Shot placement question
Elk
So this was a steep uphill shot. Arrow buried nearly all the way to the vanes. Bled like crazy but bull lived for 8 hrs after the shot. I finally was able to catch up to him and get 2 more arrows in him to finish him. What are you guys thoughts on this shot? How did he live that long on that shot?
Did you open him up and see what it hit?
Did the arrow angle towards the front, back, or go straight up? Was there an exit? If so, where was it? Did you open up the abdomen? Was there urine in the abdomen? Was there blood?
We don't know anything as to where the arrow went based on just an entry. If it angled back, you could have cut the offside ham a bunch and muscle bleeds a lot, but doesn't kill quick, if at all.
There are some moderate, but not huge blood vessels down there around the bladder. An all-intestines shot on an elk takes around 18 hours to kill them unless you cut a big vessel. The thing is, your shot had him alive at 8 and you finished him off so who knows how long he'd have lived. If it was all gut and he was just sick, then who knows. You could have cut a bigger gut vessel or the artery and/or vein that goes to the bladder or genitals.
After taking all the meat off of every animal I kill via the gutless method, I dissect the arrow path of every animal I kill, deer, elk, whatever. You learn a lot about anatomy and what's going to happen to them after the shot if you see your entry and/or exit after the shot. It takes minutes and is worth the time.
Idyl.... it appears that hit is right behind the front leg and not the rear. You can barely see an antler in pic.
At 1st glance I thought the same as you and was thinking "hell you dang near shot him in the pecker!"
To the OP... what did you find when you gutted him? My guess is that the arrow hit below the heart which lead to the lengthy recovery.
Like Idly, I always do a post mortem out of curiosity.
Good pickup Fuzz. In retrospect, I don't know why I thought it was the ham - the only thing I can think now is that I saw the bump from the scapula and mistook it for the muscle of the ham.
You sure did just miss the heart if you didn't hit it. Did you open him up and take a look at the heart? It angles back and the bottom of the heart is all muscle. If you hit that part, it doesn't kill them quick - not unless you hit farther up/forward where the ventricles are. That hit, if it wasn't angled up a lot and broadside, could have easily missed the near-side lung or just grazed it. The lungs go around the heart and go towards the spine the farther you go back towards the ham.
I've hit 8 animals in the heart. The ones hit in the top of the heart or hit on an angle that took out a lot of lung around the heart died quick. The ones that just hit heart and not a lot of lung can go a long ways.
They either go down because their lungs collapse from pneumothorax and they run out of oxygen, or they pass out from a sudden drop in blood pressure from cutting the great vessels above the heart or the many large lung vessels around the heart.
My guess is that you nicked or missed heart and nearside lung and cut up the offside lung good enough that he could run a ways, but succumbed to blood loss from the large vessels in the offside lung that you must have hit and/or the heart. This would explain good bleeding and a good run after the hit. In an elk peripheral lung hits on high or back lung that are one-lunged only in an elk, from what I've seen people report, usually result in a lost elk or an elk that goes a mile+.
I think a few inches farther back and you might not have recovered that elk.
"What are you guys thoughts on this shot? "
How far was it?
Appears to me that it’s too far back and low for the heart. The heart is almost straight above the leg. Since it was steep uphill, May have nicked the bottom of the far lung. Not a bad shot just a little low and back.
Where in the heck did you hit it the first shot? It’s not as obvious since you shot it three times total, showed a pic of half an elk with blood all over it, and give details like we were in your pocket with you.
Give some hints man.
One lung. Hit the bottom of the lung. Blood clot formed at the bottom of the pleural cavity and sealed off the lung, thus allowing him to travel further. Blood would still be seen for a trail.
May of been a tad low and just nicked the heart. I shot a big whitetail doe one year. Shot was very low and forward in bottom of brisket tight behind front leg. I watched her run off and lay down. Climbed down snuck out and went back 6 hrs later. Got 20 yds from her and she lifted her head, she couldn't get up. I got closer and put another arrow in her. She laid in a giant pool of blood. Opened her up and got her heart out and there was a 1/2" slice just barely in bottom of her heart. Shawn
Seen that shot placement a couple times, bulls died but not right away. I’m a pocket shooter and where you hit is always a concern. I call it low lung behind the heart. It’s a deceiver!
The one right behind the leg was my fist shot. Steep uphill at 30 yards. We didn't gut him. Were 5 miles in and getting dark so didn't do an autopsy.
Couple inches too low on the first shot.
Good shot congrats on recovery and I am not surprised how these animals at times can carry on where entrance/exit wounds are located. Whether it’s a rib deflection, or what, but at times it doesn’t make sense how they didn’t go down faster. Placement is a major percentage of the factor but at times strange things occur.
No elk expert, but if shot was steep(45 degrees?) uphill and arrow traveled straight(we'll never know) through the bull, it should have been a good hit? Would not consider it a low hit shooting "up"? Glad you recovered it. Did you have a good blood trail? I guess after 8 hours, we all know it wasn't a double lung or heart shot. Beautiful bull!!
You guys tore it up, crazyhawksfan….congrats!
Watching too many eastern hunt shows- shot placement is horrible on most of them low and behind the shoulder saying “heart shot but we got to leave it over night etc”
A friend lost a bull a few years back with the same shot ( level ground). Elk are tough. Read all the old threads on BB shot placement especially elk! Hit the triangle and watch the elk die.
Bottom of the lungs; no arteries and can live for a long time.
My opinion, not that it means much, since you ate the bull.....missed the onside lung, behind heart, bottom of offside lung.
Great bull! Congrats
Depending on angle, might have nicked a lung and got liver (if shot angled back)
Ki-ke X2^^ Steep upward angled broadside shot (like you stated) looks to me that you would have missed, or at best, just grazed the very bottom of the near lung, as well as being back of the heart several inches.
Lower void :-)
Congrats on a great bull!
