Size of an elks kill zone
Elk
How many inches is the kill zone (heart and lung area) of an elk?
Yesterday I asked a friend and he said it was the size of a pie plate. I found this odd because that's the size of a whitetails killzone and elk are obviously much bigger.
Would a basket or beach ball be better comparison?
i would think so you dont want to shoot in the top third of a elk bc its almost like a empty spot not much up there besides the dorsal artery but it doesnt matter how big it is as long as you hit it where your supose to.
It gets smaller as they get further away :)
About the size of a large watermelon.
I know I hit an elk two years ago, high and middle. I couldn't believe she only went thirty yards. I was so surprised at my obvious "luck", I did an field autopsy and found my broadhead hit the very end tips of both lungs. Granted, there were 1 3/4" slices in the lungs, but it was so high and back, I thought no way an elk should die from that shot.
My point is.. there is a lot more kill area on an elk if you hit the right spots. Lungs are huge, and that liver seems to be the size of a basketball. Just make sure you have some big and sharp broadheads.
I think we are wrong to worry about the size of the "kill zone" on any critter at least in terms of how large. I know I know this is just a discussion and I'm not grand standing at least that's not my intent. In stead we need to concentrate on picking a spot and then hitting as close to it as possible. MO
Rooster...you are right on...we should all imagine every time that we are shooting at a squirrel. If we did, we wouldn't worry about how big the kill zone was...
I am not one to talk...my heart gets in the way of every shot I take!!!
YES...
BUT THE KILL ZONE OF A BOBCAT VERSUS ELK IS A CONSIDERATION . MY LAZER "SPOT IS TO PICK A SPOT THAT GIVES ME A 2-3 INCH BUFFER SO
2-3 INCHES OFF IS STILL A KILL.
THAS ITS ONE REASON I DO NOT LIKE THE 12- 10 - 8 SCORING SYSTEM IN 3D. I DO NOT LIKE WHERE SOME 12 POINT RINGS ARE PLACED ON 3D. THEN THERE ARE ANGLES ON TARGETS ( QTERIGN AWAY )THAT CHANGE ALL. ( 3 D RINGS ARE TWO DIMENSIONAL) WHICH IS AN OXYMORON FOR 3 D TARGETS
SilverFox has a good point. I have shot the head off a grouse at 25 yards but missed a bull elk at 30 yards.
Maybe I should just imagine a grouse taking a ride on the side of an elk!
Extreme, couldn't agree more about 3d targets. To me an 8 is a kill.
Thunder, I am sure your friend is just trying to get you shooting well.
The center of an elk kill zone is exactly the same size as the center of the kill zone on a mouse.
Plan for errors and you'll ultimately reach your goal. Plan for success and you'll ultimately reach your goal. homebru
To answer the question correctly, I think GBTG is pretty close. Someone please remember to take a small tape measure along when they put one on the ground.
For me personally I quit picking a spot or 1/2" dot at 20 yds to hit. I only shoot for the hunting world. I've never shot in a 3-D tournament or a spot league. So I don't really care if I'm an inch high and to the right at 20 yds. The critter is still dead! I also shoot BH's year round.
The "area" I aim for is dependent on yardage. I'm also more focused on arrow flight, getting consistent arrow flight and finding 6 arrows out of a dozen that I can tune with BH's on.
So anyone have a full sized elk mount they can go measure. Or does someone have to go to Cabelas. climb the fence and measure some - lol.
I have killed plenty of elk and still consider the kill zone to be about 5". My target is always the heart, which is about 5". So I have always kept my effective range at what I shoot a 5" grouping. That is usually 50 yards. I have missed that 5" kill zone several times, and still had god clean kills. But my thought when shooting at the elk is 5". They jump strings, move, walk, etc. So it is still hard to always hit it.
Regarding 2-D scoring rings on 3-D targets: If you're a 3-D shooter, you aim to score high. If you're a hunter, you aim where you should, and disregard the "score".
3-D is play (like darts), hunting is blood sport and 'score' doesn't matter. I've only shot a 3-D course once. It was fun, but I only cared if my shot would have quickly killed the animal.
Here's a nice Picture I copied from another thread. Hope the original author doesnt mind! Good Luck.
I haven't been able to get on bowsite.com for a few days and apprciate the responses. I've been bowhunting long enough to know that you focus on that one hair (aim small miss small).
What I was looking for was an actual size by inches. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "an elks kill zone is the size of a refridgerator".
I shoot instinctively and wanted to know what kinda buffer zone I'd have especially shooting at longer distances.
I found a few other articles on the net that said an elk kill zone is 14.5 to 15.5 inches.
