I’m a simple guy, I just shoot them in the front half. There’s important stuff in a lot of places from the center of the ribs forward and all of it works. I’ve shot them in the neck, head, shoulders, armpit, it all works. And with tough bullets I rarely have issues with meat loss. I figure that if you miss an opportunity by avoiding the shoulder and waiting for a broadside shot you’ve lost a whole elk’s worth of meat. If you smash a shoulder you might loose 5 pounds, YMMV.