The problem with varmint bullets in an elk's neck isn't whether it will kill it but rather where the elk will be when it dies. If you blow out the esophagus, it will probably die 2 weeks later in some dense hell-hole. If you blow out the trachea, chances are that it will be able to breath and run, for a while anyway, and will die a day or so later of infection or exhaustion. If you hit the spine, it may or may not penetrate, depending on how fragile the bullet is. If it doesn't penetrate, there's still a good chance that you made the kill but the death might well come from shock, bleeding, or infection several miles away.
The only sure thing here is a hit on the jugular. How many hunters can tell exactly where it is at any angle?
Dick
