Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How often do you have ten seconds or less to shoot an elk?

I was going to pose this question on the thread about "Average range you shoot elk at..." but thought it might be seen as highjacking the thread.
It seems as though a lot of people visualize themselves pulling an elk hunt by making a 750 yard shot on the last hour of the hunt. "Ayup, I spotted this elk, and when my guide finally was able ta see it, he said, 'that's one helluva bull, but we'll neva get in range.' "Well, I ranged it at 733 yards, read the wind at 7.7 mph at a 40% value, and read the elevation as 15,622 feet from my GPS. I punched the info into my Iphone, dialed the corrections, set up my bipod, and put a quadruple cored titanium bonded interlocking molycoated right behind the forward shoulder, and he was DRT right there. Freekin guide couldn't believe it."
I suspect that most elk are killed within range of an iron sighted 30/06 fired offhand by a fairly proficient shooter. Please note that I said MOST and not ALL.
What seems to happen a lot in elk hunting on public land is that an elk pops up, and if you are going to kill it, it has to happen right now! Somebody else has moved them or you bump into a straggler from the herd while you are putting a sneak on them, you blunder into some bulls bedded down in juniper 100 yards from the truck, seen all this stuff happen.
Shooting groups at 100 yards and measuring them with a micrometer isn't going to get you ready for that. I suspect it might not even be relevant.
The guy that can hit a volleyball sized target quickly, from sitting or offhand will make more meat, on average, I think.

Royce

Very often, almost always. Ten seconds is a long time. I like getting rifles to shoot tiny groups, and I like shooting at long range. But I hunt elk with a muzzleloader (mostly) and you're right, a volleyball at under 100 quickly is what I shoot for.

Smoke
Nothing the matter with fine tuning rifles and shooting at long range, I think it makes a person a better rifleman. I think learning to shoot quickly from field positions is another facet of being a good rifleman, and that facet is more important to elk or deer hunting. But, those are just my opinions, and like I said on another post, I am tied with a crosseyed orangutan for being the world's worst hunter.

Royce

I don't know if it's ten seconds, but certainly in the realm of less than a few minutes for me.

I had a 6x6 bull come running into my guide's cow calls while I was sitting on a rock formation. The bull literally ran into the meadow and realized that something was not right.

His initial route would have taken him to my right side and as he passed behind some pines, still running at about 30 yards, I scrambled to my feet.

He must have seen me or smelled me and wheeled around and started out the same way he came in, but stopped at about 140 yards out, quartering slightly away.

It was either shoot off hand, with my trusty Kimber Montana in 300 WSM or let him walk. I chose to shoot and he jumped forward about 30 yards at the shot, and stopped again, partially obscured by a single pine tree.

I saw a rather significant branch fall from the tree on the second shot as the bull ran out of the meadow and out of sight! No sign of a HIT.

My guide came over and I explained what had transpired and we went to take a look. NO BLOOD or hair! There was an ancient game trail leading into and out of the meadow and I just started to walk it, looking for sign.

We found the bull piled up about 100 yards up the meadow, stone dead.

I'm sure the initial sighting and two shots didn't last more than 10 or 15 seconds.

The celebration later.....MUCH LONGER.....as my friend and hunting pardner also killed a 6x6 that same morning.

We're going back with the same Outfit this September!

donsm70

I think 30-90 seconds is more accurate for the open country I hunt. The elk are rarely spooked & running, but they're never really standing still either....

Don
Congradulations on your elk and kudos for being able to hit him offhand-
Royce

Ten seconds seems like an eternity in my little world of elk hunting. I have had one bull that I had forever to size up, shoot some video, and manuver for a better shot and take my shot...probably 5 whole minutes and he was lasered at 167 yards. Everyone else, usually a full 2 seconds or less, really. The two seconds is "decision time"...that's what I am referring to. Shoot him or not?

My usual scenario is, close the distance as best I can, and then (usually) they spot me, or become suspicious, and it then it's trigger time.

Ten seconds or less, only one time.

Weather man said barometer was going to drop like a rock mid morning tomorrow, heavy snow and windy. I set up to glass a couple of meadows at daybreak and spotted a few cows and a 5x5 bull but way out of range. After about an hour I eased out of that lookout and worked my way into the middle of a patch of heavy timber and made myself comfortable.

True to the weatherman's prediction wind picked up and the snow started at 10:30 AM. Soon thereafter it sounded like a whole herd of elk were in that patch of timber with me. A 5x6 bull emerged about 50 feet away and I put the cross hairs on him in a heart beat, well maybe 3 or 4 heart beats. The 160 grain Nosler Partition out of the 7x57 Mauser broke his near side shoulder and exited just behind the offside shoulder.

My normal heart rate at rest is about 68 beats per minute, but most likely my heart was upwards of 100 beats per minute so I am comfortable in quoting the aforementioned reaction time.

