Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Shot distance on elk

This topic still going on?

Closest: 4 inches. Longest: 690 yards plus whatever a steep down angle added to that topo map measurement. 13 yards, 125 yds., 100, 175, 30, 40, 450, etc…

There have been some excellent posts on this thread, including to be prepared for close or far. I played hide and seek with an elk 40 feet from me in a thicket on the rim of a canyon. I moved a few feet, could see across the canyon and killed an elk at 450 yards, all within a minute or two.

There are several questions going on here. It becomes a touchy subject depending on which one we answer, plus we often add a personal angle.

Question 1. How far does a person have to shoot to kill an elk? Archery hunters answer that one.

Question 2. How far away can I get and still brag that I’ve killed an elk? Ever evolving answer.

Question 3. What is the smallest/lowest powered firearm I can use and still kill an elk?

Question 4. How can anyone have a different opinion or experience than mine, and not be an idiot?

Question 5. (No one asks this one but it is the most pertinent). How much do my hunting preferences, hunting style and my assumptions about hunting influence how close I am to the elk I shoot?

Largest bull elk- with a takedown 1895 Winchester in .405 at 90 yards. Same distance on largest bull moose-95 yards with
a Model 71 in 348 Ackley Imp-270 gr 348 bullet.

Not much mentioned about the guide and hunter mauled by grizzly and 2-yr old cub that took over a bull
elk arrowed the afternoon before, outside Yellowstone Park 3 years ago. Guide killed by the bear.
The widow probably would agree that a .405 would not have been too much gun as a backup rifle.
Carry a rifle as Bob Hagel states: to use that's big enough when everything goes wrong.

Use Enough Gun-Ruark

Tangent, but an important one. A compass can pinpoint a spot or blood trail across an enormous canyon. My compass put us within 6 feet of a blood trail across such a canyon. It also got me within 35 yards of a bedded mule deer over half a mile up and across a ragged cliffy basin. You have to shoot a precise compass bearing from the spot where the critter was hit to some precise small spot that will be easy to see from the critter's side of the canyon BEFORE YOU MOVE FROM WHERE YOU SHOT. That could be an orange cap or vest hung at the spot of the shot.

IOW, take a careful reading and shoot a back azimuth from the far side.

Yup, things look a lot different when you get way over there and don't recognize the spot you saw through your scope... the couple times I have shot that far I've been lucky to have someone next to me to spot as I make my way to the spot.

It's Monday, and yet you put a smile on my face....Bloviating!!!!

Sad that anyone would brag about shooting at an Elk at 800 yards.

Shows complete lack of respect for the animal. You have to wonder how many were missed or wounded and lost, but we'll never know because it's "classified" with no independently verified data.

Next we'll be hearing they were shot with a 6.5 Creedmore.

Sad that sniper wannabes are polluting our sport and leaving more horror stories to feed the anti-hunting gristmill. They have forgotten or never learned the meaning of the hunt.

“As all hunters, the people of the Americas relied on the skills of stalking, tracking, and trapping to get close to their quarry, so the range and power of the weapon were not so important as the craft of hunting.” – Robert Hardy

You should really look into having that pole removed from your asss.....

He's got to remove his head first..

Not as sad as sock puppets like you polluting our forums.

If you're shooting all that many elk that far out, try getting closer.

Sad, that so many who can't shoot are polluting our hunt.

I don't really care how long of a shot a guy takes, as long as they can make it happen with just 1. That is 1 shot to kill the elk!!! If a guy can consistently make an 800 yard shot, take it, but don't be guessing or wounding animals. This schidt is really not hard: Know your abilities and don't shoot outside those boundaries... Not everyone has the same ability or skill.

Nobody can "consistently" make an 800 yard shot on a living animal in real world conditions.

Damn few can make an 800 yard shot on a fixed target with wind flags every 100 yards.

In fact damn few can make 100% killing shots at 300 yards in real world conditions.

But wolves and Yotes have to eat too. Easier for them to take down a cripple than a healthy animal.

That may be, but why put down those "damn few" who can do those things? That isn't to mention not everyone who takes those long shots at critters take any shot they have, though some do. Plenty of folks have the discipline to stay off the trigger at whatever range unless everything "feels" right. You're wanting to punish good behavior right alongside the bad.

Something tells me you're one of those people who I wouldn't trust to responsibly make a 100 yard shot on a critter.....so maybe everyone should be limited to that distance???

I sure hope you never, ever take a shot at running game. Shots on running game leave more horror stories, and hypocrisy is a terrible thing.

You are an idiot without a clue..

Lots of guys can and do make long shots because they can and that is what is presented. Every time this stupid statement comes up from someone I am reminded how many guys I've seen who are lucky to hit a deer or elk at 50 yards, but brag the deer or elk they shot was at least 600 yards away- until you prove to them with a LRF that it was actually only 150 or 200 yards.... IMO, those are the guys who are sending wounded animals into the next canyon or county to be eaten by coyotes, wolves, etc....

Having the discipline to shoot when the shot is right, regardless of the distance, is what ethics is really about. On top of that, animals that are a distance away are seldom spooked and are quite often standing still for the shot and you have time for a good broadside turn for the best sight picture.... all depends on your perspective.

Pot meet kettle.

Run this up your pole hole. 🖕🏾


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