Lost a bull elk when the 175-grain Interlock from my 7mm Rem Mag came apart on his shoulder. Looked unsuccessfully for a day and a half. The shrapnel did enough damage that he died, though. We finally found him three days later, a mile or more away, thanks to the flock of ravens that were pecking away on him in the blow-down where he had crawled in and expired. I have never tried another shoulder shot on an elk.
Sorry about the loss of the elk but nothing wrong with shoulder shots using the right bullet. Took my first elk with a Hornady 162g BTSP and wasn't impressed, although the bull went down. Switched to 160g Grand Slas and it took 20 years to recover one. When I did it had destroyed both shoulder joints of a 5x5 and dropped him where he stood.
