Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Weird question - What rifle if you need that elk to drop in his tracks

I have had very few elk drop in their tracks, but I shot a cow last night with a 168 gr Berger, high shoulder shot, and she did not take a step.

I have dropped a number of bulls at the shot and with one exception they were all what I call 'hump' shots. I broke the back or lower neck with a Barnes X bullet or a big regular bullet from my 300 WBY. I have blown 200 grain bullets through spike bulls at 100 yds and had them run 30-40 yds. If you have to drop them, you must disrupt the central nervous system, anything else is not a sure thing. I shot a bull last week with my 458 Lott and it knocked him completely off his feet with a bullet trough the flank and exiting the hip joint. Did not kill him immediately and he crawled a ways.

I do think high velocity helps with the shock to the system. Elk are pretty dang tough though.

Much as I like my .45-70, even it isn't a sure bet. Plugged a 6x6 bull at 213 yards using a 350g North Fork started at 2183fps. The bullet obliterated section of the front leg and a near rib, blew through a far rib and came to rest under the hide. The bullet and/or bone fragments did a lot of damage to the heart. The bull stood there for quite a while while I debated whether to take a second shot or not. It finally fell just as I was getting ready to drop the hammer a second time.

The day before I had taken a mulie buck at 197 yards, same load on a quartering away shot. The bullet hit behind the last rib and exited ahead of the far front leg - pretty much perfect placement in my estimation. The buck still managed to make a fairly tight circle and go another few yards. The vitals were more than adequately destroyed but no CNS or structural damage. Not that the buck could have gone any further, but not down in its tracks, either.

Barnes. TTSX. Fast. Put in a good place. My moose never moved.... wasn't even following the suggestion of fast either....1200 pounds collapsing like a sheet pulled out from under him is impressive.

Forget looking for that. Nothing you could shoulder and shoot could actually knock an elk down.

Causing one to fall down is one thing, knocking one down is another.

Ya. I was kind of picturing why this might be a concern ... like a bleeding, mortally wounded elk staggering into Oprah's children's benefit picnic or similar event. Don't want to even guess the headline, maybe inset the news story w/ a pic of Erik.

Seems like 2 ways to go. The Southern deer hunter thing, sometimes called busting the tripod, or out here more often referred to as the high shoulder shot. The idea being if you break any of the bone that merges in the withers area you stop locomotion. Your original idea of the big thumping .444 levergun is probably good for that.

Or go the other route - high velocity, Nosler partition, deliver a shock to the vitals that stuns him. An elks life is between his shoulders, use your hi-power whatever to get the bullet there.

Hope to see a pic of your success (but on this forum, not in the news).

I have dropped a bull on the spot with a neck shot at 60 yards to avoid hitting the animal behind his chest. I've dropped one with a heart shot and I've finished elk with head shots.

But for the most part they cover a little ground even shot through the heart and lungs. I had a large cow shot through both lungs at 11 yards run about 75 yards before she tipped over and a bull with a 180 grain ttsx through both lungs and a broken off side shoulder walk 60 yards downhill before a finisher broke his spine.

I haven't tried the high shoulder shot but tend to agree with others that the boiler room works but unless you stop the CNS they aren't always going to drop in their tracks.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to take three rifles until I actually see how the blinds are set up and the actual shot distances. 300 Weatherby Mag with 180gr Accubond, 444 Marlin lever 325gr Lever Revolution with peep sights and my m70 30-06 with 180gr Fusion as a backup rifle.

Hoping for a lot of snow over the next two weeks to drive them down. :-)

Have dropped quite a few elk in their tracks... Mostly high shoulder shots.. Of course lung shots they run but not far..

Killed about 6 elk where they stood with 150gr SST out of a 7mm Rem Mag. Flattened southern white tail so fast I thought they ran off. I have since switched to Swift Scirroco due to their weight retention.

I would think that your original idea of using the .444 would be a good one. A buddy of mine hunts with one and it tends to put things down pretty darn quick.

50 bmg. Everything won't drop there, but most of it.

I cannot decide if I like a 7mm magnum with 160 Nosler Partitions, or my 35 Whelen with 250 gr. SPEER. I got a last minute invitation to hunt.
whelennut

"I got a last minute invitation to hunt,with my 35 Whelen used with 250 gr. SPEER bullets."

whelennut this should help,
there I corrected the sentence structure to make it easier to understand!

Much better!

X3, not much better out there...

I'm convinced by the weight retention and uniform mushroom of the Barnes TSX. I still really like Hornady SST and swift Scirroco for DRT deer and elk.

This doe antelope made it 10-15 yards before falling over. Even though I heard a solid "whump" at the hit and range was under 100 yards, the way she took off made me wonder if I had somehow missed. Bullet was a 150g BT from a .30-06.



Drop an elk in its tracks every time? An 88mm might be enough.

Direct fire w/ a 105 howitzer. Shoot the back half away and the front half can't get away

I'm kind of surprised about all the creative shot placement posts. Neck, central nervous system, shoulder............. I'm certainly no expert but I have never had an elk run after being shot through the lungs. All have been shot with my 30-06 180 grain Nosler Partition, all under 120 yard shots.

200 acres is a small area to hunt elk. Hopefully, there is something to draw them there.

Good luck!