The question frequently comes up about the terrain,we hunt in, the time available to make a shot, and if youll be able to shoot from a solid prone, shoot from off hand or a sitting position, etc. and conditions a shot in the field might be made under, and how long you might expect too have,to set up, too make a shot?
Ive hunted almost all my elk in steep , mostly well wooded canyon areas,shooting thru aspen and conifer can make getting a shot challenging and you might get a shot at very close range still hunting or a shot out on the far canyon slope where you have to wait as the elk feed out to where you make a shot past cover, they can be very different conditions, ranges can vary from a few yards to well over 200 yards at times, requiring far different skills,over the last 45 plus years Ive hunted elk Id say the average time between having the opportunity to shoot and my friends or I actually making the shot might have been close to 10-15 seconds,(and yes occasionally at times shooting off hand in thick timber on a running elk,at near bayonet distances much faster) but it could easily have been far longer on most hunts between the time I spotted movement or verified it was a legal to shoot elk and getting into position or waiting for the elk to move into position where a shot could reasonably taken, where you had an excellent chance of placing the bullet where you intended it to impact.
Id say that many times we locate elk several minutes before getting into anything like a reasonable position where a shot might be made is also rather common.
Ive shot most of the elk Ive killed from a siting position,with a bi-pod and sling, but several while standing , shooting off hand (usually leaning against a tree) and a couple shooting prone with a bi-pod so you need to be flexible and take whats offered.

Ten seconds would seem like an eternity for most of the shots on the 20 elk I have killed. I still dream of a chance to observe elk long enough to enjoy the moment before I pull the trigger, just hasn't happened for me.

Between 1 and 3 seconds.
It happens different ways of course, but it is very common that the elk and I will see one another at the same time at less than 100 yards.


The four guys in my hunting party had similar experiences so we took that scenario to the rifle range. The basic idea was - within 2 seconds, get the rifle off your shoulder, come on target (either by sitting on the ground or aiming offhand), fire, follow up quickly with a second shot at a target in another location, hit both shots.

Two of the things we discovered were interesting;

One - Not everyone should shoot offhand. One guy felt so uncomfortable that he said he�d never shoot that way. I was on the opposite of that and for myself personally offhand is comfortable and accurate under 100 yards.

Two - A second can be a long time. None of us had trouble getting into a sitting position and coming on target in under a second. We all felt that left us with another second to steady, try to calm down, and squeeze.



Back to the actual hunting � some version of this scenario has repeated itself many times.
The elk and I see one another. The elk will go on alert for several seconds (calves will usually bark an alert immediately.) This second or two staredown seems to be the moment of truth. Don�t just stand there. If you think about what to do next the opportunity is lost. (I have lost many elk at this point of the encounter because I was indecisive and never gotten a shot off, but in recent years I�ve killed elk by taking action � even if I�m not sure my move was the best choice). Either come on target, get into a shooting position, or move to a nearby vantage point or chokepoint.

... meanwhile, after a quick inspection of you the elk usually won�t bolt but they will begin to move. Almost always more elk will appear that you hadn�t seen before. This becomes extremely distracting � especially if you are trying to track a particular target and especially after a shot. There will be barking, crashing, commotion. Maybe you get a shot opportunity here, maybe not. I have never had wits enough to hit the cow call at this point during an actual hunt, but I�ve done it while scouting and it works to freeze them for a second or so.

The "moment of truth."

If we're talking about the time elapsed from when you first see an elk and have "an opportunity" for a shot, then that's one thing. If you're talking getting the shot you want, that's another, and for me the latter is what is almost always less than 10.

Some, I have watched for quite a while, waiting for the right shot, waiting for cows to clear, waiting for a window to the vitals to open up in the vegetation, etc. Others have been "jump and run" shots at a spooked animal at very close range. I have shot enough at ranges greater than 150 yards that I want to be able to place the bullet where it needs to go and my rifles are sighted in accordingly.

Without consulting my field notes, I would guess that only five were shot within 10 seconds of seeing the animal, and most of those were probably shot in well under five seconds. YMMV.

Great thread!

Had my first elk hunt last year. Walking down hill, look up and... there is an elk. Rifle up, check his horns, yes he is legal.

To be honest, I kinda panicked. I didn't know how long he would hang around for me to get a rest or take a range. Did my best ranging in the field, held and squeezed.

He ran at the shot and I didn't see reaction to the shot. Followed his track as he tore through the carpet of pine needles. Never found anything.

That was my one and only interaction and shot at an elk on my first hunt. I learned that I need to do more off hand shooting, and that next time - don't panic. I probably had a few more seconds than I thought and could have done better without rushing.

In the thick stuff I hunt on a crowded any bull general tag in Utah, it's "Elk, Bull, Boom!"
I have a buddy who hunts the same stuff I do. He misses opportunities every year waiting for the full magazine cover pose before he shoots.

I've only had a chance on two. Each of those would be at or less than 5 seconds of opportunity time. Moving in the woods with some terrain. This year I did a quick scan of the brow tines as I brought the rifle up to center the cross hairs on his chest. had I paused to take a look I would have never seen him again.

That reminds me of when I first started pheasant hunting. My hunting partner knew the drill and I didn't. When a bird flushed, I'd hesitate and look to see if it was a rooster, then raise the shotgun to my shoulder. He'd shoulder the shotgun automatically, whether it was a rooster or not, then check. He got most of the shots.

when I started hunting ELK , I was 19 years old ,most of my mentors were old geezers were much older ,in their 40s-60s, and most carried Remington 760 30/06 rifles with receiver peep sights and loaded with 220 grain peters ammo, it work well...and it was what I was advised to buy, I tried a great many other things over the next 4 decades, but have to admit that original equipment choice would still work well on 90% of the elk Ive seen in the last 45 years, simply because its fast to use has the required range and power and its easy to carry.

Old geezers in their 40s-60s?? Sorry but I'm moving the finish line for that race out a bit.....