Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 150 Partition - pt 2

Bill,

Great write up and like others have said, way to stick with it. What is very impressive is your ability to pivot on two separate hunts that did not go as planned and still be successful.

Congratulations

Agree 100%. BobinNH is spot on as well.

This is not about shooting elk but about shooting big bull kudu and wildebeest and waterbuck. These have bone structure similar to that of a bull elk.

I just returned from Africa and shot eight of them. I can tell that nothing ever goes as planned. Also, breaking one front leg/shoulder and hitting one lung will never put the things right down. They can go several hundred yards, even more if pushed. The only thing that will most assuredly put them on the ground within 25 to 30 yards is a heart shot.

Best thing to do is wait awhile which takes some restraint/discipline.

Don't be hard on yourself. This is part of hunting. Far to many ruin the experience when things go "off script". Well hunting is off script just waiting to happen.

Incidentally, my ph says a bigger cartridge makes hardly any difference. That includes the 375.

Get close. Precise placement. Use the best bullets.

That right there is good info no matter what/where any of us hunt.

Glad you got him!

Thank you for sharing your successful/frustrating elk adventure with us, very nice write-up!! I'm glad you were able to recover the bull!

RinB stole my thunder a bit but I want to relate another elk hunt.

About 12 years ago, four of us were hunting on our usual spot in NM. This was a cow hunt after Christmas. The youngest hunter was in his late teens and was taken out by the ranch owner exclusively. He just liked the kid and borrowed him from his dad every year. The two went to a usual late morning bedding spot and set-up keeping the wind in their favor. Along about an hour or so, here came the herd, about 40 cows, calves and spikes. The youngster centered a fat cow in the brisket at 25 yards with his Ruger .270Win. using factory Power Points. I believe they were in a blue box. Anyway, the cow runs off with the rest of the herd. In the intermittent snow the rancher and hunter see bright red blood but not a continuous trail. After about 50 yards the rancher stops the search and insists they leave, have an early lunch and come back in at least an hour.
They return almost 2 hours later, with the youngster just busting with enthusiasm and trepidation. They picked up the orange flag they left and resumed tracking.
It didn't take long for about 75 yards over the next little hill, there she was, piled up and waiting to be tagged.
The field dressing revealed one lung destroyed and she bled out internally.
The rancher surmised that with a brisket entry, the bullet would likely not exit.
Because of that angle, he treated the elk as if shot with a bow and let the animal bed down and bleed out. He knew a pushed wounded elk could go a long way.
All of us learned a lesson on that trip that has since been repeated. Once with a marginal hit that was recovered and the other with a lazy hunter who didn't see a DRT result. Two of us went back, worked out the trail and found the cow. That hunter learned a valuable lesson and has since become an excellent hunter.
If you keep hunting long enough, we know that bad things can happen. We just need to be smart and figure it out.

Good for bwinters on recovering his bull!

Great story and love the honest write up. While tracking the bull I shot this year I had to remind myself several times , the arrow was buried to the fletches in the meaty part of the shoulder, be patient ,be observant and he will be laying there. I let him lay for like seemed forever , but was not long at all, And I followed the sparse trail.
At the end I was on my hands and knees looking for blood and trying to decide which trail he took. In disbelief I stood up and turned back to my trail marker to get perspective. When I turned forward up trail, I looked at the base of a bush 25 yds. ahead and over a small rise and saw Horns. The last 25 yds there was no blood.
I feel that once blood has been spilled it is our duty as Sportsman to do everything possible to recover the animal as humanely and timely as the situation dictates.

Congrats on the "elk safari" and well done on staying after it. Two weeks of elk hunting and bring home two elk sounds like a great trip! Though it a bit of a rodeo and you're sure to remember it for a long time.

I really enjoyed this write up. Sounds like a hard earned bull taken in adverse circumstances.

Great elk hunting story!

As I often try to tell folks, a guy is going to meet more elk at 40yds than 400yds, and the true test of a bullet is at hair burning range.

Casey