a mere 75 yards. Had good blood, let him sit overnight. Got on him the next morning, after we quartered my 5x5 :-) that I got that morning. We got on that bugger and he bedded ALL night and we jumped him in some rough thick stuff and he disappeared :-( Terrible feeling. We spent an entire day and a half looking for him and never found him. After bedding all night, then getting up the next morning to get away, with a 348 grain bullet through his brisket/neck area...Doubtful and arrow would have done more damage than a big bore bullet.

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Keep in mind that a quartered shot on an elk gives you about 5 feet of animal to pass through. Me? Nope, no shot there.

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No bad decisions here. I assure you that the neck comment above was merely sarcastic. The decision to shoot for behind the shoulder is a good one. Your buddy's shot in the neck/brisket was merely a poor shot. At that angle one should be able to easily hit a double lunger and maybe liver as well. That is a fatal shot 100% of the time. A 100% fatal shot is always a good decision.

That's 5 feet worth of damage to inflict, with no bone to get in the way on the exit side (such as the front shoulder in a quartering away shot).;)

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Bigguns - one major consideration you need to think about. It may be a lethal/killing shot, BUT, will the animal be recovered without an exit wound? He may die, but the yotes, or wolves will have a good dinner. Remember, we are talking an elk here....an animal that has an incredible will to live, and size to do so.

RE: Shoot or Pass
 

You bring up a good point, and I think it is something to consider when deciding whether to shoot, but I think it's a consideration for any shot angle. I have personally arrowed numerous whitetails at a quartering-away angle. Every single time my arrow has hit the opposite shoulder, which stopped penetration... no exit wound. I recovered every one of them in very short pursuit. I certainly would never pass up the quartering-away shot opportunity for fear of hitting the opposite shoulder. Similarly, I think I would take my chances with the slight quarter-to angle. As I mentioned before, at least at that angle, there's no heavy shoulder bones to stop penetration (assuming you avoid the close-side shoulder). I think with true arrow flight, there's still a good chance of pass-through, IMHO.

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I'm with Baggin on this one. If I hit this slightly 1/4 ing bull through the near lung, catch the back of the rear lung and let's say my broadhead stops embedded in the very last rib on the far side and doesn't punch free. He's still dead .. and I can track this guy with the blood from the entrance hole .. the tops 200 or so yards he can go.

I do agree with someone's earlier post that if you don't have the time to do the work after the shot .. your hunt is over. I personally would gladly fork over my own cash to push my ticket home back a day to get this brute processed!

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Honestly, I'd have to make the decision at that time. But based on what you said...my gut tells me that I would take him. Elk have a much bigger kill zone than the small whitetails I hunt, so I believe I'd have no problem making a good shot. I've taken whitetails at that angle, knowing exactly where to place my arrow for a quick kill. It's not the best angle, but it can be done.

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Sounds like a good shot to me.

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After I re-read the "setting" of the events, I guess it could be a borderline shot and after re-thinking it, the ONLY way I would take it is if it were less than 28 yards. If it was an eye to eye, 10 - 15 - 20 yard shot I would take it. 30 yards, and an slight miss hit and you have just wasted a magnificent animal.

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Agreed. Anything less than broadside needs to be a gimme. It's not worth the risk.

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I think the shot is makeable for a good bowhunter that has the confidence in himself/herself and their equipment. Double lung even the biggest of creatures, and they won't travel unrecoverable distances. That said, my target panic would probably creep in on me so I'd just throw down the bow and chase him down on foot with my Bowie knife! ;)

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So Danny... how fast are you?[8D] I know... you aren't that fast but you have staying power.

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Well, a successful outcome would hinge on the possibility that the elk would just fall over and die from laughing before I got to it. :D