Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Straight on shots on elk, where they tie their bowtie. Thoughts?

What can we say but you are amazing?

What I'm saying is I have been there and done it, I'm not guessing at this game.

By the way I believe that I said within 25 yards I would make that shot. You decided to try it at 49 yards. What more can we say but you are amazing?

All I do is guess, I like guessing. Seeing I have never owned a bow or hunted all I can do is guess.

Our whitetails are not large. I"ve killed over 100 head of big game, hogs and deer mostly, wiht my bow. So take this for what its worth.

I've seen more than a few frontal shots and if hit just right, its gravy... but its a small target. On an animal that almost always moves before the arrow gets there.

Add in the fact that the ribs are staggered like fish scales and form a shield from the front, mother natures way of providing protection, if the hit isn't perfect, then it often slides under the skin but not into the vitals at all.

The opposite from this is that the angled away from you shot, the ribs are stacked to catch an arrow and basically help or force it to penetrate. Thats a nice one to take IMHO.

FWIW I'd never ever shoot a facing on deer ever again with an arrow. If you nail the heart, fine. But err a bit and get only one lung or part of a liver etc.... its going to be slow going and one lung won't always kill a deer.

I'd imagine simply that an elk, had I any experience on them, would be only tougher than a deer. Of course it may be true that elk don't move at the shot like a deer does. And if thats the case, then at close range, it should be a fairly easy target to hit. But video I"ve seen from elk, also tells me they move more than you'd think..... Hitting a canteloupe at 20 yards.. no problem. Not having time to figure if its 20 or 25 or 15 yards..... and the idea that at the release the animal will move some, but who knows how much or which way.... nah, not on an animal for me. Elk or otherwise.

NO would be the answer I'd give from my whitetail experiences.

Hmmm.The three frontal shots I've taken,all whitetail does, died within sight,all taken at 20 or less.A 49 yard frontal... now thats a shot I would pass on.

You have an animal that's on alert and facing you and you have NO idea when it's going to spin around and leave the area. If this were a damn 3D competition we could all probably hit a cantaloupe sized target at 20 yards. The the cantaloupe sized target is a breath away from leaving the country it's a lot more difficult and impossible to predict.

A good shot and a good shot selection are two different things. This shot selection is piss poor

BTW a hindquarter is a VERY lethal part of an animal if the right arteries are hit center of the ham.. Much better than an arrow stopped by a bone from penetration

I've shot a good dozen deer in the center of the chest facing me. I killed every one of them. Then, 3 seasons ago, I had a nice 8pt, which happened to be the biggest buck I'd ever seen come in to my rattling. He was in a briar thicket 35 yds away. I froze and sat in my tree forever until he finally started walking. He stopped in between 2 trees giving me a head on shot at 25 yards. There was brush and branches, but nothing in the way. If I put the arrow in the center of the chest, there would be no problem. The buck raised his head and pointed his nose straight up in the air. I drew and shot. The deer turned and started to run into the briars. It got it's antlers stuck and did a forward roll. I could see the blood running down his belly. He got up and took a bound and fell flat on his knees. He got up and disappeared into the briars. I saw him pop out about 50 yards away and he stood there and shook his coat like a wet dog and walked off.

I waited 3 hours for my friend to come and we looked for him. On the ground where I shot him was a line of cut fur about a foot long and lots of blood. My arrow was in the bushes. It had fur on 1 blade and the back of the arrow was covered with blood. Nothing up front. We followed splotches of blood about 200 yards and the buck went in a stream. We followed drops in the water, on a leaf, a rock... He came out and we followed another 300 yards and the trail stopped. I went back the next day and searched the whole wood lot. I never saw the deer again.

Now, I have this problem. Do I stop taking the shot because it's a risky shot or do I keep taking it because I poorly shot the arrow. I didn't hit the center of the chest I was aiming at. The other dozen times worked out fine. My friend, who has killed hundreds of deer on damage permits says "on the ground, definitely." "Up a tree, it's a bit more risky." In the last 2 seasons, I haven't taken the shot. I did shoot a big 200 pound 8pt at 46 yards quartering away that gave me a 30 yard shot facing me. I let him walk thinking I'd never see him again but he didn't like something and started walking away. I hit him where I was aiming and he went about 50 yards and cashed it in.

I shoot a lot and a day or two before, I was having my way with the club's button buck target at 50 and 60 yards. I knew my pins were on and I was shooting well. He's my confidence booster. I had him at 40 yards between two trees for practice one morning, and shot a little doe at 40 yards between two trees that night. 46 yards is the farthest I've ever shot at a deer but I felt good about it at the time, and was missing very small in practice. I'm spending $3,000 to go to Kansas this year and I'm probably not going to shoot the buck of my lifetime "in the bow tie" either. They're talking about 50 yard shots though, and I've been practicing. I took the 60 pin off the bow though. If I'm not shooting gangbusters when I'm leaving, the 50 yd pin is coming off too!

rob p I agree with what your friend says to a degree. It really depends on the angle of the shot from your tree stand. If it is a steep angle I would pass it everytime. If the angle is pretty flat I would take the shot. The shot you described sounds like you were low and punched it thru the brisket. High chance that buck made it to another season.

