Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How do elk run?

I just got back from a cow elk hunt. It was my first elk. upon being hit, Neither my friend nor I noticed any perceptable reaction, other than she and the other two reversed course and headed off. He was filming and we could se the impact on the recording, but no reaction. It appeared as if they were trotting. I've never seen wild elk run and was just wondering if this is the way they run? sorry if this is a stupid question. Also, any favorite recipies for elk heart? capt david

that trot can eat up miles in a hurry. heck, even at an undisturbed walk they're hard to keep up with in snow. IME, they'll usually only break into a full gallop for short distances when spooked.

yes elk sometimes run after being hit in my experience , and yes you can,t depend on any rifle dropping one instantly every time.
my mentors told me about 40% of the time elk would run before dropping,after being shot,no mater how well I placed the shot.
just curious? your post infers BOTH that the cow elk ran of and that you have elk meat?
Im assuming the elk eventually dropped?
the first two years I hunted elk I was only abut 20 years old,I used a 760 Remington slide action 30/06 , loaded with 220 grain soft point peters ammo,which was what most of the older guys in camp who had been hunting for decades before I started had found that rifle to work well. both of the first two elk I killed ran when hit and showed little reaction. both elk died after a 50-60 yard sprint, but I would have assumed I missed if I was relying solely on the elks reaction to being hit!
but I was hunting with several mentors who had advised me on the rifle, load, where to shoot, and how the elk frequently failed to instantly drop when hit!
I was UN-impressed with the 30/06 even though it provided a one shot kill in both cases, I saved up and purchased a 340 wby after spending months studying ballistic charts.
yes the next elk I shot dropped on bullet impact, but over the years that followed my mentors constantly joked about my "CANNON" and I eventually realized that the 340 wby seemed to kill more effectively in that it surely produced a much more noticeable reaction from game when hit, but the fact remained that both the 30/06 and the 340 wby killed with a single well placed hit, and occasionally elk still made a short run after being hit!

Yeah, read my post below, Elk cow hunt in Texas. capt david

I typically only see an out and out run, when they've been suprised at really close quarters and they know precisely where the threat is coming from. They really plow up the ground in those instances, and a blind person could track them. It's a dangerous gait though in rugged country. In a hundred or so yards, they will figure out whether or not they're in mortal danger and settle into the trot.

In shooting instances, they may not have a lock on the precise direction of the threat, and a trot gives them a bit of an opportunity to size up the situation as they move.

Near all of us though can get a far superior visual assessment of situations when standing still.

That happens alot no matter what you are shooting.

This " no reaction to a hit" comes up frequently. Unless you do a CNS or Spine shot,or hit a leg, you often won't see any reaction . You GOT to give the animal time to die. Most take about 10 seconds and every one of them use that 10 seconds differently. I think this is where guys get the idea that elk ar tough to kill. If they don't fall over in an instant,they mustbe tough to kill.

Saddlesore already made my statement. Just a couple of more thoughts, I "always" expect them to run ! I think they have two movements, the trot/lope and flat out. Most common I see is the trot.

I corresponded with a professional stalker in England. he also culled for different small estates with lots of fallow in small fenced areas. He said that he saw shot, or shot, over 200 deer per year. I believe that he had done this for 10-15 years. He said that a good cardiovascular(my words)shot deer lived about 9 seconds. If also hit through bones or near ths CNS, it might be knocked of ballance or stuned and not be able to get up before the 9 seconds are up. That accounts for a lot of the DRT that are not CNS. capt david

Oh yes indeed, elk can run. They won't keep it up for long, though, before they'll back it off to a long sweeping trot that likely won't stop for a couple miles.
I agree with Saddlesore that they usually don't drop in their tracks unless you spine it or something. A heart or lung shot is always fatal but it'll take them a little time to go down.

Assuming an elk is well hit, heart, lung, one shoulder or two they will go down, usually in a short distance. If its steep country (most western elk country is), they can/will go a, longgggggg ways in 10 seconds. Then given proper conditions they will roll or slide a bit farther, most often for me,that means a harder trip back up the hill. If they are not hit well(which is sometimes the case) they can absorb a lot of lead prior to giving up. I believe that's where there reputation of being hard to kill comes from. With most any elk, cow, or bull the first shot is most critical. Many elk are lost each year do to bad hits. They can go for miles, and with little or no blood trail they are gone, wasted. Use as much rifle as you can shoot well and make that first shot count.

Yes, elk are phlegmatic, they often show no reaction at all.

Gunner

Elk can gallop quite well when the mood and terrain suits them. They can gallop for a long ways. Not all elk country is mountains, and our elk like to feed in the wide open fields. But when trouble approaches or shooting starts, they can run very fast and for a long time.

For this reason, I don't stop shooting 'til the elk is down for good, or I am out of ammunition...

phlegm........

With their legs.

*Rimshot*

Not lunger flemm, more like fledge.

Gunner

Fledgematic?

thanks, learn so much about elk in this post.

Yeah, thats it <G>. LOL

Gunner