Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Do you shoot till they drop

Kurt, That is one heck of a buck and a tremendous field picture.....WOW!!! Way to hang in there and not give up...

Agreed.

Greenhorn: That's a beautiful buck!

The one's that worry me are those that collapse to the shot....my last elk two years ago dropped to a shoulder shot at a bit under 200 yards, as fast as you please and starting cascading down the mountain.I worked the bolt,stayed with him,and when he hung up on some rock and sage for a second I drove a bullet through the back of the neck from behind...we recovered it under the chin,it having traveled the length of the neck.

If he is visible,and in any fashion even blinking, I shoot again.Shidt happens sometimes that can be easily remedied with a second shot.

Greenhorn,
I agree with others that is a good looking buck and country, gives me the urge to go!

Regarding the subject, I think it is best to keep hitting game until they fall. If they are going through the death kicks, I leave them alone, but if they try to get up or crawl, shoot again.
Am especially suspicious of animals that drop at the shot because this has something to do with the spine and can mean they are just shocked.
On a hunt in Alberta, I saw a "dead" whitetail have a resurrection while beong removed from the back of a pick-up and had to be shot again in the outfitters yard.

if there is lead in the air there is hope!

My friend told me years ago, "Keep shooting until all four legs are in the air and the tongue is hanging out". I have only shot one elk that needed more than one shot. My first elk. She was standing 384 yards away and was broadside across a canyon about 150 yards from some private property.

I took a solid rest with my shooting sticks and lined up my 400 yard hash on my scope on the front shoulder. The bullet entered the scapula, took out at least one lung, and then exited through the leg joint on the other side.

She immediately slipped down the snowy slope and came to rest against a scrub pine with her head still up. I lined up on her neck and let the 160 Nosler hit home again. She continued to slide down the hill in the snow. When she came to rest, she was still kicking a little and I shot again for the "shoulder/lung" area. She came to a full rest at that point with her head stuck in a clump of brush and the rear end sticking out in the wind.

What I didn't consider during this whole time was the fact that as she slid down the mountain, she was actually getting closer to me and I kept using the 400 yard hash mark. Last shot took out the spine and a bit of the favored backstrap. DOH!

All three shots were kill shots, but my friends counsel kept ringing in my ear "Keep shooting until all four legs are in the air and the tongue is hanging out".

Since then, single bullets have done their job nicely. Had they not bolted immediately into the brush, I still would have shot again. Luckily, each was just inside the brush and lay dead as could be.

I watched my friend put a single 140 grain TSX through the boiler room of a spike and it wavered a second and then fell over. When it fell, my brother shot a cow from the same group that acted as though the carpet had been pulled from under her. As soon as she hit the ground, the spike stood back up and tried to join the rest of the herd. My friend hurried to get back on him just as he topped the ridge he had fallen onto. He didn't get a second shot. Of course, the bull was dead on the other side, but slid about 150 yards down the snow covered slope. THAT SUCKED ROCKS! He was a bugger to get out of that brush choked little canyon and back to the top of the ridge. We were sure glad to see the horses show up to help get that harvest off of the mountain.

Like everything else, it all depends. Assuming you don't shoot until you have a "good shot" and the shot feels good-most of us I think can call our shots somewhat: we know if it was good or if we immediately have a doubt. If I have any doubt whatsoever, I follow up immediately. I always, though, stay in position, immediately chamber another round, and stay on the target even if I know the shot was good, I'm in open country and can watch the animal for a long way. I don't take any chances on elk if for no other reason than I don't want them to run down hill into a ravine or canyon.

If the elk is standing or wiggling I shoot again. However I often hunt near Yellowstone Park. If a wounded bull crosses from the National Forest into the Park then he is lost as the hunter must forsake the animal. Even if you see him laying a few yards on the Park side of the boundary it is a federal violation to recover the animal. Sad but true so I want my bulls to go down quick and stay there. I shoot until they comply and usually with heavy for caliber bullets sometimes of rather large diameter.

Shoot them 'til they drop or chase them 'til they drop, take your pick.

I've never had one that didn't drop fairly quickly (had one go about 40 yards) but I've seen them go for miles.

One left blood all over the south side of Bears Ears - my hunting buddy and I seemed to cut blood trail everywhere we went. The two guys that shot it spent 3 days going after it and gave up without recovering it.

I'll keep shooting if the animal doesn't appear completely anchored. 3 of my elk died from the first shot. The fourth was a bull that took a 225 gr Accubond through the lungs and shattered a shoulder. He collapsed and then stood back up in the thick oak brush. He got another bullet which finished him. I am lucky enough to have some friends in Colorado who have twenty to thirty years elk hunting experience and they all say the same thing: "keep shooting until the elk stops moving."
Looks like I am in agreement with the majority of responses so far.

Last year one of my hunting partners droppped a nice cow elk, it was down and barely kicking, They worked there way down hill to it and it was gone! That is why I keep shooting...

I too have hunted near YNP, GTNP and near/on the Elk Refuge in Jackson. If the critter crosses into the park its a lost animal. In those instances, I shoot 'till they go down and one more for good measure, I want no questions. I've seen animals get up and run off after what appeared to be a shot that should have anchored the critter.

I haven't lost an animal since I quit shooting them with a 308...the 7-08 is much better.

I've yet to hunt elk, but I keep shooting stuff till it drops. Always cover the critter while approaching also. Basically, I don't consider them dead till I start field dressing.