I figure if I"m bowhunting I"m willing to accept not taking a shot. If I feel the need to kill if given a chance, I'll grab a gun and usually a large one, with a good Barnes bullet... so that I don't have to pass up any shot offered and still succeed.

For me, a quartering away shot does it all and very well, and thats typically what I wait for... I won't risk them seeing me draw, or seeing the release and or arrow coming at them... Its just the case taht just like Rob, sooner or later its going to bite you. And I"d rather have favor on my side and pass for a better higher percentage shot.

Of course this comes from having shot more than a few with archery gear of all types, and from being on a lease where I've seen MANY more shot... I bet I"ve been around well over 500 bowkills of pigs, deer, javelina.... Frontal is one that just doesn't rank up there as an acceptable risk for me.

But I totally agree with MCH... from what you describe, I suspect that deer was none the worse for wear.

Jeff

Tom, what they heck are you shooting it in the throat for? Your shot isn't even close to surgically placing an arrow in the vitals between the sternum and shoulder at well under 20 yards. You shot too high...period and missed the vitals, yet use that bad shot as your example? What the heck were you thinking? I'm sure the buck bled like crazy and you got him, even though it was a piss poor shot? With a shot like that, yes, you were lucky and the animal lived a long time, but your shot isn't remotely close to the one on the video. You don't take frontal shots over 20 yards. You blew it on all accounts. I can see why you are all in a lather here. Flinch

Hey Flinch, heres an FYI.....The shot was NOT in the throat!!!! it was basically in the same area as the Elk in the video, just a little higher. (IT WAS BETWEEN THE STERNUM AND SHOULDER JUST LIKE HIS ONLY A TAD HIGHER)

The arrow went through 1 lung, Liver, Stomach, Intestines missing the Heart and the other Lung.

I hit where I was aiming period!!!! How can you call that a piss poor shot and hail the guy on the Elk video.....didnt they both die??? I mean come-on.....

Oh and for the record, I hunt with and talk to a lot of friends before, during, and after hunting season and we all have come to the conclusion that the frontal shot is NOT a high percentage shot and should NOT be taken.

But hey YOU do what YOU want in YOUR neck of the woods but if you ever came to my or my friends farms and ever spouted off saying you would take a frontal shot or ever do, you can guarantee you would NEVER be asked back!

I once shot an elk in some brush at 32 yards that was off to my right and coming straight in. He didn't present me with a broadside shot and all I could see was from the middle of his front shoulder forward. He wasn't a huge elk (5x5) but he would be my first if I decided I could make the shot.

So I took the shot and put the arrow just under the right side and below his chin, into his neck. Completely blew out his jugular and he didn't go 100 yards before he piled up. That was the only shot I had and it was risky but I had the confidence to make it.

Moral is, just because someone takes a risky shot doesn't mean it's a bad shot to him, might be to someone else and they wouldn't take it, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And with todays gear, if your shooting 6 arrows into a 1 1/2" group at 20 yards, your going to go through a [bleep] of arrows in no time. BTDT.

They make a three spot target just for that reason.

I shoot an 18 in 1 myself so no more [bleep] up arrows for me.

http://www.rinehart3d.com/products/#c12

I shoot the 18-1 too but only with broadheads to make sure everything is right. So that target doesn't get a lot of use.

Mine gets used a lot and gets both broadheads and field points. I like to throw it around to see if my range finding skillz are on or not.

The juglar isn't maybe 3/8 inch wide at the most on an elk. could be half an inch. You are saying that on a wild animal, that will likely move at teh release of the arrow, you can nail that target every last time? I say you were damn lucky on that shot. I've been damn lucky too.

Hunting farm deer...you are amazing! Do you have feeders set out to "bait" in the deer too? If you are all that anal and can't make an easy 20 yard frontal shot, I wouldn't hunt with you...or your "group". I won't hunt with groups period.

So you all make perfect broadside hits all the time hu? So when you hunt from your elevated stands, how big is the target you are shooting at? Is it the size of one lung, the heart? You can't hit all those organs at once, right? The kills zone is about 6-8" or so right? So you won't take a frontal shot at a 6-8" target, but you will from above? What is the difference? It is all about placing the arrow where it needs to go every time. It doesn't matter (within reason), what the angle is if the vitals are exposed. You are good at it. Flinch