Wow. Not a shot I'd have taken at all, if you wanted comments. LOL.
Great video clip though.
I"ve seen a few come flying in like that, all young small bulls. But it was very rare the years we bowhunted, to see that. I never shot one, as I never got what I wanted for a shot, but my buddy did a few times.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
Hey thanks guys. It was a tough choice to make in the moment when you see this nice 5x5 bull coming in to your calls. You saw the stand-off in the video. I was draw back about 30 seconds total.
It's 20 seconds from when he jumps back a little to when I shoot. Those 20 seconds were filled with a lot of thoughts and emotions. I waited and waited, hoping he would move into a little better position. Then my buddy says "shoot Mark" and I think that must have put me over the top to let it fly. I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I just thought it was a video that many would like to see.
Should have kept my monologue at the beginning to about 60 seconds. Oops. Less almost always seems to be more. Anyway, thanks for watching.
Recon - the video is good. Never a bad thing to see a bull fired up and coming in.
Most of us hate to make arm-chair QB calls on these, it's too easy to slam down on a situation that we can't see but a micro- piece of.
Two things pop out to me:
First, your camera man appears to be fighting the camera set up, the frame keeps drifting right and he's continuously fighting to keep it on the animal. It looks like the movement is what caused the bull to alert, stop, and spin.
Second, If the animal was 20 yards away, and you are 10 or less yards to the right, you shot angle was in the nieghborhood of 30 degrees or less into ribs. Looks like the bull was pretty much butt on to the camera. A 30 degree shot on a large animal rib cage is tough shot for any archer.
I'm guessing this was your potential first bow kill of a big game animal, and that's working against you as well in having to make a snap decision. I've made bad shots as a new archer that I wish I could have back. But, you learn from each encounter, build your experience, and learn the tactical patience will will get you a clean shot to a quick kill.
I think your broad head choice is fine, draw poundage is good. I shoot a Slick Trick is a similar design and size, my buddy shoots Montec G-5s with no issues. You don't mention the weight of your arrows, most will argue that heavier is better.
Sorry you lost the animal, that's a sick feeling no matter what. But, good on you for the courage for posting and seeking feedback.
Then you know the answer. I can tell that this won't go well for whatever reason.
Why would you say that, it's going fine. The OP asked for feedback and got it. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, and he asked for them.
Personally, I couldn't see enough in the video to comment on the shot choice. Not being there and all. So if I was the OP and read your post questioning the shot choice I'd want to know your level of experience with the subject at hand.
I don't know the angle you shot from, but it does look too shallow from the rear, but if the angle was better than the video shows, I would have expected a better outcome.
I wouldn't show that video to the public for the reasons you mention. No one wants to witness a lost bull elk, it does happen, but critics are always above doing that...