CRS, The first 4 bulls that I made mention of were ALL Texas heart shots, again from 16-32 yards. The first one stopped a 270 grain Hornady .375, just in front of the heart. But I wanted exit holes, even at full length, so I switched to a newfangled (at the time) 270 gr. barnes X bullet. They all exited, after that. Again, with very little meat damage, and no tracking.
I work too hard for my elk to pass up shots in the timber, no matter the angle, and I want exit holes everytime. As I said before, it works for me...and the OP was specifically asking about timber hunting.
BTW, these first hunts were NM "4th rifle" tags in the 80's, in less than premier units. Tags that I could draw every year and hunt meat bulls. By the time my hunt started, these elk never left the timber in daylight hours. Learning how to timber hunt became a necessity....shooting bedded bulls "on the jump". Covering about 100 yds/hour, wearing multiple pairs of old wool socks, for stalking the bedding areas. Intense stuff.
Andy3
